By going for broke, Tintswalo Masia CA(SA) ensured her family had a fighting chance to a better life and education.
A CA(SA) designation. An MBA from GIBS (University of Pretoria). Tintswalo Masia (36) could easily be one of South African career women’s hall of famers.
While she relishes the trajectory of her career, the picture could be totally different. Growing up in Botsoleni, a veritable backwater in rural Limpopo, Tintswalo was unwittingly set up for failure from the very beginning.
‘The sheer tragedy of growing up in rural Botsoleni was that there was no one in the immediate family who had made a living out of education,’ she says. ‘Being raised by illiterate parents, the dynamics were not designed to accelerate one’s career success. As a school-going girl child, however, I realised early on that I was smart,’ she says.
‘I had a keen aptitude, but the community − oblivious to my accomplishments at school − believed we (girls) were going to school just to pass time so that we could get older and then get married. When asked what an accountancy qualification did for her, Tintswalo speaks at length, recalling the conditions of her village childhood.
‘Being a chartered accountant has really changed my entire life,’ she says. ‘It became the only ticket out … It freed me from poverty. It loosed me from family issues, especially with the dynamics of polygamy. My father was polygamous.
‘Growing up, we had a lot of challenges. Becoming a chartered accountant got me out of those challenges. It helped me to buy myself a house where I could be free and be at peace.’
In a small way, her career affords her an opportunity to change the lives of her immediate family, she says. ‘It enabled me to solve my mother’s problems. It enabled me to build for her, putting her in a place where she would be safe and at peace. It saved us from mental health issues that come as a result of the many problems and challenges that come with the dynamics and politics of family, particularly a polygamous family.’
On a higher level, her work has brought honour to her family. ‘Besides uplifting me from poverty, it has a name for my family,’ she continues. ‘I’m very proud to introduce myself as the one and only Tintswalo Masia. I carry my father’s surname and I am extremely proud of it.’
EXCLUSION NOT A MYTH
To a small extent, her experience helps to throw light on what it’s like to be excluded.
With some brio, she launches into a heart-wrenching tale from her student days. ‘’ ‘The first time I went to varsity I actually went to Wits and I was enrolled for BCom in Accounting,’ she starts. ‘Then I was not aware of NSFAS [National Student Financial Aid Scheme], Thuthuka Bursary fund, or any institution that helped students from poor backgrounds to fund their studies. So my father who was a general worker at Eskom had to take an education loan to pay for my tuition.
‘He didn’t have a place to stay, so he was squatting in Soweto. He lived in a squatter camp in Orlando West, Soweto. He was sharing the quarters, which was a room, really. I had to move in as a squatter. I had to ask to sleep in one of the shacks. There was no electricity or running water … I had no place where I could do homework or practise whatever I was taught in class.
‘As a result, I was not able to progress with my studies at Wits until after two years when I bumped into someone who was working at UJ who happened to know about how well I had passed in my matric. They had information about NSFAS and were able to assist me with applications, coaching me on how to submit a late application at the University of Johannesburg. Then I was able to move into their private res, and that’s how I was able to complete my BCom in record time.’
Students’ lack of access to information compounds their problems, she says in earnest. ‘As in my case.’
A DIFFERENCE MAKER, A GOOD AMBASSADOR FOR EDUCATION
For this reason, she’s made it her mission to give back to the community. Unwittingly she’s become an untiring advocate of SAICA’s Difference Maker tenet, which encourages members to be difference makers.
‘From the moment I passed CTA [Certificate in the Theory of Accounting]
I started an initiative of taking a career day to a village high school. I would ask the office to support me with information brochures and stationery and set off to my former high school to share my story. Encouraging them, I share about how they can apply and where to get funding. I also round up a few professionals from the area − who are now in different fields − to join me on the outing, because I wish for us to be models to those schools, to be walking examples of professionals, whether in accountancy or engineering …’
She’s been quite intentional about her work as a mentor in practice. ‘I have actually decided that I will make myself an ambassador for education to support schools in the rural area,’ she says. ‘I recently started an initiative to support a school to buy study guides for Grade 12 learners to try and improve their marks.
‘I also mentor young trainee auditors within and outside of the profession. I also mentor newly appointed senior managers in the audit space and provide them with support on how to lead better and how they can learn from some of the mistakes and lessons that I’ve learned in my own leadership. I also get into guest lecturing in some of the universities and I get to tell my story as well to inspire people.’
ADAPTABLE, EMPATHETIC LEADER
Tintswalo Masia joined the Auditor-General of South Africa in 2011 and has been rising through the ranks ever since. Starting out as a trainee auditor, she went on to serve stints as technical audit manager, technical learning manager, as well as a senior audit manager. Then she was promoted to deputy business executive in 2023.
‘My leadership style incorporates a number of styles,’ she says, deliberating the question of her leadership. ‘More than anything I see myself as a transformational leader. I like to uplift other people, I love seeing them grow and take up space. Basically, I like to replicate myself in the people that report to me. But a good gauge is when they get better than me.’
She’s also into servant leadership style ‘because what is leadership if that leader is not about serving others? Sometimes a leader must be flexible to take the backseat to allow the team to demonstrate their skills and capabilities and showcase the team that one is leading.
‘I aspire to be an ethical leader who is known for her integrity, for being impactful in a positive manner, for advancing socio-economic agendas, a woman leader who does not shy away from her features as a woman. A woman leader who is competent, capable, and extremely skilled.’
Her rolling five-year plan includes more work in philanthropy, she says, adding that she hopes to redeem time for her PhD studies. ’Apart from getting into my PhD studies, I wish to support good educational causes, especially in the rural areas,’ she says. ‘I intend to immerse myself and involve myself in such initiatives. I’m also resolute in being an ambassador for education.
‘I wish to influence spaces. I also wish to influence other professionals to do what they do for a positive socio-economic impact, whether it’s a business or an institution that they work for.’
Author
Mpho Tshikhudo
