THE fight to get more black chartered accountants has been gradually gaining momentum. About 70 young South Africans are taking a step closer to becoming part of one of the most respected professions.
The youth, 90percent of whom are black, passed their first qualifying examination through a programme called the Thuthuka Qualifying Exam Support Programme run by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica).
The programme is funded by National Skills Fund and the Sector Education and Training Authority for Finance, Accounting, Management Consulting and other Financial Services.
Currently there are 30842 CAs in the country and only 5089 are black.
Thuthuka is also run with the universities of Witwatersrand, Pretoria, Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
Students must have first completed their BCom Accounting degree, complete their post-graduate certificate in the theory of accounting and then write their first and second (final) qualifying exams.
The graduates were not successful in the first exam and they joined Thuthuka.
During the programme they attended classes on Fridays and Saturdays, which were conducted by the accounting department of the University of Johannesburg.
The graduates are then based at different accounting and audit firms as well as corporate companies for training.
Victor Zvandasara of Fourways was one of the successful candidates.
"Thuthuka took me through the basics of accounting and one gets good individual attention," Zvandasara said.
But it was not an easy path.
"It was difficult. My failure the first time motivated me to work even harder."
Zvandasara is currently an articles clerk at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
"Black people think to become a CA is hard but I say it's possible if you work hard," said Zvandasara.
He is now doing his auditing profession course after which he will write the second qualifying exam.
After succeeding from that exam Zvandasara will register with Saica and become a qualified CA.
Boost for bid to get more black CAs
THE fight to get more black chartered accountants has been gradually gaining momentum. About 70 young South Africans are taking a step closer to becoming part of one of the most respected professions.
The youth, 90percent of whom are black, passed their first qualifying examination through a programme called the Thuthuka Qualifying Exam Support Programme run by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica).
The programme is funded by National Skills Fund and the Sector Education and Training Authority for Finance, Accounting, Management Consulting and other Financial Services.
Currently there are 30842 CAs in the country and only 5089 are black.
Thuthuka is also run with the universities of Witwatersrand, Pretoria, Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
Students must have first completed their BCom Accounting degree, complete their post-graduate certificate in the theory of accounting and then write their first and second (final) qualifying exams.
The graduates were not successful in the first exam and they joined Thuthuka.
During the programme they attended classes on Fridays and Saturdays, which were conducted by the accounting department of the University of Johannesburg.
The graduates are then based at different accounting and audit firms as well as corporate companies for training.
Victor Zvandasara of Fourways was one of the successful candidates.
"Thuthuka took me through the basics of accounting and one gets good individual attention," Zvandasara said.
But it was not an easy path.
"It was difficult. My failure the first time motivated me to work even harder."
Zvandasara is currently an articles clerk at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
"Black people think to become a CA is hard but I say it's possible if you work hard," said Zvandasara.
He is now doing his auditing profession course after which he will write the second qualifying exam.
After succeeding from that exam Zvandasara will register with Saica and become a qualified CA.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos