Standing as a beacon of hope for his Breede Valley community, ward councillor Julian Kritzinger obtained his second doctorate earlier this month and now holds two PhDs and two Master of Laws degrees.
Kritzinger, 40, said his thesis on Company Law focused on how artificial intelligence (AI) should be regulated. He argues that directors have a duty of care to enhance their companies’ cybersecurity and to protect them from cyber breaches to help make South African companies more cyber-resilient.
The accolade was bestowed on him at a special graduation ceremony held at UCT. Kritzinger said: “After I finished matric in 2001, I started my academic career with the personal goal of one day holding a double-master, double-doctor in law. After having been a full-time professional student for 22 years, I finally managed to reach this personal goal on December 14.”
Kritzinger’s academic journey included his first Master of Laws degree (LLM) in Law on International Business Transactions obtained in 2012 at Stellenbosch University.
For his second LLM, Kritzinger said he specialised in Advanced Company Law at the same university, with his first PhD in Commercial Law obtained in 2017.
Currently in his second term as Breede Valley Municipality’s Mayco member for local economic development, tourism, arts and culture, Kritzinger said he loves implementing his knowledge with work in the community.
“I love seeing the difference that one can make every day when you implement your knowledge in practice to help improve your community and peoples’ lives.”
“Breede Valley’s economy is currently experiencing an economic boom with lots of municipal developments that recently came off the ground, which in turn attracted lots of private investments. Many other municipal and private projects are set to be implemented in the near future and it is joyous to see what change can occur when you use experience in local governance and knowledge in Commercial Law and to implement it in practice.
“In the end everyone benefits with sound corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, and in future AI is set to become a game-changing force in the practices of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, cybersecurity and law,” said Kritzinger.
During the ceremony, Dean of the Law Faculty at UCT, Professor Danwood Chirwa, said Kritzinger wrote a thesis of quality through the assistance of two additional study leaders, Dr Helena Stoop and Dr Tebelo Thabane.
Professor Chirwa said: “This is the second degree that (Kritzinger) has completed ... You have shown that there is no end to studying, you needed to firstly challenge once more and you have managed to complete it ... you are an inspiration.”
Cape Times