Luyanda Gidini is driven by a strong belief that every child should have access to a high-quality education.
Having grown up in Tembisa, on Gauteng’s East Rand, Luyanda was fortunate to go to Midrand High School, a former Model C school that was well-equipped with both teachers and resources.
There he developed a great passion for accounting, even though he knew little about the subject. He says, however, that he was not a super smart student who passed with flying colours as many aspiring accounting professionals do. On the contrary, he was a middling learner who chose to study accounting because he had heard that CAs(SA) have great earning potential and that the world is their oyster.
After registering for his studies at Wits University, he realised that he had his work cut out for him. Not only was he unaware of what becoming a CA(SA) actually meant, but he also found himself in the unfamiliar world of a big, wealthy, fast-paced multicultural city. It was a culture shock and unlike anything he had ever known before.
‘Like many black kids, finance was an issue,’ he says. ‘I was part of what is called the “missing middle”, those students who come from working-class households that do not qualify for funds from NSFAS but at the same time, cannot afford higher education. Often, I could not get my results when they were released because I had not paid my fees on time. But my mother made enormous sacrifices, even selling her house to ensure that her children could study, for which I will forever be grateful,’ he says.
‘My studies were difficult because everything was new to me and there were times when I was complacent because there were so many distractions. I had to repeat a couple of years and it was only in my third year that I began to understand what being a CA(SA) actually required.’
By that stage he was having conversations with friends who were working in the profession, and he soon realised that auditing was not a career he was keen on pursuing. As someone who often complained about the public sector, he decided he wanted to make a difference, so he joined National Treasury and completed his articles there.
‘I wanted to stop talking about service delivery problems and use my skills to help fix the system,’ Luyanda says. ‘I also believed that my talents would be better appreciated in the public sector than in a large financial services organisation.’
National Treasury seconded him to the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), and he spent considerable time in different departments. After articles, he joined the CoJ’s group governance and reporting department from 2014 to 2018 and was also involved with the launching of the CoJ’s Academy of Chartered Accountants training programme in June 2018.
In 2018, he was also appointed as chairperson of the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA) Johannesburg branch. Because he is passionate about the profession, ABASA plays a key role in his life as he committed to growing the number of black CAs(SA). Today he is vice-president of the organisation, which has allowed him to interact with accounting professionals from all across the country and in different sectors. This has also enhanced his leadership skills. Networking is an important skill for Cas(SA), and he believes this grew his confidence enormously.
From 2018 to 2020, he was the acting CFO at the Metropolitan Trading Company, another CoJ entity. It was during that time he was selected as a national finalist in SAICA’s 2019 Top 35-under-35 competition.
Having developed a firm belief that a well-run city needs well-run municipal entities, he then applied for his current position of CFO at the Johannesburg Metropolitan Bus Service Company (Metrobus), a wholly owned subsidiary of the CoJ. He also serves as an executive director on the Metrobus Board.
‘In all the time I’ve been at CoJ, I have learned that it’s important to never become part of the system,’ he says. ‘It’s easy to be the stereotypical government employee who comes in at 10 am and has coffee for an hour. Because of the profession I represent, it is vital that I abide by the ethics and standards set for CAs(SA). As a fairly young leader, I aim to provide value. There is often a perception that because you work in the public sector you are a second-grade CA(SA), so I make certain that I continue to believe in myself, grow my skills, and not let others define who I am.’
As the former training officer for the CoJ’s Academy for Chartered Accountants (ACA) Training Programme, he has brought trainees in to work with him so that they can gain exposure to how finance works in a public sector organisation.
He successfully survived a major disaster last year when Metrobus’s ERP system crashed at the beginning of August, just weeks before the financial statements were to be submitted to the auditors. The servers were old and there were no backups.
‘It was an extremely challenging time,’ he says. ‘Given that we had lost all our data, I had no idea how we were going to deliver the financials. But we rallied together as a team, brought in an excellent external service provider to help us, and recompiled our financial statements from scratch. We engaged with the Auditor-General and explained what had happened and what our solution was. It was the worst period of my professional career, but it was also the best, because we succeeded thanks to a common purpose and many sleepless nights. We got an unqualified audit opinion, even under the most difficult circumstances. Although we did not achieve a clean audit, I believe that will be accomplished by the end of the next financial period.’
Learning is an ongoing journey for him. From the security guard to the CEO, Luyanda believes that you should never underestimate what can be learned from others. He is currently studying towards a postgraduate diploma in business management at GIBS, which he is hoping to turn into an MBA as he would like to move towards a more strategic leadership role in the future, while he is still relatively young. Deeply ambitious, he would never shy away from the challenge of helping to sort out even the most problematic state-owned entities. He’s keen on a private sector role at some point in the future and is also looking forward to running his own business.
Luyanda has little spare time. He is a voluntary member of the SAICA National Council which is responsible for advising the board on the long-term strategy of the Institute and the profession. He is also a member of the Audit and Risk Committee at the South African Institute of Government Auditors (SAIGA) and he volunteers as the chairperson of the Audit Committee at the Equal Education National Council (EE), an outspoken organisation that advocates for quality and equality in the education system.
A family man, he is a big proponent of mental well-being and believes that his faith keeps him strong and supported. He says it’s important to surround yourself with positive people who are in your corner and encourage you. As a result, he is strict about the people with whom he spends time.
‘There are many obstacles on the journey to becoming a CA(SA),’ he says. ‘The most important thing is never to give up, and not to be put off by failure. It is all part of the learning process. Always make decisions based on faith, not fear, and you will always succeed.’
Author
Monique Verduyn
