Carl is a PwC gem

Octavia Tsibes
Elizabeth Joseph

Carl van der Merwe has been a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) since 1994.

His journey so far has been challenging but very interesting. He says there is never a dull moment at the company.

“We provide services to multiple clients. They have different needs and we have to adapt our service to resolve their important problems. Working with various clients in various industries is very satisfying and very interesting,” he says.

His day consist mainly of coaching the staff and interacting with clients to provide various services to them.

People skills are thus very important to perform his work.

“I am responsible to ensure that we provide quality services to our clients and that they are provided with the best service to resolve their important problems,” Van Der Merwe said

He says he is most proud of all the people he has trained in his career of 34 years at PwC.

Opening the Walvis Bay office with a secretary and one trainee in March 1991 was a great achievement for him and he says it is one of the things he will never forget.

Some of his short-term goals include using technology in the audit process, which is the future for the auditing profession.

PwC is focusing on this and also on developing their staff to use new technologies being developed all the time.

Fact box

· Carl van der Merwe was born in South Africa and attended various schools there.

· He started working at GJ Hanekom & Co in Windhoek in 1982. He is the last person left in the firm from the G J Hanekom & Co days.

· He studied for seven years at Unisa to obtain his degrees, while also working fulltime.

· He has been a PwC partner since January 1994.

· He is continuously learning and that is what keeps him interested in his work.

· His passion outside PwC is practicing karate and he has been doing Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate for 34 years.

· He is very passionate about training people, both at PwC and in karate. Contributing to the growth of people is his biggest reward.

· He is very creative for an accountant. He loves to try new things and to challenge existing practices, to see if they can be improved.

· He believes that spending time with family is more important than work, and that achieving a work-life-balance is your own responsibility and not that of your employer.

· He loves spending time with his son, by training karate together in various places all over the world.