The Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants in Southern AfricaOs 15th annual convention will give delegates from the investment industry a chance to raise problematic issues and find solutions Mail & Guardian Reporter South African economic transformation and its role in the global economy will be under the spotlight next week (August 10 and 11) at the 15th annual convention of the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants in Southern Africa (Abasa) in Cape Town. Topics will range from the effect of HIV/Aids on the labour market to the Internet, under the general theme of how companies deal with empowerment, transformation and lack of investor confidence while participating in the global economy OWe tackle issues which we feel the black business community and business generally are grappling with,O says former Abasa Western Cape chair Reeza Isaacs. OWe raise the issues. People can talk about it and a solution can be found. People can leave the conference and take something back to their organisations.O Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi will deliver the opening address at the conference, which is aimed at accountants, investment managers, economists, fund managers or anyone with a stake in the success of the local economy. Other speakers include First Rand Bank director Mac Maharaj, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Lindiwe Hendricks and African Harvest executive chair Mashudu Ramano.
Taking up President Thabo MbekiOs warning that South AfricaOs economy could be marginalised if it did not take up global demands for information technology and a skilled and efficient work force, the conference will also tackle the challenge of finding creative solutions to securely place South Africa on the map internationally.
Abasa was established in 1985 to work towards the transformation of the profession, like others such as law and medicine, to be representative of South African society. It also aims to attract more black professionals into the field and support black chartered accountants and others working in related careers. Today out of a total of 18 000 South African chartered accountants, less than 1 000 are black, coloured or Indian, and of these, less than 200 are black. As part of its drive to promote the profession, Abasa in the late Eighties successfully lobbied for the establishment of the Eden Trust. With the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, bursaries have been awarded each year since to youngsters with potential, but who lack the financial clout to pay for a university education. The association itself also has a bursary scheme.
Regular talks at high schools are also part of AbasaOs work. OA lot of children are under the misimpression you need accountancy [to become an accountant]. ThatOs not true. You need mathematics,O says Isaacs. OKids think accountancy; they equate it with bookkeeping. This could not be further from the truth.O Isaacs, who grew up in Athlone on the Cape Flats, decided in high school to become a chartered accountant, the first in his family. He found out more about the profession after his interest was raised during a talk at school. He says entering his chosen career was touch and go. His mid-matric-year results were down after a tumultuous standard nine in 1985, when schooling did not take place for nine months because of anti-apartheid protests on the streets of Athlone and elsewhere.
But by the end of the matric year his marks had improved and he was accepted at the University of Cape Town. However, there was no money for tuition as bursaries had already been allocated on the basis of the mid-matric results. A person working for a multinational company stepped in and Isaacs completed his BCom degree. Holding the conference in Cape Town each year a different province hosts the event has a special meaning. OThe black business community is almost starved of networking opportunities, especially in Cape Town. ThereOs always been the sentiment that Cape Town is not friendly to black business people,O Isaacs says.