Prof Michael Katz wins Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award
- Wits Alumni Relations
Alumnus celebrated for his outstanding legal career of global stature.
Wits alumnus and ENSAfrica chairperson Professor Michael Katz (BCom 1965, LLB 1967, LLD honoris causa 1998) was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Chambers and Partners at its 2022 Chambers Africa Awards.
At a virtual ceremony, held on 13 January 2022, the towering alumnus was recognised and celebrated for his outstanding legal career of global stature.
The awards statement read: “With a reputation that reaches across Africa and beyond, Michael Katz has been a pioneering figure in the corporate and transactional market in South Africa for many years. As chair of one of the continent’s most recognised legal brands, ENSafrica, he is routinely lauded by commentators, both for his immense experience and his role in the transformation of the South African legal sector. In addition to leading his firm, he is a recognised scholar and thought leader on company law and regularly provides expert commentary on legislative changes, such as the Companies Amendment Bill, 2021. His recognition this year comes off the back of a host of positive feedback from market observers, with some labelling him ‘the doyenne’ and ‘Godfather’ of the South African M&A market, while others noted him as ‘world-renowned’ figure.”
This adds to Professor Katz’s previous Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 at the South African Professional Services Awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 at the DealMakers Gala Awards.
Professor Katz has had a loyal relationship with Wits, which started as an undergraduate in 1962. He won the Society of Advocates Prize as the most distinguished law graduand in 1967. In 1969 he was awarded a National Postgraduate Scholarship and went to Harvard University to read for a Master of Laws degree. Currently he serves as Honorary Professor and course director for Advanced Company Law at Wits and was awarded an honorary doctorate in law in 1998 for “being imbued with an ethic of service”.
His other career highlights include chairperson of the Katz Commission of Inquiry into the South African tax system in 1995; chairperson of the Tax Advisory Committee; member of the Security Regulation Panel; member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance; chairperson of the Committee for the re-structuring of the JSE; and chairperson of the Specialist Committee on Company Law.
In 2020 Professor Katz was asked by the president of South Africa to be a board member of the national Solidarity Fund, set up to support medical response and relief efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was awarded the Absa Business Icon Award at the Absa Jewish Achiever Awards in 2020.
Professor Katz is a member of a number of boards and was Chairman of the Board of the National Housing Finance Corporation Limited which was established by government to enable affordable finance for low-cost housing. Professor Katz is a trustee of a number of trusts including the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the Legal Resources Trust, Constitutional Court Trust, Donald Gordon Foundation, Constitution Hill Trust, the FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust and South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation. He has been mentioned for many years in legal periodicals as a leading South African lawyer. He is the course director of Advanced Company Law I and II at the Mandela Institute.
“We are truly honoured to work alongside such an admirable leader and colleague who has accomplished so much and changed the face of law in South Africa," said Mzi Mgudlwa, ENSafrica‘s chief executive.