It was his Grade 10 Accounting teacher at Hoërskool Pretoria-Noord who helped Katlego Matshego realise that a career in this field was not just his calling, but a love. As the Deputy Head of the School of Finance and Accounting at the Independent Institute of Education (IIE), Varsity College and MSA, that’s what he is now seeking to achieve with his students.
‘My high school teacher believed in me and encouraged me to become a CA(SA) because of my strength in maths and accounting,’ says Katlego Matshego. ‘He took the time to teach me and make sure that I developed my interest in numbers.’
Katlego completed a BCom in Accounting Sciences at the University of Pretoria and went on to do his CTA part-time through Unisa. He also holds a Master of Commerce degree specialising in Taxation with a thesis titled ‘The South African income tax implications of a stokvel’.
He served his articles at the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) where his audit clients included the Public Investment Corporation, National Treasury, the South African Revenue Service, and Airport Company South Africa. During his second year of articles, he served as a deputy chairperson of the Trainee Auditor Forum (TAF) of the National B Audit business unit, and later as the TAF Chairperson in his final year of articles. After serving articles, he was appointed as an Assistant Audit Manager and later as an Assistant Manager for Learning Development at the AGSA.
‘I stayed on at the AGSA for five years because I believed I could learn a lot more about the profession from the organisation,’ he says. ‘Given the then grave state of the public sector in the country, I also felt that I could contribute to addressing problems relating to financial accountability, while also having the opportunity to learn. I am inquisitive by nature, and I like being in situations that are imperfect and present challenges to be overcome.’
While auditing public sector clients, he became aware that many civil servants lack the appropriate financial and management skills and are often unfamiliar with the accounting terms and financial jargon that are fundamental to the business of their organisations. He found himself having to go back to basics and explain financial management principles in detail.
‘This was another challenge I enjoyed,’ he says. ‘I was completing my CTA at the same time that I was doing my articles; which was tough, but I enjoyed being able to apply in my work what I had learnt in the classroom.’
Katlego also had to confront and reassess his negative perceptions of working in the public sector, many of them fuelled by friends and peers who chose to go to the more sought-after private sector firms. ‘Ultimately, a debit is a debit, and a credit is a credit. What is more important is to understand the environment you are in and to develop the skills to apply the principles of accounting appropriately.’
A key early success in his career was his contribution to the audit report of the South African Maritime Safety Authority. ‘It was clear that there were management problems, and I helped to bring those to light, as they were being reported in the news. This was a prime example of the impact my contribution could make to addressing the lack of accountability in government institutions.’
Post articles, he was appointed as an Assistant Manager for Learning Development at the AGSA, where he helped to establish a programme for SARS trainees, bringing them into the AGSA for three months to gain exposure to auditing, different accounting frameworks and possibilities of further experience of systems auditing and performance auditing.
In 2016, having had a positive experience overseeing the learning programmes at the AGSA and discovering that he had a passion for teaching, as well as the patience and confidence to make young people feel secure in their learning environment, he heard that the University of Fort Hare was seeking to recruit a lecturer in taxation for the BCom programme.
‘I have always had a great love for the subject of tax, and I had developed a strong interest in education as a result of my work at the AGSA,’ he says. ‘I saw this as an opportunity to enter the world of academia. I was keen to work with young people and to pass on the knowledge I had gained in the public sector in a way that is interesting, practical and understandable for students seeking to enter the profession. Fort Hare was perfect, because I wanted to lecture at a historically disadvantaged institution.’
There he had to learn to engage not with peers, but with young students who had little to no knowledge of accounting in the real world. Faced with few resources compared to what he had at the AGSA, he took on the challenge of doing things differently without compromising quality, while also shifting his mindset to be able to impart knowledge in a logical, practical way that his students could understand.
In 2018, he made the move to the University of Johannesburg, where he taught cost and financial management at third-year level to students in the Diploma in Accounting programme. ‘I was drawn to the position, as I wanted to learn more about teaching diploma students. I had to do a lot of work on myself to meet the students on their level and to get them to where I wanted them to be at the end of the programme.’
Katlego’s next move was to Wits University, where he was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Taxation. He was anxious about joining such a prestigious institution, but soon found that he was able to make a positive contribution to the development of his students. ‘I was encouraged by the atmosphere at Wits, and it was gratifying for me to realise that I was more than skilled enough to fit in.’
Although he had planned to stay at Wits after the three-year probation period, when he was approached via Linked by the IIE, he was attracted to the idea of becoming involved in academic leadership.
‘The IIE had created a position for Deputy Head of the School of Finance and Accounting and the institute was impressed that I had taught at both diploma and degree level across a number of different universities,’ he says. ‘It was another opportunity for me to learn and sharpen my skill set in an entirely different environment.’
Katlego is certain of one thing – he has a passion for teaching and Is determined to make an impact on both students and colleagues in his current role. ‘I think back on the best teachers and lecturers I had, and I remember how important it is to make difficult concepts logical. I determine to impart knowledge, dispel fear about the accounting field, and inspire the right attitude towards learning.’
Author
Monique Verduyn
