FROM THE PEN The Change Issue A few weeks ago I attended a presentation by JP Landman, a self-employed political and trend analyst, Harvard graduate, and author of the article “Is the bad mood justified?”. Landman introduced his presentation with a story about a South African hedge fund manager he knew, who had taken a…
DetailsIFRS or GAAP The Accounting Practices Board agreed to issue IFRSs (International Financial Reporting Standards) as Statements of GAAP in late 2003. The JSE Limited required listed companies to comply with IFRSs from 2005. Effectively IFRSs apply to all forms of companies registered in South Africa. The debate around the continued and increasing complexity of…
DetailsFROM THE PEN The woman’s issue Believe it or not, the image on our cover this month has caused some consternation in our office. I’ve had to endure a barrage of opinions raging from the lucidly candid: “Are you mad?”, to the: “How can you portray such an old image of women?”; “Surely you don’t…
DetailsRoughly 25% of CAs(SA) are women. The percentage of employed women CAs(SA) is even lower. Statistics from universities, institutes and the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms can attest that the relative dearth of employed women CAs(SA) is not a question of inferior intellect; in fact, in some cases women pass exams easier and make better accountants…
DetailsWhen I qualified as a CA(SA) nearly 13 years ago, I found that there was a dearth of African women in this particular profession, and I quickly realised that in order to change that, we would need to grow a strong support mechanism for aspirant and newly qualified women CAs(SA). My impression at the time…
DetailsQualified: 1996 after studying at the University of Durban-Westville (now University of KwaZulu-Natal) Current position: National Human Capital Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Nitasha has been with PwC for 13 years. Career profile I started my career with the firm as a trainee accountant and was admitted as a partner in 2001 at the age of thirty.…
DetailsCareer highlights I started at Deloitte in 1988 and became the first black female partner and subsequently Chairman at Deloitte Southern Africa. I am also a former first woman president of the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA), a body dedicated to nurturing emerging black accountants. Academic involvement My commitment…
DetailsWhen I enrolled at the University of Cape Town in the 70s I was undecided about the direction I wished to pursue and registered for a science degree. At that stage it was uncommon for young women to do accounting. Approximately 5% of my CTA class was female, a far cry from the current 45…
DetailsStarting out From a very young age my dream was to become a teacher. Then, in high school I wanted to become a medical doctor. My career guidance teacher at Sand du Plessis Hoërskool in Bloemfontein, Mr Naude, suggested at the time that I should keep my options open by taking accounting as my fourth…
DetailsThe accounting profession has long been perceived as a profession for men in grey suits. But this is a professional stereotype that is fast changing, and rightly so. Women CAN make it in this “cut-throat” profession. The beauty about it all is that we do not have to be replicas of men; we just have…
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