Legacy is not what we leave behind when we retire; it’s what we build – daily −through growth. For the CA(SA) community, growth is both an obligation to the public interest and a competitive advantage in a world reshaped by technology, sustainability, and shifting demographics. The debate about accountants’ relevance in the era of AI misses the real point: relevance is earned through skills that compound value. And that is precisely where SAICA is investing − so members can build careers, firms and institutions that endure.
THE GROWTH CONTEXT
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2025 reports that global labour markets are being reconfigured by technology and the green transition, with employers prioritising new capabilities across data, sustainability and digital operations. Over the 2025–2030 horizon, the report synthesises the views of over 1 000 major employers (representing 14+ million workers) to project where skills demand is rising fastest and where reskilling urgency is most acute.
In South Africa, growth has a distinctive responsibility: SMMEs and the informal sector are critical to jobs and inclusion. Recent research1 suggests formal small businesses contributed roughly a fifth of GDP and a third of employment, while the informal sector, though smaller in GDP share, supports significant livelihoods. Stats SA’s annual financial statistics2 likewise show small businesses generating about 21% of turnover in 2023 underscoring the importance of finance and assurance skills that help smaller enterprises scale. Against persistent unemployment pressures, the finance sector remains one of the relative bright spots for employment growth, highlighting the profession’s role in economic recovery.3
WHAT SKILLS MAKE THE PROFESSION ATTRACTIVE NOW?
Across global and local evidence, five capability clusters stand out:
- Data, digital and AI fluency − Accountants who can interrogate datasets, understand model risk, and apply analytics to decision-useful insights are already in short supply. IFAC notes the shift in auditor and finance skills as AI changes evidence gathering, controls testing and risk assessment − elevating judgement, data literacy and technology governance. Employers also report acute shortages in AI ethics and security − areas where professional scepticism and assurance thinking map naturally to emerging controls and oversight.
- Sustainability and trust − The green transition is a macro driver of work. Skills in sustainability reporting, climate risk, and assurance over non-financial information are rapidly moving from niche to mainstream.
- Advisory for growth − Especially in the SMME economy, commercial acumen, cash-flow architecture, working-capital design, and route-to-market analytics are the difference between survival and scale. The local data on small business contribution to employment makes this a high-impact skill domain.
- Ethics, judgement and public interest − Technology amplifies both value and risk. The profession’s ethical core − independence, integrity, objectivity − anchors trust in the age of automation and ‘black-box’ models.
- People-centric capabilities. Global talent surveys show that human skills − communication, leadership, inclusion, mobility, and wellbeing − are decisive in attraction and retention.
HOW SAICA IS FOSTERING GROWTH FOR A LASTING LEGACY
SAICA’s strategic realignment is explicit about accelerating member value and becoming an insight-driven organisation − investing in digital platforms, research access and CPD so members can engage anywhere, anytime.
What does that mean for members’ growth?
Always-on learning, intentionally curated − From core CPD to emerging content (AI, data analytics, sustainability reporting, cyber risk), SAICA’s learning stack is being digitised and targeted to evolving role profiles − supporting both practice and business.
Insight platforms and research access − Members can increasingly tap applied insights − industry briefs, standards updates, and global trend analysis − so they can advise with confidence in fast-moving domains.
Pathways and recognition − The CA(SA) designation remains globally respected, opening mobility and leadership pathways across assurance, corporate finance, public sector, sustainability, fintech and entrepreneurship.
Practice and SMP support − For firms serving SMMEs, SAICA’s focus on practical tools, quality management, and market-development initiatives equips practices to deliver higher-value advisory − where growth and jobs multiply.
Inclusion and pipeline strength − A legacy worth having is one that is more representative than the one we inherited. Pipeline initiatives and curriculum enhancements show the momentum is real.
OUR VALUE PROPOSITION TO THE NEXT GENERATION
If you are choosing a profession in 2026, you want three things: mobility, meaning and mastery. The CA(SA) pathway offers all three. Mobility, because the designation remains a passport into leadership roles globally. Meaning, because the work directly shapes capital allocation, trust, and growth − especially among small businesses and the informal economy that power livelihoods. And mastery, because the profession’s learning architecture is evolving − beyond compliance − to develop the skills that markets reward: AI-enabled analytics, sustainability assurance, commercial growth advisory, and people leadership.
THE LEGACY WE SHOULD CHOOSE
Legacy is not a static reputation; it’s the compounding effect of skills applied to the public interest. As technology accelerates and South Africa strives for inclusive growth, CAs(SA) can be the architects of resilience − helping businesses formalise and scale, building trustworthy reporting in both financial and sustainability domains, and governing AI with ethics and scepticism. SAICA’s strategy is to back that mission with platforms, pathways and proof points that help members grow so that our collective legacy is not only excellence − but impact.
Growth is the engine. Legacy is the destination. SAICA is the vehicle built to get us there.
NOTES
1 World Economic Forum. The Future of Jobs Report, January 2025.
2 REB Special Edition, The State of Small Business in South Africa 2024.
3 Reuter, South African jobless rate rises, more give up looking for work, May 2025.
Author
Denise Maré CA(SA), Lead: Sector Growth (Strategic Affairs), SAICA
