The chartered accountancy profession in South Africa is proud of the many star performers among its members. When we look up at the night sky, we can only see some of the billions of stars in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Similarly, the few SAICA stars we focus on in this issue provide merely an example of the rich achievements and deep insights present among our members.
Just as the stars of the universe differ from one another in size, brightness and position as seen from Earth, the impressive SAICA performers highlighted here differ in what they do and the roads they travelled to get to where they are today.
Together, these SAICA stars symbolise our members’ experience, leadership, and hard work. This article gives a glimpse of their backgrounds and achievements, as well as their insights about chartered accountancy and its impact on their careers.
Suresh Parbhoo Kana, chairman of Murray and Roberts Holdings
Suresh Parbhoo Kana (65) obtained his CA(SA) in 1979 and is chairman of Murray and Roberts Holdings Ltd, lead independent director of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ltd, chairman of the Audit Committee of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and chairman of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, as well as a trustee of the IFRS Foundation and the Constitutional Court Trust of South Africa. His many previous roles include that of chairman of the SAICA board and CEO of PwC Southern Africa.
Mr Kana says: ‘The curriculum and training on the road to becoming a chartered accountant provided a solid foundation in making a contribution to business and society, both locally and globally.’
His current role at the WFP is particularly inspiring for him: the NPO, supported by donor contributions from 36 member states, provides emergency food, aid and assistance in countries devastated by political conflict or natural disasters. Its audit committee oversees all WFP operations to ensure they are effective, efficient and economical, and the work is ‘extremely challenging due to the harsh environments and circumstances of the countries in which the WFP operates and the complexity of the matters that need to be dealt with on a regular basis’.
Mr Kana has always ‘valued people, relationships and strong decision-making, in addition to being ethical, empathetic and compassionate’. It is important to ‘constantly be at the forefront of local and international change, have a high work ethic, and be open-minded and respectful towards everyone’.
On leadership he notes: ‘Empowering others is the best form of giving back. I am passionate about empowering young professionals and also have a keen interest in high-altitude mountain trekking. Leading teams on mountains is no different from leading in the boardroom. You have to demonstrate leadership, passion, teamwork, excellence and authenticity – all this builds trust. To date I have led 58 individuals, male and female, from all walks of life and varying ages on six expeditions into the Himalayas, with a 100% destination success rate.’
Mr Kana advises young entrants to the profession to ‘read widely and contribute locally and globally to make the world a better place. Accountants, through their strong ethics base, disciplined training and analytical abilities, can play a leading role in addressing the challenges facing society such as sustainability and climate change, big data and poverty alleviation. I would encourage young people to strive to attain a sustainable work-life integration and to always have a hobby/interest outside of work to ensure that they remain balanced.’
He adds that COVID-19 will permanently change the world of work and education using online platforms, drone technology, etc: ‘The COVID-19 pandemic will invariably influence governance, strategy and operations of business. Leaders will have to display strong and ethical leadership to reposition, reinvent and rescale their businesses.’
Brian Joffe, CEO and founder of Long4Life; founder of Bidvest
Listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the 20 most powerful people in African business, Brian Joffe (72) has been a chartered accountant since 1967. He founded the Bidvest Group Limited (known as the Bidvest Group or simply Bidvest) as a South African services, trading, and distribution company in 1988. Today, the Group employs approximately 140 000 people and owns or has significant holdings in over 300 companies. In May 2016, the food services division was unbundled from the Group to form the Bidcorp Group.
Currently, Joffe is the Chief Executive Officer at his investment company Long4Life Ltd and serves on a number of boards . His many honours as leading manager and entrepreneur, include one of the Top 100 Africans of the Year in the Africa Almanac (2001), South Africa’s representative at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year awards (2003), Sunday Times’ Businessman of the Year in 2007, and one of South Africa’s top 25 business leaders in the Wits Business School Journal (2010).
Addressing accountancy students and lecturers at Wits University, Joffe asked: ‘What do you think accounting actually is? What do you think accountants actually do? You are historians. You record history. We essentially record the history of what’s happened and we have the methodologies to record that history. I don’t think historians equip anyone to understand what’s likely to happen in the future, unless of course you believe that things just happen again and again the exact same way. I don’t think the world we live in today is anything like the world we lived in before, I don’t believe that the world of tomorrow will be the same as the world of today.’
Joffe said during more than 50 years in business he had seen great South African entrepreneurs who were chartered accountants. Yet he firmly believes that ‘you’re either born an entrepreneur or you’re not. There is no in-between.’
He continued: ‘If you aren’t prepared to take risks, you have no business being an entrepreneur,’ he said. ‘Entrepreneurship is fundamentally linked to balanced risk-taking. You need to balance the return you require to meet your objectives, the risk of loss you can afford to take, and the risk of loss that you are comfortable with.’
Like other leading SAICA stars, Joffe commented on the current rate of change: ‘We can be absolutely certain that the future is going to be nothing like the present, and that’s where a critical factor related to the relationship between the accounting profession and entrepreneurship is relevant: most accountants examine the history of a business – they are financial historians. But the history is not relevant to what the future holds for that company. If you are thinking about making an acquisition and you look to the accounts to enable you to make sense of the business, you will get it wrong because those numbers will not tell you about the future of that business. Only your instinct will.’
He cautioned young entrants into the business world to ‘remember that successful entrepreneurship is hardly ever the result of a gamble. True businesspeople make their fortunes incrementally, one step at a time.’
Chantyl Mulder, Executive Director: Nation Building at SAICA
Chantyl Mulder is also chairman of Accounting Technicians South Africa (AAT(SA)), a member of the technical working group which advises the Human Resource Development Council chaired by the Deputy President, and a member of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council appointed by the President. Through SAICA, Mulder currently runs a R200 million project with the Department of Higher Education and Training to assist Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in the areas of financial capacity-building and HR.
She joined SAICA in 1999 to head up the then newly created Education and Training Division and was tasked with creating programmes to transform the profile of new members to reflect the national profile in terms of race and gender. The Thuthuka Education Upliftment Fund was established in 2002, the Thuthuka Bursary Fund in 2005, The Hope Factory in 2006 and AAT(SA) in 2010. Since inception, nearly R2 billion has been raised for these initiatives and programmes.
Ms Mulder says she absolutely loves what she does: ‘I think that it makes all the difference!’
She feels rewarded by Thuthuka Bursary success stories and remembers a call from a student from the University of Fort Hare: ‘We started Thuthuka in the Eastern Cape and did not know nearly as much as we know now, so we did not budget enough money for food.’ Together with SAICA’s CEO Ignatius Sehoole, they made a plan. ‘I told the students that one day when they were qualified and driving big cars, they would know that all we have gone through together will be worth it. Well, they called and wanted to take me to lunch in their big cars! That is a feeling you can never explain to anyone.’
Mulder believes CA(SA)s do not have to stand back for any other accountancy designation in the world. ‘Our specific skills set cannot be compared to anything else. We have taken a leadership role in many areas.’ She knows ‘that some of our members have behaved appallingly and need to be held accountable, but it does not mean that as a profession we are bad. The late DR Oliver Tambo said a few drops of dirt do not muddy the sea.’
Mulder still has a list of things she wants to do. ‘I want to see Unite4mazansi get off the ground and do more education around the roles of the guardians of governance and why these roles are critical … We have identified amazing advocates who will not be intimidated to speak truth to power.’ She would like to see all the historically disadvantaged universities accredited for the postgraduate programme, introduce new teaching and learning methodologies based on the skills set required as identified in CA2025, and make SAICA ED the first port of call for SSMEs.
Mulder pays tribute to the ‘absolutely amazing team of people who share my dreams’ and stresses that charity begins at home: ‘Support your profession!’
Stephen Koseff, former CEO of Investec
Stephen Koseff (68) is the former CEO of the Investec Group, which he co-founded with Bernard Kantor and Glynn Burger 40 years ago after starting his career as an accountant. He was instrumental in transforming Investec from a small leasing outfit into a global investment banker and asset manager and is proud of the fact that it has shown to be a sustainable business: Investec’s small initial team of eight has grown to a staff of more than 10 000 people. In addition to his current directorships, he is a non-executive director of the South African Banking Association and a board member of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA).
During his acceptance speech of his honorary PhD at Wits University in 2017, Koseff remarked: ‘It takes time to build success; it’s not a one-day game.’ He noted: ‘At the same time, we’re also facing the Fourth Industrial Revolution where innovations, robotics, and artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the workplace. We must equip our young people to compete in the changing global economy to avoid compound economic exclusion well into the future.’
Addressing the national unemployment problem, Koseff noted at SAICA’s 2019 Nation Building Summit ‘the need to shift from developmental state to enabling state, by creating a growth environment by upskilling in the tourism and agriculture industries, and by civil society boosting the economy from a grass-roots level’.
Koseff believes the only way to move people from the chronic poverty line towards middle-class society is in growing the overall size of the pie, in educating people and building on their skills.
He says South Africa needs to focus on where we can compete globally. ‘Luckily, South Africa remains one of the top countries in the world to visit, so tourism is a must as a starting point for boosting the economy. An added bonus? There’s ample scope to employ lower-skilled workers in the tourism industry.’ In terms of growth in agriculture, Koseff points out that South Africa has lots of fallow land but not enough farmers. ‘This is another industry with capacity to absorb lesser-skilled people, so we need to grow, train and develop new farmers.’
Koseff chairs a number of foundations that allocate money to NGOs and is in awe of the work these NGOs are doing – from early childhood development to food delivery to schools, helping those who’ve been subjected to sexual abuse and providing access to clean drinking water across the continent, or installing silo towers with boreholes and taps around villages where infrastructure is incomplete or initial sources have run dry. He comments that the simple act of providing water uplifts a whole community and changes the narrative in the society, as the communities can now start farming and help look after the water facility.
Koseff’s inspirational thought for the country of tomorrow rings true also for the accountancy profession: ‘Together under the banner of common purpose there are no limits to what South Africa can achieve.’
Ajen Sita, CEO of EY Africa
Ajen Sita (49) obtained his CA(SA) qualification in 1995 and is currently the CEO for EY Africa. He is also a member of the EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) board and Global Emerging Markets Forum of EY. He says, ‘I am committed to the transformation of the accounting and auditing profession, which is demonstrated through my role as chairman of the Thuthuka Education Upliftment Fund.’
He comments that ‘training to become a CA(SA) is one of the most rigorous career paths. You are exposed to diverse industries, people and geographies in your preparation to becoming a true professional. The training is critical to building your character and competence and positioning you to enjoy a relationship of trust with your teams, clients and government. I have been able to take the lessons learnt and serve both large and small clients across sectors in more than 20 different countries across the world.’
He says he wouldn’t consider himself a ‘star’ and is a great believer in the power of teams. ‘I believe that success can be made up of a combination of aptitude as well as attitude, with a little bit of luck thrown in,’ he quips.
He echoes Chantal Mulder’s sentiment about the driving force behind his success: ‘Simply put, I love what I do!’ However, looking back, ‘I think my principles of success would remain the same: to be consistent, be in the present and be a team player. Do those things well, and success will follow.’
Sita says the world of young people entering the profession today ‘is vastly different from the one I started out in. The way they engage with colleagues and clients, the way they consume information and the way they look to live their purpose is inspiring and I think I can learn from each of our young graduates daily. I would say that in the early part of your career, take on as many diverse experiences as you can – work in different businesses, sectors and even countries. This will open your mind to new ideas and possibilities for success later in life. Being a chartered accountant really gives you a rigour and discipline to how you approach your role, but it is also about the attitude you demonstrate, the opportunities you embrace and the collaboration that you display that will contribute to your overall success.’
He comments on how the COVID-19 pandemic will influence the profession: ‘As a human race, we have suffered many setbacks in the past, but the difference with COVID-19 is that for the first time the world is united behind a common enemy. There is nothing more powerful than a collective of people united in a common cause working to protecting humanity itself. It is imperative that our business plays an active role in working with our colleagues to be part of shaping solutions. This pandemic has shown us that we all need to co-operate, collaborate and be cohesive in our efforts.’
Christine Ramon, CFO AngloGold Ashanti
Kandimathie Christine Ramon (53) obtained her CA(SA) qualification in 1990. She joined AngloGold Ashanti as CFO in 2014, and her senior financial management and executive positions in various companies include those as CFO and executive director of Sasol and CEO of Johnnic Holdings.
Ramon was nominated by SAICA as a member of the IFAC board in 2018 and chairs the listed companies’ CFO Forum in South Africa. She has served as member of the Standing Advisory Committee to the International Accounting Standards Board and as deputy chair of the Financial Reporting Standards Council of South Africa. She was nominated as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2007.
She comments on the CA(SA) designation as well regarded internationally: ‘It is an accreditation of financial and business excellence. Once I qualified as a CA(SA), it was easy for me to find work internationally.’ It provided a foundation to acquire experience across a variety of industries ranging from media and entertainment to petrochemicals and mining. ‘The boards that I served on required specific expertise in finance, accounting and general management.’
She enjoys her work, ‘as it allows me to contribute to the empowerment of other women in my workplace and in broader society’. Keys to her success have been ‘enthusiasm, hard work and resilience. I take pride in my work and I try to make a difference in whatever I do. I continue to be a keen learner and am not being afraid to roll up my sleeves, ask questions and get to grips with complex issues. I have always leveraged off the support of my team and allowed them the necessary space to develop whilst also holding them accountable for agreed deliverables.
Open communication has been key to forming good relationships.’
Ramon believes CAs should stay abreast of developments within the profession, their industry and the global economy. ‘It requires one to maintain good networks, continue the investment in professional development, upskilling, as well reading publications. In addition, CAs are required to adapt to change in the digital age and embrace new ways of working.’
The ability to balance technical and non-technical skills will be key to supporting decision making and serving the public interest. In an age of COVID-19 ‘online education, cloud-based document management systems and virtual meetings have already been embraced due to necessity. This will eliminate the need for unnecessary travel and the focus will be on more efficient communication, risk management and document management solutions. Companies are focusing on managing the impact of COVID-19 across their business, implementing proactive measures to manage the risk and including relevant disclosure in their financial reports. In my business there has been a strong focus on safety and hygiene measures, supply chain and information management.’
She stresses the importance of finance functions to support the business as strategic value-adding business partners. ‘Finance should not be perceived as a traditional accounting or reporting function, even though that remains an integral part of the role. The culture of collaboration and accountability in an organisation is of utmost importance.’
Sizwe Nxasana, retired executive and founder of Future Nation Schools
Sizwe Nxasana (62) was one of the first 10 African CAs(SA) in South Africa. Among others, he started Sizwe & Co, KwaZulu-Natal’s first black audit firm, in 1989, and in 1996 he became the founding partner of Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, now SizweNtsalubaGobodo (SNG Grant Thornton). He founded Future Nation Schools, a chain of affordable private schools, after he retired in 2015. He also founded the Sifiso Learning Group and is the co-founder (2013) and chairman of the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) as a response to the call by the National Development Plan (NDP) for increased collaboration among stakeholders to improve educational outcomes. He was appointed chairman of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme in 2015 and chairman of the Ministerial Task Team developing a new funding model for students from challenged backgrounds. Prior to his retirement, Nxasana was the CEO of the FirstRand Banking Group and before that the CEO of Telkom SA.
His passion for education is driven by the need to provide South African children with the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to live economically gainful and fulfilled lives: ‘After all, we need young people who can think and solve problems, work with others and understand the importance of technology if they are going to succeed today.’
Nxasana believes one of the main reasons for the skills discrepancy in the country is the fact that the bulk of African learners are not being taught in their home language. This often leads to the students not understanding some basic concepts. As an example, he tells how, while teaching the concept of VAT to Grade 8 learners, the students asked what he meant by the terms ‘vendors’, ‘deemed’ and ‘miscellaneous items’, so he had to spend much more time explaining those concepts than to focus on the original topic of the lesson. He refers to research showing the burden of foreign languages as the language of learning and teaching, as children are more active, think more critically and create an entirely different classroom atmosphere when taught in their mother tongue.
Nxasana points to a lag between qualifications and skills needed for the future. To address this, the developing world’s education system needs to go beyond teaching knowledge. He asks: ‘Can they count? Can they use a computer? Can they read? Can they understand what they’re doing? We need to go beyond the basic competencies of numeracy and literacy, as the gap continues to widen.’
To provide further insight into where the world is going, Nxasana spoke of the hand-held devices that we now take for granted: because of these devices, there are a host of high-paying jobs today that simply didn’t exist a decade ago. He believes we need to prepare young people for future opportunities.
‘We can’t have all these kids graduate and wait for a job to fall into their hands. We have to create job makers,’ says Nxasana.
Stephen Saad, Group Chief Executive, Aspen Group
Steven Bradley Saad (55) has held a CA(SA) qualification since 1986 and is a founding shareholder and chief executive of the Aspen Group. In 1989 he became a 50% shareholder in Quickmed (which merged with Covan to form Zurich Pharmaceuticals and which was acquired by Prempharm, now Adcock Ingram, in 1993). Saad acquired Varsity College in 1993 and sold it in 1996. The next year (1997) Aspen was established.
He comments that ‘being a CA(SA) is testimony to one’s ability to hang tough. The study path is gruelling, and it takes real perseverance to finish the course. Completing the qualification is not only an endorsement of your capabilities to others but it also gives one self-confidence. One needs only look at all the listed companies across so many different industries and almost without fail there is a CA(SA) as a leader or as an integral member to the leadership team. Although I have been in the pharmaceutical field, my understanding of finances has been integral to my success as I feel comfortable around financial and commercial areas and with a grasp of that detail am able to make informed decisions.’
Saad says his approach to business is that ‘being successful needs to transcend financial boundaries alone … I have always surrounded myself with teams of people who know more than me in their area of expertise.’
He comments that after a tough period their business is well positioned now: ‘Our decision to focus on sterile products has proven invaluable globally for the COVID-19 epidemic, and leaves us well positioned for the formulation and filling of vaccines.’ He also believes due to COVID-19 ‘significant permanent adjustments are likely.
The ability to be as productive organisationally without travel, working from home and ability to communicate relatively seamlessly without face to face contact has prompted some introspection. Do we really need to travel as much? Are we losing productivity with the way we currently function? What does the new work model look like?
Logically, it makes no sense to slip back into the old model.’
Saad says people entering the profession ‘are fortunate to be born into an era of incredible change. The digital era has created new industries. It is daunting but it’s also very exciting … You can lose your money but never your education.’
He adds: ‘As a chartered accountant you are uniquely positioned to be make a success of business. However, business success is not simply about material success. The most important indicator of success is ensuring that you get the balance right. COVID-19 has demonstrated this to us all and it hopefully means we all make some adjustments to our personal value systems. You can buy medicine but not health.’
Saad says all professionals and entrepreneurs should a vision that takes cognisance of the realities. ‘From there it is all about execution. Execution needs a balance between logic and passion. Without that fire of passion, nothing beyond the ordinary will ever be achieved.’
Nonkululeko Gobodo, CEO, Nkululeko Leadership Consulting
Nonkululeko Gobodo (age 59) qualified for her CA(SA) in 1987 – becoming the first black female Chartered Accountant in South Africa.
In addition to being CEO of Nkululeko Leadership Consulting, she is a member of the boards of the Clicks Group Ltd and PPC Limited. Previously, she was executive chairman of SizweNtsalubaGobodo (now SNG Grant Thornton), of which Sizwe Nxasana (who is also featured here) was a founding member.
She says that her CA(SA) designation ‘brought immediate prestige and more choices as I made decisions around my career progression. It provided quick promotions, including an offer of a partnership at a big four firm as a black person during apartheid.’ It also led to a promotion to senior manager finance (now CFO) at age 29. However, she says ‘the biggest opportunity was to establish my own practice and make a profound contribution towards establishing sizeable black accounting firms, thus changing the narrative around black excellence’.
How did Gobodo do this? ‘A strong belief in myself and my capabilities in the face of a system that defined who I am was, was one of the keys. Also having clarity of vision early in life, and a drive to prove to myself and others that there was nothing I could not do.’ She also mentions ‘persevering in spite of major challenges and refusing to give up on my dreams’.
Therefore, she says, ‘one should never allow fear to stop you from dreaming big and taking your career seriously early on, so that others can also take you seriously. Having a clear vision of where you want to get to.’
She comments that COVID-19 ‘is the biggest challenge that I have had to face in my lifetime. I believe it will have a profound impact in how we do business. The profession will have to be very agile in responding to the changing needs of business in order to remain relevant. I believe as accountants we are already trained in being agile and am confident that we will succeed in achieving that.’
Gobodo’s belief in the profession is clear: she says that chartered accountants play an important role in business in whatever positions they hold. ‘The training we receive also prepares us to play diverse roles including occupying positions of leadership, up to that of CEO. It is important that we always remain trusted advisors, keeping on top of changing trends so that we can help businesses to bounce back quickly during changing times,’ she comments.
AUTHOR | Lia Labuschagne
