Mail & Guardian reporter Accountants, no longer grey men sitting in airless offices, are crucial in advising businesses as their image has changed completely in recent years. But the profession is still dominated by white males.
As part of the continuing drive to raise awareness about the profession and attract young, predominately black talent into the white male-dominated field, the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (Saica) is running several educational projects.
OAccountants must have a very strong IT [information technology] knowledge, a sense of marketing and human resources,O says Saica equity development director Pindi Mabena. ODemands of business have moved beyond crunching numbers. They want accountants to advise across the business to add value.O Since late 1994 Saica in conjunction with the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants in Southern Africa (Abasa) and the Department of Education has trained teachers in business practices. The Teacher Enrichment Programme started with 15 Western Cape accountancy teachers. Within five years about 500 accountancy teachers were given the opportunity to learn more about the practical applications of accounting principles. This year the programme has expanded to 1 000 educators including guidance and mathematics teachers across South Africa. OThere is a need to make teachers more aware of whatOs happening in business,O explains Mabena. OThey [teachers] are able to say we have these little stalls in the township, we can make a school project around them.O On the professional front, Saica has recently facilitated more training opportunities for chartered accountants. Until recently only a handful of chartered accountancy firms offered the training places; now commercial companies have started training chartered accountants. Saica executive president Ignatius Sehoole will deliver a paper on the globalisation and transformation of the South African accountancy profession at the 15th annual convention of Abasa next week.