KZN Treasury seeks to improve financial governance with new training office
In a bid to ensure better financial management in government and embed a culture of financial accountability in the province , the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Treasury, in partnership with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), has launched a training office to prepare Chartered Accountants (CAs[SA]) for work in the public sector.
One of the most important ingredients for ensuring that provincial departments and municipalities deliver services is sound financial management. To do this, municipalities need to employ suitably skilled people in the right places and strive to build internal capacity rather than rely on consultants.
This is precisely what the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Treasury’s CA training office has set out to do explains Naeem Asvat, Regional Executive of SAICA’s Eastern Region: ‘This project began back in 2013 when the KwaZulu-Natal Treasury approached SAICA to make a four-year investment of R16 million in SAICA’s Thuthuka Bursary Fund (TBF).
The goal of the project was to get more chartered accountants (CAs[SA]) to assist KZN’s municipalities with better financial governance. Today, with the launch of the KZN Treasury as a SAICA accredited training office, this is becoming a reality.’
Building public confidence through accountability and governance of KZN’s public sector
Addressing the delegates, Belinda Francis Scott, the MEC for Finance for the Province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, explained the significance of this programme. ‘We have a dire shortage of public servants in the province with inadequate financial skills and capabilities.
For this reason, a lot of money is wasted. Every cent wasted in government is a cent taken away from the people. With this initiative, we will be empowering government and ensuring good financial management in our municipalities.’
Kicking off with a trio of youngsters as its first trainees, SAICA CEO, Dr Terence Nombembe believes these trainees are pioneers who can really make a difference to the province.
Using the story of the Auditor-General, Nombembe illustrated that just 17 years ago, the Auditor-General had one training officer and two trainees. By growing its own timber, the Auditor-General has produced 351 CAs(SA) over the last three years.
It is this, Nombembe says that makes the KZN Treasury programme unique. ‘Today, the Treasury’s investment in our Thuthuka Bursary Fund (TBF) programme has been complimented by its accreditation as a training office. As SAICA, we hope that the Treasury’s example will inspire other government departments to take action and mobilise them to ensure that ineffective governance is no longer an issue.’
Phakamisa Stamper, the Deputy Business Executive at Auditor-General of South Africa, agrees and offers this message of support for the initiative. ‘There is a significant shortage of qualified professionals available in the market especially in the public sector. This launch will support the dire need of accountants and auditors in the country who have the knowledge of the public sector to strengthen public administration and our democracy.’
Chantyl Mulder, Executive Director of Nation Building at SAICA concludes: ‘with a programme like this, we can go into KZN’s 61 municipalities and identify youngsters who would not normally have the opportunity to become CAs(SA). Together with KZN’s Treasury, we are building our nation and making it better.
Thank you for helping us deliver on our dream of building a better South Africa.’
About SAICA:
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), South Africa’s pre-eminent accountancy body, is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading accounting institutes. The Institute provides a wide range of support services to more than 40 000 members who are chartered accountants [CAs(SA)] and hold positions as CEOs, MDs, board directors, business owners, chief financial officers, auditors and leaders in their spheres of business operation.
Most of these members operate in commerce and industry, and play a significant role in the nation’s highly dynamic business sector and economic development.
About the Thuthuka Bursary Fund and Education Upliftment Project:
One of SAICA’s prime goals is to contribute towards strengthening the country’s economy by playing a significant and leading role in transformation and skills development. The Thuthuka Education Upliftment Project, a pioneering initiative to promote transformation in the profession, was launched in the Eastern Cape in 2002 and is fast growing into a national project.
Thuthuka’s objective is to transform the demographics of the profession to reflect those of the country in terms of race and gender, and provide educational support to African learners and students for the benefit of the profession, while simultaneously helping to uplift communities.
Therefore, SAICA prides itself in leading the chartered accountancy profession as a socially responsible driver of business and skills development by supporting and encouraging enterprise development initiatives.
Contact details:
Musa Cebisa (KZN Provincial Treasury)
Tel: 033 846 6988
Cell: 071 687 8777
E-mail: musa.cebisa@kzntreasury.gov.za
Karin Iten (SAICA)
Tel: 011 621 6913
E-mail: karini@saica.co.za
