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The following is a statement by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe following the deqath of prominent economist Eric Bloch last Saturday: ERIC Bloch, who passed away on Saturday evening, will be sadly missed by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe, of which he was an active member, having served as a member of the Institute’s Council for more than 20 years.

He was president of the institute from August 2004 to July 2005. Among the many ICAZ committees that he sat on over the years were the tax and other legislation committees, of which he was chairman, and the public relations committee, which he was an active member of up until the time of his death.

Born in South Africa on April 2, 1939, he came to Zimbabwe as a child in 1950. After qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1964, he went into private practice.
Prior to Zimbabwe’s independence his practice became the first in the country to take on a black person as an articled clerk. He would recall years later, during his term as ICAZ president, how before this it had been impossible for any black accountancy student to find an accounting firm at which to do the articles necessary to become a chartered accountant.

He spoke too of the tremendous pressure he came under from accounting firms and his colleagues in the accountancy profession for taking on a black articled clerk. However, he stood his ground.

Eric Bloch was a director of numerous companies and an office bearer and trustee of many local and international trusts and other organisations. He served on a large number of committees, many of them committees of institutions in Bulawayo, his home city that he loved and did so much for.

Among the many bodies he served on were the City of Bulawayo Ad Hoc Budget Advisory Committee and faculty advisory boards at the National University of Science and Technology.
In 1999 Solusi University conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration.

Dr Bloch was a member of the Advisory Board of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, set up by former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono.
He was a member of the Reserve Bank’s Homelink committee and joined other members of that committee who were despatched to the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa in 2004 to convince Zimbabweans living in those countries to send money back to Zimbabwe through legal money transfer agencies.

He established an ICAZ-RBZ liaison committee, through which the institute was able to offer its professional views and advice on issues related to monetary policy and financial reporting guidelines for banks.

During his term of office as ICAZ president he defended the role of auditors, who were under increasing attack in the media for having failed to detect the problems that resulted in the collapse of a number of local financial institutions and some major international corporations.

He made it clear that the institute investigated any allegations made against its members and would pursue appropriate disciplinary action if such allegations were found to be well-founded.

On the other hand he pointed out that it was not easy for auditors to detect material misstatements arising from fraud, especially when there was collusion and members of management were involved.

His other major concern when he took office as president was, he said, the brain drain, which had seriously affected the accounting profession in Zimbabwe, particularly the chartered accountancy profession.

Dr Bloch believed in the importance of chartered accountants interacting vigorously with the various arms of government.
Soon after his appointment as institute president he stressed the need to continue to work with the Reserve Bank, the Zimbabwe Investment Centre, parliament and various government ministries and bodies in order to contribute to the country’s economic recovery and greater compliance by all economic sectors with principles of good corporate governance.

An economic commentator of note, he regularly contributed articles to the financial, professional and general press locally and internationally. He also sometimes provided a comment on behalf of the institute on the national budget statement.

He undertook extensive speaking engagements on economic, tax and various fiscal issues in Zimbabwe and abroad, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Monte Carlo and South Africa.

Dr Bloch was widely respected, even among those who did not always agree with his viewpoint.
He played an important and active role within ICAZ, not only when he was president but before and after his term of office.
His input in the life of the institute was considerable. It was much appreciated by his fellow council members.

He will always be remembered fondly by members of the institute’s council and by members of the institute’s secretariat, who will remember him not only for his contribution to the work of the institute but for his personal charm and ability to make everyone he spoke to feel special. May he rest in peace.