2012 REPORT BACK OF THE CA CHARTER COUNCIL
Transcript of 2012 REPORT BACK OF THE CA CHARTER COUNCIL
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2012 REPORT BACK OF THE CA CHARTER COUNCIL
1 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CA CHARTER AND THE COMPOSITION OF THE CHARTER COUNCIL
The B-BBEE Negotiation Forum set up the Charter Council by calling for nominations from stakeholder groups, in
accordance with the BEE Act of 2003.
The Charter Council comprises no less than twelve members, and is constituted with due cognisance of diversity in terms
of gender, race and disability, and is drawn equitably from stakeholders.
For the period under review, the Charter Council consisted of the following members:
CONSTITUENCY REPRESENTATIVE
Independent Regulator Board for Auditors (IRBA) Bernhard Agulhas
Large firms Lwazi Bam
Small practices Peter Beckenstrater
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Ernest Carelse
Medium size firms Brian Eaton
Trainees Rorisang Lebethe
Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants in Southern Africa (ABASA) Tsakani Maluleke
Auditor-General Eshana Manichand
Commerce and Industry Izak Petersen
African Woman Chartered Accountants (AWCA) Nonzukiso Siyotula
Academics Prof Hentie van Wyk
National Treasury Zolisa Zwakala
It should be noted that the Charter Council operates on a part-time basis, with secretarial and administrative support
being provided by SAICA, which acts as its secretariat.
In terms of the CA Charter, the Charter Council is required to address issues of principle, in particular the following:
Supply guidance to entities within the sector on sector-specific matters in respect of B-BBEE to the;
Compile reports on the status of B-BBEE within the sector;
Share information with the national monitoring mechanism;
Undertake ongoing monitoring of the pipeline of undergraduates, post-graduates and trainees as they relate to
the CA profession in order to ensure a positive shift in pass percentages in terms of race and gender; and
Undertake ongoing monitoring of the achievement of targets as set out in the scorecard.
In addition, the Charter Council will report annually on the progress made by the CA Sector to the Minister of Trade and Industry and to the President’s BEE Advisory Council
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2 REPORT BACK OF WORK DONE BY THE CHARTER COUNCIL DURING THE YEAR UNDER REVIEW
During the period under review, the CA Charter Council met twice; once in March 2012 and in November 2012. In May
2012, the CA Charter Council hosted a media launch to celebrate a successful year of implementation of the gazetted
Charter and also to inform the public and interested parties of the transformation trends and initiatives that exist in the CA
Sector. The focus of the Council was on the following matters:
2.1. Discussion of the 2011 CA Charter B-BBEE Report
In December 2011, the CA Charter sector code reporting period was opened for all firms who participate in the CA
sector and are registered with the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA). A total of 1897 auditing firms
were requested to submit their information in terms of the CA Charter Scorecard on to a secure online platform. A
total of 582 firms submitted their scorecard information, representing a response rate of 30, 5%. Submissions were
received from:
11 firms applying the generic scorecard (that is those firms with a turnover of R35 million and above);
67 Qualifying Small Enterprises (enterprises with annual revenue of between R5 million and R35 million);
504 Exempted Micro Enterprises (enterprise with annual revenue of R5 million or less).
Submissions were received from each of the Big Four firms (PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst and Young, Deloitte
and KPMG), a few medium-sized firms, and a large number of small firms. Given the dominance of the larger firms
in terms of market size, the Council was satisfied that the data available provided an adequate representation of the
sector.
2.2. CA Charter Media Launch
A year after the CA Charter was gazetted and the progress regarding transformation in the CA Sector had been
recorded, the Charter Council hosted a media event to report back on the industry's transformation milestones. Key
discussions were centred on:
Industry targets and performance against the scorecard;
Initiatives put in place to address areas of improvement to meet our targets;
Pipeline statistics;
Industry's commitment to transformation.
A brief overview of the industry’s performance revealed the following results:
2.2.1. Firms with more than R35m turnover (Level 3)
Element Achieved (score) Possible
Ownership 14.34 20.00
Management 9.63 10.00
Employment Equity 14.04 20.00
Skills Development 16.49 20.00
Procurement 9.26 10.00
Enterprise Development 15.00 15.00
Socio-Economic Development 5.00 5.00
Total 83.76 100.00
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2.2.2. Firms with R5m – R35m Turnover (Level 1) Element Achieved (score) Possible
Ownership 12.97 25.00
Management 15.54 25.00
Employment Equity 22.44 25.00
Skills Development 25.00 25.00
Procurement 25.00 25.00
Enterprise Development 25.00 25.00
Socio-Economic Development 25.00 25.00
Total 150.95 175.00
2.2.3. Black firms (Level 1) Element Achieved (score) Possible
Ownership 28.00 (3 Bonus points) 25.00
Management 27.00 (2 Bonus points) 25.00
Employment Equity 25.00 25.00
Skills Development 25.00 25.00
Procurement 25.00 25.00
Enterprise Development 15.00 25.00
Socio-Economic Development 5.00 25.00
Total 150.00 175.00
These results showed that the profession is generally on track in meeting the Charter's 2016 objective. The various
transformation initiatives implemented by all constituencies of the sector are beginning to bear fruit; however
increasing capacity and ensuring retention still remained a major concern.
2.3. Mid-term Charter Targets
With the proposed changes in the Codes coming in to effect, the CA Charter would need to align itself in terms of
principles and definitions. The targets in the CA Charter would remain the same and would be subjected to a mid-
term review in 2014. 2.4. Review of the Draft Comments
The Council held lengthy discussions regarding the comments that were sent to the dti in response to the changes
to the Codes and the impact that these would have on the CA sector and the gazetted Charter. There were seven
major issues that were discussed and the Council resolved the following:
2.4.1. Upward movement of the EME and QSE Thresholds
Council supported the move up the threshold for EME's as they felt that there are inflationary factors that had
occurred in the past few years and thus they need to be accounted for. However, there were concerns that this
could have an impact on the progression of the profession as many of the medium-sized firms that submit under the
QSE scorecard would no longer need to submit as they would fall within EME's and this would subsequently have
an impact on progression in the profession in terms of transformation.
2.4.2. The consolidation of enterprise development and preferential procurement The Council understood and supported the intention with this but this would not always be applicable as the
proposed amendments would exclude non-value added entities from receiving any benefits under the code. This is
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particularly true for the so called "service industry/sector" within which the CA sector operates. The Council
recommended that this amendment be withdrawn and enhanced recognition be re-introduced.
2.4.3. Employment Equity and Management Control: The CA Council is mindful that the sector is compliant in terms of transformation representivity right at the junior
level but transformation is moving at a slower pace at senior level. The Council is also aware that changing the
racial and gender demographics at a senior level took a longer time period and targets may not be met as soon as
anticipated.
2.4.4. Sub-categories of black
The Charter Council is happy to support the introduction of the sub-categories of black as they currently stand but
clarity is sought around the targets and definitions of the sub-categories as there is currently no guidance thus
leaving it open for interpretation.
2.4.5. Socio-Economic Development: The Council supported the withdrawal of Code 500 of the 75% threshold of black beneficiaries as the population
demographics of the country are not 100% black therefore having a target of 100% black seems to go against the
demographics. However, concerns were raised that changing the contributions on SED from being recognized
cumulatively to annually would have the impact of dis-incentivising firms from spending on long-term projects.
2.4.6. Black-owned firms The Council supported the recognition of Black-owned Firms as indicated in the revised Codes.
2.4.7. Skills Development The Council welcomes the recommended changes, particularly, the inclusion of unemployed people as well as the
broadening of the skills development expenditure (not only employees).
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3. REPORTING AGAINST THE CA SECTOR SCORECARD On 1 November 2012, the second cycle of reporting commenced for all IRBA registered firms. A total of 2174 firms
including firm branches were sent letters requesting them to submit a return in terms of the CA Sector Profession
Code. Each firm and branch were assigned individual usernames and passwords and requested to use these
credentials to log on to the CA Charter platform in order to submit their returns. The reporting cycle commenced on
1 November 2012 until 31 January 2013. The submission timeline was as follows:
On 5 December 2012, the submission rate was 14% with 304 firms having submitted their information;
As at 8 January 2013, submission of firms was 15, 7% with 341 firms having submitted their information. Of
these submissisons,14,7% were from EME's;
On 10 January 2013, a reminder was sent to all the firms to submit their scorecard information. This saw a
dramatic increase in the submission rate and as at 18 January 2013, submission was 37,7%;
The submission rate on 25 January 2013 was 41,7% with a total of 907 firms submitting information;
On the final date of submission, 31 January 2013, there were a total of 1107 firms who submitted information,
comprising a 50, 9% submission rate.
The deadline was further extended to allow more firms to submit their information until 5 February 2013.The firm
submissions were received from the Big Four firms, (PWC, Ernst and Young, Deloitte and KPMG), medium sized
firms, firms' part of the Black-Firm Forum and a large number of smaller firms. A total of 1123 firms submitted
information, representing a response rate of 52, 8%. Submissions were received from:
13 firms applying the generic scorecard;
115 Qualifying Small Enterprises; and
995 Exempted Micro Enterprises
The Council then held its first meeting for the year on the 22nd March 2013 and decided to give the firms who had
further enquired regarding submitting their returns an opportunity to log in and submit their completed returns. The
deadline was then further extended for 2 weeks to allow this process to happen and upon the final date of
submission, 12 April 2013, the submission rate was as follows:
14 firms applying the generic scorecard (that is firms with a total annual turnover of R35 million and above);
135 Qualifying Small Enterprises (enterprises with annual turnover between R5 million and R35 million); and
1096 Exempted Micro Enterprises (enterprises with an annual turnover less than R5 million). This represented a
57.22% submission rate which saw a 4.4% increase in submissions. The Council is satisfied that the data provides
an adequate representation of the CA sector.
The report analyses the B-BBEE performance of entities and is stratified as follows:
Entities reporting on the Generic scorecard for the CA sector;
Entities reporting on the QSE scorecard for the CA sector;
Large firms ("Big Four");
Medium-sized firms QSE;
Medium-sized firms Generic;
Black Firms Forum QSE; and
Black Firms Forum Generic
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3.1. Reporting Against the CA Charter Scorecard:
The elements in the CA Sector scorecard are the same as those in the dti’s Codes of Good Practice but the
weighting points in some of the elements are different as the primary objectives of the CA Charter are:
To increase the number of black people who are in Management Control and ownership structures; and
To achieve meaningful change in the racial and gender composition of all persons employed in the sector.
In order to realise these objectives, the CA Charter seeks to encourage entities in the sector to invest in employment
equity and skills development, which includes providing bursaries to black students and placing black learners on
Learnership programmes relevant for the CA qualification. Consequently, these two elements have been given
increased weighting in the balanced scorecard for the CA Sector.
During the first CA Charter Council meeting of 2013, the results of the scorecard submissions were tabled to the
Council. The Council reviewed the report and noted the significant changes that emerged from firms submitting their
scorecards in the 2011 and 2012 reporting periods. Upon further analysis, it emerged that two categories of data
reporting existed among the firms; these being the use of representative and actual data. The two are simply defined
as:
Actual data: Firms will use their actual information at the time of reporting in all the elements. For example, firms will use the rand and cents amount that appears in their financial statements when reporting on their net profit which will then be used in the Skills, Enterprise and Socio-economic development elements. Firms will also use the actual numbers of black people for the purposes of reporting against the Management and Ownership elements.
Representative data: Firms will choose to base their data on a percentage and report on the percentage instead of using their actual data as they feel that this information is confidential and cannot be divulged. Another example is when firms opt not to report the actual numbers of black managers but will base the number of black managers as a percentage of the managers of the whole firm. The use of representative data is therefore not completely accurate and has the possibility of skewing the data either negatively or positively.
The CA Charter Council was concerned about this as this would deem our report inaccurate to a certain degree. Thus for purposes of issuing the report which will be made public, the Council suggested that the report and the subsequent elements and well as criteria, where possible, be qualified as to where exactly firms used representative and actual data. This would then present the report in a transparent manner. The Council will be engaging with firms and key stakeholders regarding this as firms are requested to use their actual data. There is a strict confidentiality clause that is in place and that serves to guarantee firms that their information is held in the strictest of confidence. We trust that upon this engagement with firms and stakeholders, the next reporting cycle will only represent actual data that is submitted by firms.
3.2. B-BBEE Scorecard Results of entities in CA Sector
3.2.1. Generic Entities: On a combined basis, entities with a turnover that is greater than R35 million achieved a
Level 2 contribution. Out of the 14 entities that reported against this scorecard, 9 firms used representative data whereas 5 used actual data. The difference in using either actual or representative data has the possibility of skewing some of the results either positively or negatively. Ownership: Firms that reported against this scorecard achieved a remarkable 17.29 points out of a
possible 20. This shows a significant increase in comparison to the score achieved in 2011. Management: The profession fared well against this criterion, scoring 9.70 out of a possible 10 points
overall. Employment Equity: The firms did not score the maximum points in this element scoring 14.32 out of a
possible 20 points. There were no bonus points earned and the number of black disabled employees still
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remains at 0 points. The points scored for the number of black employees in Middle management was high with 5 points scored out of a possible 6 points available.
Skills Development: There was a slight improvement in the scoring of the firms with regards to this element with 16.67 points achieved out of a possible 20 points. The firms achieved the maximum 6 points in the following criteria: Skills development expenditure on any programmes for black employees; and Number of black employees participating in Learnerships.
Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development: The maximum points were achieved on these elements and this is most pleasing.
3.2.2. Qualifying Small Enterprises: On a combined basis, entities with a turnover that is between R5m million
and R35 million, achieved a Level 1 contribution. The number of entities that reported against this scorecard
more than doubled from 67 entities in 2011 to 135 entities in 2012 which is pleasing. A breakdown was
conducted between the use of actual or representative data and 87 firms used actual data whereas 50 firms
used representative data. The difference in using either actual or representative data has the possibility of
skewing some of the results either positively or negatively.
Ownership: The firms that reported against element recorded a disappointing low outcome only scoring
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6.27 out of a possible 20 points. This is a drastic decrease from the points scored in 2011. It is quite
difficult to explain this decrease as 84% of the firms that reported against this element are new comers
therefore there is no comparable data to explain this anomaly.
Management Control: The entities reporting against this scorecard scored lower than in the 2011
reporting period scoring 11.55 out of a possible 25 points. Firms predominantly lost points for the lack of
black women representation at top Management level.
Skills Development, Procurement, Enterprise development and Socio-Economic Development:
The Council is pleased with the points that have been achieved by the QSE’s as maximum points were
scored in these elements. This is consistent with the results achieved in the 2011 reporting period.
3.2.3. The “Big Four” Combined: These firms are the four big audit firms that are internationally recognised. The
combined firms achieved a Level 2 contribution.
Ownership: Firms that reported against this scorecard scored very well on the ownership element achieving 16.67 out of a possible 20 points. The criteria that relate to exercisable voting rights in the hands of black people and black women achieved high points with 4.3 out of a possible 5 points available and 2.8 out of a possible 3 points available respectively.
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Employment Equity: Firms scored 14.11 out of a possible 20 points for this element. There were no
bonus points earned by firms and no points scored for black disabled employees.
Management Control, Skills Development, Procurement, Enterprise development and Socio-
Economic Development: The Big Four firms achieved high points in these elements and this is
pleasing.
3.2.4. Medium Firm QSE's: The combined firms achieved a Level 2 contribution. During the previous reporting
period, there were 7 Medium firms that reported against the QSE scorecard and this number has almost
doubled in the current year to 13. A breakdown of the data shows that 3 of the firms that submitted used
actual data whereas 10 used representative data which could skew the consolidated data.
Ownership: The score achieved by firms decreased drastically compared to the last period as firms only
scored 3.77 out of possible 20 points. Firms earned no points for economic interest in the hands of black
people nor did they earn any bonus points for exercisable voting rights in the hands of black people.
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These results are reflective of the slow rate of transformation in certain spheres of the Sector.
Management Control: Medium firms scored considerably better than the 2011 period achieving 13.7 out
of a possible 25 points. This sore is almost double than the 7.5 achieved in the last period.
Employment Equity, Socio-Economic Development, Skills Development, and Procurement: In all
these elements, medium-sized firms scored high points. The strides taken to ensure targets are met in
these elements should feed into Ownership and Management Control in the future.
3.2.5. Medium Firms Generic: The combined firms achieved a Level 3 contribution. In the 2011 period, there were
no firms in this category of the stratification but in 2012, 8 entities that represented this category reported
against the Generic firm scorecard. It was found that 4 entities used actual data and 4 of them used
representative data.
Ownership: Firms scored well against this element achieving 15.22 out of a possible 20 points. The
firms achieved maximum 5 points for the criteria of exercisable rights in the hands of black people. Due
to this, bonus points were also achieved for 40%-49% exercisable voting rights in the hands of black
people.
Management Control: The entities scored 6.5 out of a possible 10 points under this element. In all
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criteria, firms scored points save for no points achieved for black independent Non-Executive Board
Members.
Employment Equity and Skills Development: The Generic medium firms scored 14.43 and 14.49 in
both these elements respectively out of a possible 20 points. In all criteria, firms scored high points but
scores were lowered by firms not achieving any points for black disabled employees and skills
development expenditure.
Socio-Economic and Enterprise Development: Firms scored the maximum achievable points in these
elements which is pleasing.
There is no graph that is attached to the consolidated information presented by the generic Medium firms as firms
did not report their scorecard information in this category in the 2011 reporting period. Therefore there is no
comparable data.
3.2.6. Black Firms QSE: The combined firms achieved a Level 1 contribution. In the previous period, 2 firms were
categorised into this stratification but in the 2012 period, this increased to 6 firms that reported against the
QSE scorecard and were categorised as Black firms.
Ownership: The firms scored extremely well against this element with 28 out of a possible 25 points
earned. Three bonus points were earned for 50% or more exercisable voting rights in the hands of black
people.
Management Control: The firms faired very well in this element, scoring 26.3 out of 25 points. Two
bonus points were scored for black woman representation at top management level.
Procurement, Enterprise Development, Employment Equity, Skills and Socio-Economic
Development: These elements showed pleasing results as the firms scored the maximum points
achievable.
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3.2.7. Black Firms Generic: The combined firms achieved a Level 2 contribution. In the 2011 reporting period, 1
firm represented this category but in this period, there are 2 firms that represent this category.
Ownership: The firms exceeded the maximum achievable points by scoring 22.9 out of a possible 20
points under this element. The maximum points were scored in each of the criteria in this element with
three bonus points earned for 50% or more exercisable voting rights in the hands of black people.
Management Control: The firms scored very well under this element achieving 9.33 out of 10 points.
This is a considerable increased if compared to the 2011 period where the result for this element was 3
points.
Employment Equity: These elements showed pleasing results as the firms scored 16.54 points out of a
possible 20. There were no points scored for black disabled employees but the 6 maximum points were
scored in black employees in senior management and junior management.
Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development: The maximum results scored in these
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elements confirmed that their contribution to Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development
was at a high level, one that is consistent with the rest of the profession.
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4 PIPELINE STATISTICS – 2012 PIPELINE UPDATE One of the responsibilities of the Charter Council is ongoing monitoring of pipeline statistics. For purposes of this
report, the start date when the profession launched its significant transformation and growth initiatives is taken to be
2002 as this coincides with the start date of the SAICA’s transformation initiative, Thuthuka. These statistics below
are reflective of the profession as a whole and are evidence of the strides that are being made by the profession to
ensure that the Chartered Accountancy sector is transformed.
4.1 The pipeline statistics at undergraduate level for 2012 were as follows:
2002*
First-year undergraduate
enrolments 2007
First-year undergraduate
enrolments 2008
First-year undergraduate enrolments
2009
First-year undergraduate
enrolments 2010
First-year undergraduate
enrolments 2011
First-year undergraduate enrolments
2012
African 26% 45% (4 615) 46% (4 726) 51% (5 403) 46% (4 490) 49% (4 642) 46% (3 204)
Coloured 7% 7% (675) 6% (573) 6% (678) 8% (757) 6% (574) 10% (666)
Indian 18% 17% (1 714) 18% (1 861) 18% (1 674) 15 %(1 473) 20% (1 945) 12% (850)
White 49% 31% (3 183) 30% (3 129) 30% (2 766) 31% (3 029) 25% (2 347) 32% (2 174)
100% 100% (10 187) 100% (10 289) 100% (9 621) 100% (9 749) 100% (9 508) 100% (6 894)
*Note: #s not available for 2002 There has been a significant decline in the number of first year enrolments in the CA stream from 2011 to 2012.
SAICA was alerted to this trend quite early on in the 2012 academic year and undertook an analysis to better understand the reason for this decline among the Heads of Departments (HODs) of the SAICA accredited universities. It became clear that the largest contributor to this decline in enrolments was as a result of the ongoing trend and declining number of learners who are passing core mathematics in Matric. This remains of great concern to SAICA.
4.2 Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA) 2002
enrolments 2008
enrolments 2009
enrolments 2010
enrolments 2011
enrolments 2012 enrolments
African 14% (299) 31% (2 013) 35% (2 114) 36% (2 157) 40% (2 453) 42% (2 259)
Coloured 5%(103) 6% (386) 7% (390) 7% (391) 7% (430) 7% (384)
Indian 15% (337) 18% (1 272) 20% (1 187) 19% (1 148) 17% (1 067) 17% (892)
White 66%(1 399) 45%( 2 620) 38% (2 305) 38% (2 267) 36% (2 193) 34% (1 844)
100% (2 138) 100% (6 291) 100% (5 996) 100% (5 963) 100% (6 143) 100% (5 379)
There continues to be a significant increase in the percentage of African students registered in the CTA programme
since 2002. This can be attributed to the following reasons:
Numerous Thuthuka interventions aiming to increase the number of African and Coloured students in the pipeline. Such interventions are proving very successful as is also sown in the increase in African passes in Part I of the Qualifying Exam which follows the CTA.
More accurate collection of data (non-South African students now excluded and only students enrolled on the CTA programme are now separately reflected in the numbers submitted).
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4.3 CTA passes by university by race 2012 **(Note the below information is not in the public domain and is considered confidential)**
Non SA Citizens Coloured (SA) African (SA) Indian (SA) White (SA)
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NMMU 7 0 7 3 15 0 15 9 61 0 61 23 4 0 4 4 52 1 51 34
NWU 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 2 32 0 32 8 5 0 5 2 130 3 127 81
RU 23 0 23 13 1 0 1 0 11 0 11 5 4 0 4 1 21 0 21 13
UCT 0 0 0 0 53 4 49 35 91 8 83 50 37 0 37 29 146 5 141 131
UFH 19 0 19 4 1 0 1 1 16 0 16 6 0 0 0 0 15 0 15 10
UFS 0 0 0 0 8 0 8 5 34 7 27 6 4 0 4 2 84 5 79 52
UJ 34 0 34 19 13 0 13 9 223 1 222 132 31 1 30 14 178 0 178 116
UKZN 6 0 6 1 5 0 5 2 55 3 52 14 166 8 158 51 24 3 21 12
UNISA* 66 5 61 25 204 28 176 52 1560 283 1277 254 543 94 449 140 754 112 642 259
US 9 0 9 6 41 6 35 19 3 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 205 4 201 158
UP 4 0 4 2 10 0 10 6 55 0 55 34 18 0 18 15 171 1 170 146
UWC 1 0 1 0 19 0 19 13 7 0 7 6 3 0 3 2 7 0 7 6
Wits 13 0 13 10 11 0 11 9 111 4 107 63 76 3 73 50 64 4 60 51
TOTAL 182 5 177 83 384 38 346 162 2259 307 1952 602 892 106 786 310 1844 185 1706 1063
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*Distance learning provider Unisa as the only Distance learning provider has the largest number of students at both undergraduate and
postgraduate (CTA) levels. Despite this, the proportion of candidates passing is lower than that at residential
universities because of the many challenges associated with studying while working and without the same level of
student support (e.g. tutorials and lectures) as a student at a residential university.
4.4 Qualifying Examination I passes by University – First timers AFRICAN COLOURED INDIAN WHITE
CTA UNIVERSITY NAME PASS TOTAL % PASS
PASS TOTAL % PASS
PASS TOTAL % PASS
PASS TOTAL % PASS
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 21 27 78% 6 7 86% 3 6 50% 28 28 100%
North-West University 1 2 50% 2 3 67% 53 59 90%
Rhodes University 4 4 100% 16 16 100%
University of Cape Town 60 67 90% 32 38 84% 39 45 87% 122 126 97%
University of Fort Hare 4 8 50% 8 9 89%
University of Free State 3 6 50% 1 3 33% 44 62 71%
University of Johannesburg 99 119 83% 7 10 70% 24 32 75% 103 109 94%
University of Kwazulu-Natal 10 18 56% 2 2 82% 56 76 74% 17 19 89%
University of Pretoria 28 31 90% 3 3 100% 18 20 90% 113 116 97%
University of South Africa (UNISA) * 102 199 51% 27 51 63% 64 133 48% 212 304 70%
University of Stellenbosch 1 1 100% 18 22 82% 162 174 93%
University of the Witwatersrand 55 65 85% 2 2 100% 44 48 92% 54 56 96%
University of Western Cape 2 4 50% 5 8 63% 3 4 75% 1 1 100%
* Distance learning provider
There are two factors that should be considered when reviewing the above statistics:
The number of African and coloured QE I candidates passing; and
Pass rates per race category
It is pleasing to see the high number of passes of African candidates from the University of Johannesburg (99),
nearly equal that of UNISA (102). It should be noted that 316 of the 390 African passes (81 %) come from just four
universities (UNISA, UJ, UCT and WITS). It is equally pleasing to see the number of passes in Coloured
candidates. Most of these come from come from three universities, more specifically, 77 out of 103 passes (74%)
come from Unisa, UCT and Stellenbosch.
When these results are compared to the results from 2011 and 2010 respectively, there is a significant increase in
the number of African candidates who have completed and passed their QE 1 first time. In 2010, there was a 67%
pass rate among African learners and this increased to 73% in 2011 while in 2012 the pass rate is 71%.Among the
Coloured candidates, this increase is considerably higher as there was a 73% pass rate in 2010 and this increased
to 76% pass rate in 2011 but this figure decreased slightly in 2012 as there is a 71% pass rate for first timers.
4.5 Overall QE I passes
2012 2011 2002
RACE FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS
African 363 483 846 57% 337 411 748 55% 255 157 412 38%
Coloured 92 125 217 58% 79 119 198 60% 71 74 145 51%
Indian 310 323 633 51% 308 319 627 51% 262 273 535 51%
White 360 1056 1416 75% 408 1129 1537 73% 778 1104 1882 59%
17
Grand Total 1125 1987 3112 64% 1132 1978 3110 64% 1366 1608 2974 54%
RACE FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS
Black (incl. African, Coloured, Indian) 765 931 1696 55% 724 849 1573 54% 588 504 1092 46%
White 360 1056 1416 75% 408 1129 1537 73% 778 1104 1882 59%
Grand Total 1125 1987 3112 64% 1132 1978 3110 64% 1366 1608 2974 54%
The highlight of these results is the increase in the number of first time candidates writing the exam which increased
from 1981 candidates in 2011 to 2143 candidates in 2012.The pass rates among first time candidates however,
only increased by 6%. Among the African candidates, the pass rate increase by 17% which is an incredible
increase that is reflective of the great strides made throughout the profession towards transformation.1
4.6 Overall QE II passes PUBLIC PRACTICE EXAM 2002 2011 2012
RACE FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS
African 239 331 570 58% 179 234 413 57% 129 279 408 68%
Coloured 50 110 160 69% 44 88 132 67% 24 80 104 77%
Indian 61 290 351 83% 90 277 367 76% 61 282 343 82%
White 192 1015 1207 84% 224 918 1142 80% 167 930 1097 85%
Grand Total 542 1746 2288 76% 537 1517 2054 74% 381 1571 1952 81%
RACE FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS FAIL PASS TOTAL %PASS
Black (incl. African, Coloured, Indian)
350 731 1081 68% 313 599 912 66% 214 641 855 75%
White 192 1015 1207 84% 224 918 1142 80% 167 930 1097 85%
Grand Total 542 1746 2288 76% 537 1517 2054 74% 381 1571 1952 81%
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors is pleased with the results of the 2012 Public Practice Examination
(PPE) - the final assessment of competence for candidates wishing to register as a Registered Auditor (RA) or
Chartered Accountant (CA) (SA). The PPE was written on Wednesday, 21 November 2012 and of the 2288
candidates who wrote the exam, 1746 passed resulting in a pass rate of 76% (74% in 2011). Candidates who attempted the
PPE for the first time achieved a pass rate of 82% (80% in 2011).
Transformation of the profession is a priority to the IRBA. It is therefore encouraging that the number of African
candidates who enter the PPE has increased steadily from 481 in 2008 to 570 in 2012. The number of candidates
who passed has also increased from 204 in 2008 to 331 in 2012. Of the 766 Black candidates (African, Coloured,
and Indian) who entered the 2012 PPE for the first time, 566 passed, resulting in an overall pass rate of 74% for the
first time Black candidates. 2
1 Narrative is taken from the statement issued by SAICA on 30 March 2012.
2 Narrative is taken from the statement issued by the IRBA on 22 February 2013.
18
4.7 Trainees - Adri Kleinhans
4.7.1 Background
SAICA has expressed its vision as “the development of responsible leaders”. This vision is based on five strategic
pillars, one of which is Growth and Transformation. Two of the strategic thrusts under this pillar are to
Expand the pipeline of students and trainees; and
Improve throughput pass rates (by implication, of students and trainees).
Underlying all the strategic activities of the growth thrusts outlined above is SAICA’s transformation imperative.
In order to establish the extent to which these strategic thrusts are being achieved optimally, and, if not, what needs
to be done to achieve them, a deep understanding of the training environment, and the various factors that have an
impact on this environment, is required. The training environment is complex and multi-dimensional, and cannot be
analysed purely on the basis of simple statistics and numbers at a point in time. The training environment must be
viewed from two perspectives with respect to both all trainees, and also African and Coloured trainees:
The supply of and demand for trainees; and
The throughput rate of trainees. 4.7.2 Supply of and Demand for Trainees
Introduction
There are generally speaking three types of trainees:
A matriculant who will be required to serve a five-year contract (roughly 20% of all trainees);
A person in possession of a non-accredited or a non-relevant degree who will be required to serve a four-year
training contract (roughly 10% of all trainees); and
A person in possession of an accredited degree or a CTA, who will be required to serve three-year training
contract (roughly 70% of all trainees).
The split between three-year, four-year and five-year trainees has remained relatively constant over the last five
years.
Supply of trainees3
Graduates available to SAICA training offices in 2009, 2010 and 20114
CTA or Equivalent
Year Enrolments into the CTA
No. students enrolled for & who wrote the final CTA exam
CTA passes (eligible to write QE)
% throughout
2011 6324 5179 2128 34%
2010 6196 5452 2067 33%
2009 6253 5366 1693 27%
Accredited Bridging Programme5
Year Enrolments into the Bridging Programme
No. students enrolled for & who wrote the final Bridging
Programme exam
Passed the Bridging Programme and proceed to
CTA
% throughout
2011 1824 956 445 24%
2010 2001 1488 304 15%
2009 2211 1570 161 7%
3 Note: Statistics for 2012 not yet available 4 Note: The statistics for 2012 are not yet available
5 Note: This programme is completed by students who do not meet the requirements for access into the CTA programme
19
Accredited Undergraduate Programme
Year
Enrolments into the Undergraduate
Programme
No. students enrolled for & who wrote the final Undergraduate
Programme exam
Passed the Undergraduate Programme and proceed to
CTA % throughout
2011 8092 7598 3010 37%
2010 7342 6663 2377 32%
2009 6169 5550 2958 48% It is assumed that the majority of the students who successfully complete the accredited undergraduate programme
and the bridging programme will continue directly into the CTA programme, and will therefore not be available to
enter into a training programme.
The following also needs to be taken into account in this regard:
Students who have successfully completed the CTA are highly likely to pursue the designation as a CA(SA), and therefore will probably enter into a SAICA training contract.
Many of the accredited undergraduate degrees are not aimed specifically at the CA(SA) qualification, and many of the graduates of these degrees undertook the degree without the intention of qualifying as a CA(SA).
4.7.3 Demand for trainees Training office capacity SAICA has for some time sought to increase the number of training offices, thereby increasing the number of
available training opportunities/demand for trainees.
The statistics for accredited training offices as at the end of 2012 were as
follows:
Opening Balance 01/01/2009 822
Less: De-accredited offices -89
Add: New accredited offices 14
Closing balance 31/12/2009 747
Less: De-accredited offices -10
Add: New accredited offices 21
Closing balance 31/12/2010 758
Less: De-accredited offices -52
Add: New accredited offices 27
Closing balance 31/12/2011 733
Less: De-accredited offices -26
Add: New accredited offices 21
Closing balance 31/10/2012 728
Based on the above statistics, it is clear that there has been a net decrease in the number of training offices.
However, the following must be taken into account: Each training office has a quota of trainees that it may employ.
This quota is agreed between the training office and SAICA, and represents the training capacity in the training
office. As at March 2013, the total capacity for trainees amongst all SAICA training offices is 17 250, while the
number of trainees is 7 980. This would appear to indicate that increasing the number of accredited training offices
(or reducing the number of training offices that are voluntarily de-accredited) will not address SAICA’s growth
objectives, as the current demand for trainees is not being met.
20
However, the training quota (or capacity) does not provide the full picture. The training capacity at a training office
was agreed with the training office at a point in time, and may not take into account changes in the economic
environment or legislation (for example the recent changes to the Companies Acts
4.7.4 Trainee statistics The number of new contracts registered from 2008 to 2012, are reflected below6. Africa
n % increase
Coloured
% increase
Indian
% increase
White % increase
Other % increase
TOTAL % increase
2008 1229 246 576 1990 11 4052
2009 1184 -4% 255 4% 660 15% 2003 1% 22 100% 4124 2%
2010 968 -18% 235 -8% 566 -14% 1741 -13% 7 -68% 3517 -15%
2011 1106 14% 247 5% 525 -7% 1682 -3% 14 100% 3574 2%
2012 1342 21% 314 27% 608 16% 1855 10% 14 0% 4133 14%
It is evident from these statistics that there is no clear trend regarding the registration of contracts. The number of total
trainees as at 31 December for each year from 2008 to 2012 is reflected below.
African Coloured Indian White Other TOTAL
2008 2415 577 1371 4790 20 9173
2009 2564 595 1449 5613 32 10253
2010 2528 601 1312 5005 19 9465
2011 2319 609 1222 4590 43 8783
2012 2316 616 1152 4333 29 8464
4.7.5 The throughput rate of trainees
Introduction:
The only requirement to be met for a person wishing to register with SAICA as a trainee accountant is that the
person is either in possession of a CTA, or is studying for an academic qualification leading to the CTA.
This “open access” approach means that any person, irrespective of academic qualification (or lack thereof) and proven
ability (for example through the achievement of an academic qualification) can enter into a training contract. Given this
unlimited access into the training programme, a certain amount of attrition is to be expected.
However, for purposes of this document, assume the following:
The number of graduates from the universities (i.e. the supply of trainees) remains fairly stable for the foreseeable
future; and
The training capacity of training offices (i.e. the demand for trainees) remains fairly stable for the foreseeable future.
Throughput rate of all trainees:
Based on the above assumptions, it is clear that, in order to achieve growth in the number of CAs(SA), SAICA needs to limit trainee attrition to a reasonable number.
Currently, the throughput (contract completion rate) of trainees is as follows:
6 Note: These figures represent contracts that had a start date in the relevant year. The contracts may be have been processed in different years
21
Year in which contracts
were registered
Number of contracts
registered in that year7
Number of contracts
registered in that year that
are still active8
% of total that are
still active
Contracts registered in that
year that were cancelled
% of total that were cancelled
Contracts registered in that year that were
discharged
% of total that were
discharged
2004 3242 0 0% 719 22% 2523 78%
2005 3647 0 0% 841 23% 2806 77%
2006 3861 0 0% 905 23% 2956 77%
2007 4291 18 0% 1051 24% 3222 75%
20089 4109 153 4% 1155 28% 2801 68%
2009 3739 382 10% 1007 27% 2350 63%
2010 3463 915 26% 770 22% 1778 51%
2011 3387 2723 80% 527 16% 137 4%
2012 3579 3285 92% 259 7% 3510 1%
From the above table, it is clear that the average throughput (completion rate) for 2004 to 2007 averaged 77%, which
represents an attrition rate of 23%.
4.7.6 SAICA’s transformation imperative SAICA not only aims to increase the number of CAs (SA), but specifically African and Coloured CAs (SA). It is
important, therefore, to analyse the throughput or successful completion statistics based on the demographic profile of
the trainees.
The graph below indicates the racial demographics of trainees for the period 2008 to 2012.
7 Note: This figure represents contracts that were processed in the year, and the contract may have a start date in a different year 8 Note: This figure represents 3, 4 and 5-year contracts 9 Note: The figures for 2008 onward are incomplete, as there are still a number of trainees in the system 10 Note: These are trainees who received RPL to reduce the term of their contracts, based on previous contracts
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Racial demographics for trainees: 2008 - 2012
African
Coloured
Indian
White
Other
22
The following graph shows the throughput rate of trainees based on their demographic profile:
19%
32%
26%
19% 21%
81%
68%
74%
81% 79%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Indian African Coloured Other White
Trainee throughput per demographic (2004 - 2007)
Cancelled
Discharged
23
It is clear from the graph above that African and Coloured trainees have a disproportionately high percentage of
cancellations and a disproportionately low percentage of discharges in comparison with trainees from the other race
groups. The attrition rate of African trainees (32%) is also significantly higher than the overall average attrition rate of
23%.
It is important that we understand where the African and Coloured trainees are employed:
Type Indian African Coloured Other White Total
AGSA 4.5% 20.3% 7.8% 0.0% 0.4% 598
Big 4 42.4% 26.6% 35.6% 50.0% 37.0% 2765
Small firms 32.8% 30.2% 40.3% 31.3% 50.0% 3252
Medium Firms 20.3% 23.0% 16.4% 18.8% 12.5% 1365
Total 7980
From the above it is clear that the so-called Small Firm constituency employs the largest percentage of African and
Coloured trainees. 4.7.7 Conclusions and recommendations Supply of trainees SAICA has numerous and far-reaching interventions aimed at increasing the number of persons who choose to study
chartered accountancy at university, as well to improve the throughput rate of students through the academic
programme. However, there is an inherent limitation on the number of students that the universities currently accredited
by SAICA can enrol. The majority of the currently accredited universities do not have the capacity to significantly
increase their enrolments on the accredited programme. SAICA is currently addressing this issue through various
projects aimed at increasing the number of accredited education providers.
SAICA, through its career promotion activities, has various initiatives to encourage appropriate university graduates to
enter into a training contract and pursue the CA(SA) qualification.
Demand for trainees The statistics in 2.2 and 2.3 above would appear to indicate that increasing the number of accredited training offices (or
reducing the number of training offices that are voluntarily de-accredited) will not address SAICA’s growth objectives,
as the current demand for trainees is not being met.
However, as discussed, there are various environmental and legislative factors which may impact only on the capacity
of the training office to train perspective CAs(SA), and may therefore decrease the demand for trainees.
It is therefore recommended that SAICA urgently undertakes a study to determine the demand for trainees for
the current, and the next three years.
Throughput rate of trainees Based on the statistics and other information provided in paragraph 3 above, it is clear that the attrition rate of trainees,
particular African trainees, is too high, and that this will have a negative impact on SAICA’s growth and transformation
targets. Although the Small Firm constituency employs the largest percentage of African and Coloured trainees, it is
proposed that initiatives aimed at the retention of trainees, particularly Coloured and African trainees, be focused on all
the training environments.
Numerous and extensive research projects have been conducted since 2008, to understand the reason why trainees
fail to successfully complete their training contracts. The research projects included a variety of psychometric and other
tests, focus group interviews, face-to-face interviews and questionnaires. None of the projects have identified any
definitive reasons.
The vast majority of the recommendations arising from these research projects were implemented, including the
24
following:
The introduction of an assessment process to assist trainees to measure their progress in achieving the
competencies prescribed by SAICA for the training programme;
Highlighting SAICA’s involvement in support of trainees through effective communication through the “You’ve
come a long way” campaign and the “Extraordinary life” campaign, and through the creation of a National Trainee
Committee and Regional Trainee Committees;
Managing expectations around salaries earned by conducting a salary survey which indicates the average, highest
and lowest salaries for various categories of trainees in the geographic regions;
Ensuring through the training office review process that trainees have adequate access to their training officer, and
reasonable and adequate access to adequate monitoring, supervision and coaching;
Measuring, through the training office review process, that all trainees gain the required exposure to on-the-job
experience; and
Developing interventions to improve the trainees’ understanding of the objectives of the assessment process and
the responsibilities of trainees and the training officer.
Given that trainees could be under training contract for as long as five and a half years, reliable trainee attrition
statistics are only available up to and including 2007. It will therefore be some time before SAICA can reliably
measure the impact of the above trainee interventions on the retention and attrition of SAICA trainees.
4.8 SAICA Membership statistics
2002 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
African 322 2% 1 151 4% 1 451 5% 1 845 6% 2 185 7% 2 484 7%
Coloured 222 1% 593 2% 675 2% 789 3% 874 3% 969 3%
Indian 1 031 5% 2 229 8% 2 578 9% 2 792 9% 3 082 9% 3 342 10%
White 19 285 92% 24 110 86% 25 017 84% 26 089 82% 26 928 81% 27 671 80%
Other 0 0 48 0 0 0 87 0 98 0.5% 134 0
20 860 28 131 29 721 31 602 33 167 34 600 There has been a steady increase in the number of African and Coloured CA's since 2012. But in comparison to
2002,the these numbers show a considerable increase and are reflective of the strides that the profession has taken
towards great and more impactful transformation initiatives in the sector.
The career awareness initiatives that various institutes are initiating at high school level are ensuring that learners know
more about the CA profession and that they are being taught the value of choosing maths and not maths literacy.
Greater strides have to be made to ensure that the number of both African and Coloured CA’s increase.
4.9 Independent Board of Auditors (IRBA) Membership Statistics
Province Assurance
Non-Assurance
Male Female Afrik. Eng. Black Chinese
Coloured
Indian White Total
Gauteng 1682 710 1853 539 624 1768 258 8 16 241 1869 2392
Western Cape
607 179 648 138 262 524 4 2 60 24 696 786
Kwa-Zulu Natal
336 110 364 82 12 434 17 0 1 162 266 446
Eastern Cape
126 61 140 47 45 142 14 1 2 5 165 187
Free State 105 34 109 30 97 42 4 0 0 0 135 139
Mpumalanga 88 30 92 26 74 44 4 0 1 5 108 118
25
North West 72 34 76 30 61 45 6 0 0 5 95 106
Limpopo 57 16 59 14 39 34 9 0 0 7 57 73
Northern Cape
36 16 41 11 41 11 1 0 0 1 50 52
Non Resident
4 13 16 1 5 12 1 0 0 0 16 17
3113 1203 3398 918 1260 3056 318 11 80 450 3457 4316
26
5 DISABILITY WITHIN THE SECTOR11
According to the Finance and Accounting Services Seta (FASSET) Sector Skills Plan Update for 2013, the sector
currently has a total of 0.6% employees that are reported to have disabilities.
People with disabilities in the sector for 2011:
Occupational Category African Coloured Indian White Total % of Occupational category
Managers 8 3 5 48 64 0.5
Professionals 22 4 7 67 100 0.4
Technicians and trade workers 28 14 4 69 115 1.0
Community and Personal service workers
1 0 0 0 1 0.1
Clerical and Administrative workers 93 28 8 104 233 0.9
Sales workers 0 0 0 1 1 0.1
Machinery Operators and drivers 2 0 0 0 2 0.2
Elementary workers 10 4 0 14 28 0.7
Total 164 53 24 303 544 0.6 From the above table, almost 63% of people with disabilities who are employed in the sector were employed in the
SARS and Government departments subsector.
The CA Sector specifically, currently has 108 members who are disabled. In relation to the current CA member
and trainee population, this means that 0.31% of CAs(SA) are and 0.46% of trainees are disabled. The actual
numbers of disabled trainees and members for the period 2011 and 2012 are reflected in the table below:
DISABILITY IN THE CA SECTOR
TRAINEES MEMBERS
2011 2012 2011 2012
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
African 0 5 4 6 1 7 1 7
Coloured 0 1 2 1
Indian 2 10 2 7 2 9 3 9
White 5 7 7 11 19 66 20 68
7 23 15 25 22 82 24 84
The low scoring of firms that report against the CA sector scorecard in terms of black disabled employees is
indicative of the low number of disabled CAs (SA) and trainees. In an effort to incentivise firms to ensure that they
offer more training and employment to disabled people, FASSET currently offers a number of programmes e.g.:
1. Strategic Cash Grants (SCGs) which is a specialised skill grant that allows employees to claim back as much
as 20% of their skills development levy. This grant allows firms to claim grants in respect of employees and
unemployed people who are funded towards their academic qualifications. Higher grant payments are
available for firms that employ and train people with disabilities through learnerships, internships and
qualifications.
2. Learnership Cash Grant (LCG) which enables employers to claim a grant for a disabled or African leaner's
successful registration or completion of a learnership programme in a financial year. Higher grant payments
will be made to firms who employ and train disabled people.
11
The information regarding disability is taken from FASSET Skills Sector Plan Update for Resubmission to DHET- Nov 2012
27
These initiatives have the intention of increasing the number of disabled people in the Sector by affording them the
same opportunities that are currently available to persons without disabilities.
28
6 TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES WITHIN THE SECTOR STAKEHOLDERS12 6.1 Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants in Southern Africa (ABASA) - Tsakani Maluleke and
Nonkululeko Manyika ABASA is involved in a number of initiatives that specifically target black aspiring accountants and qualified accountants.
These activities are namely: 6.1.1 ABASA Leadership Programme (‘’ALP’’) The Purpose of this programme is to aid a relationship between selected mentees and mentors across varying
professions. The programme is run through Introductory Breakfast Sessions where mentors and mentees meet for
the first time and the ABASA Dialogue Sessions which are designed to get members thinking, analysing critical
issues and react to those issues in their own professional space. These sessions seek to bring together opinion
leaders in varying industries and our members in close contact sessions, where ideas are challenged and thoughts
formulated.
6.1.2 National School Visits
The school visits serve as a vehicle to spread the word about the profession. There are dedicated school
committees that identify historically disadvantaged schools in the various provinces and then set up road shows to
provide students with guidance on career options and subject. The challenges of course being the subject choice
selection, such as Maths literacy versus pure Maths, and lack of awareness of university entrance requirements
and career choices. Through the school visits we have managed to access over 1,500 students nationally alone in
2012.
6.1.3 Final Qualifying Exam Dinner (‘’FQE’’) The National Annual FQE dinners are hosted to celebrate and honour board candidates that have passed their
exam. Every year we honour an average of 600 delegates nationally throughout the branches, with Johannesburg
having the highest concentration of candidates. We thrive on this as every year we celebrate mini victories, which
serve as a humble reminder why ABASA exists.
6.1.4 The Annual ABASA Convention
These conventions seek to celebrate the many milestones that ABASA has achieved throughout the year, by
showcasing their activities, communal involvement. Each year we set targets to achieve goals that speak to our
vision as an organisation and that are in sync with an evolving economic landscape. We seek to discuss topical
issues by engaging opinion leaders from state owned entities, private sector and individuals that have marked
South Africa’s thinking landscape through critical analyses and opinion.
6.1.5 Nkuhlu Subvention Fund The project aims to raise funding for the subvention of salaries for black CAs who are willing to lecture at
historically black universities. The aim of encouraging these black CAs to lecture is to improve the quality of the
accounting programmes at these universities which would then afford them the opportunity to apply for
accreditation by SAICA. The project was aptly named after Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, who was the first African
to qualify as a Chartered Accountant and is a former academic. Prof Nkuhlu has also made a commitment to this
project by offering ABASA a shareholding stake in his company, Pan-African Holdings.
12 Information for some constituencies has not been provided as it was not received by the submission date
29
6.1.6 Bursary Fund ABASA in association with the Thuthuka Bursary Fund (“TBF”) sponsors three scholars, annually, to study towards
a BCOM in Accounting at varying universities that support the TBF programme. Over and above that ABASA
sponsors several candidates to complete their BCOM Accounting honours/Certified Theory in Accounting (“CTA”)
at accredited universities.
6.1.7 Executive Leadership Development Programme (“ELDP”)
ABASA in association with the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USD EB) has been running and the
ABASA ELDP for its members at senior management level. The programme teaches young leaders how their
behaviour impacts on those around them and consists of group discussions, extensive assessment, self-reflection
and personal coaching. The programme has instilled a greater sense of self knowledge and made individual
leaders more sensitive to the environments within which they operate.
6.2 Large Firms - Lwazi Bam
The Big 4 firms are committed to the transformation of the CA profession. We are committed to increasing the
number of black CAs, both for the benefit of our profession and for the industry. A number of strategies to achieve
this objective have been put in place and are monitored very closely by the leadership of the various firms.
6.2.1 Ownership
All the Big 4 have made great strides in this area and a number of the firms are within reach of the 32.5%
ownership target. The challenge will be, maintaining these levels of ownership as it is very difficult to retain the
Black partners in the profession, given the market demand for their skills. The retention and development
challenge is exacerbated as we are still battling with the limited output of CTA graduates from universities. The
representation of black female partners remains a challenge given the scarcity of black female CA’s within the
profession; however we are heartened that there is an increase in black women choosing the profession.
While the 32.5% target is within reach in terms of the voting rights, the 32.5%in terms of economic benefits
remains a challenging target, but one that we are aggressively striving for. This is largely due to the fact that most
Black partners are junior or have been partners for shorter periods of time.
6.2.2 Recruitment of Trainees
Through our active involvement in Thuthuka and other initiatives, we continue to support universities in their efforts
to produce more black CTA graduates and we provide financial assistance to students. Of the 3,350 training
contracts registered in 2012, 1,350 are with Big 4 firms. We are also responsible for the majority of CA bursaries
and the majority of this bursary funding is directed towards previously disadvantaged students.
Of the 766 Black candidates (African, Coloured and Indian) that entered the 2012 Public Practice Examination
(PPE) for the first time, 566 passed (resulting in an overall pass rate of 74%). The Big 4 contributed a total of 431
individuals to the total successful black candidates in this exam. Although the overall black pass rate (68%) has
recovered slightly from the 2011 PPE (66%), it remains a challenge to return to the 2009 levels (78%).
The Big 4 provide a number of programmes that assist black candidates in their preparation for these exams. The
Big 4 are responsible for the majority of qualified CA’s.
6.2.3 Retention of trainees
The retention of trainees remains a priority amongst the Big 4 with various interventions and initiatives to ensure
30
proper growth of trainees influenced by meaningful and quality utilisation, focused mentoring and robust
development plans.
6.2.4 Managers One of the challenges impacting transformation and experienced by the Big 4 is the retention of Black managers,
in particular African Black managers. This group is in high demand and are aggressively recruited by the big banks
as soon as they become managers. This lack of traction impacts the partner pipeline, and the critical mass of role
models for junior black professionals.
Robust strategies to increase and retain the number of black managers are in place. Some of the focused
initiatives for this group are mentoring, grooming and accelerating talented managers to senior manager level with
rigorous accelerated development programmes in place.
6.2.5 Social responsibility
The Big 4 invests in communities in a variety of ways including volunteerism, skills-based volunteerism, pro bono
services, board involvement and financial contributions. This approach has moved our focus out of the charitable
sphere into one of partnerships to ensure that we have long term sustainable partnership with the various
stakeholders that we support.
Our community investment focus is on local and government priorities, hence such investments focus on
promoting education, employability, and entrepreneurship. Our efforts within the education sphere include support
for facilities and programmes at pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary education level while our enterprise
development spend is channelled towards economic transformation initiatives that promote meaningful and
sustainable access and participation of previously disadvantaged people and women into the economy. Our
entrepreneurship projects aim to dramatically impact and improve the lives of previously disadvantaged,
unemployed South Africans and emerging entrepreneurs, by providing them with an opportunity to be trained and
empowered, thus enabling their success.
Members of the Big 4 audit firms are actively involved in the Association for the Advancement of Black
Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA), whose main objectives amongst others are to facilitate and encourage
the entry of Blacks into the accounting profession, and to identify and work for the removal of conditions which are
detrimental to the professional well-being of professional black accountants. Members also support the African
Women Chartered Accountant forum (AWCA), whose main objective amongst others is to increase the number of
African women chartered accountants entering the profession.
6.3 Black Firm Forum- Nonkululeko Gobodo
6.3.1 Consolidations within forum members
The member firms of the black firm’s forum went through tremendous growth in the mid 90’s due to the Black
Economic Empowerment policies (BEE) of the country. They saw consolidations happening among several small
black accounting firms to form medium sized firms. This opened opportunities for them to be involved in audits of
large State Owned Companies, as well doing audits on behalf of the Auditor General. The firms grew significantly
and their ability to contribute to the pipeline of chartered accountants was enhanced. As the established firms
complied with the countries BEE policies this had an adverse effect on medium sized and smaller black firms as
they were not able to compete. The sector started to see a reversal of the gains of the previous years.
The firms had to respond to the challenges they were facing, this led to further consolidations of some of their
member firms in the past year. Several firms merged together to form larger firms, to improve their capacity. This is
31
a move that is contributing significantly to the empowerment objectives of the country. Black firm’s ability to
compete again improved where they are now doing audits of state owned companies like Transnet, Denel, DBSA
etc. on their own.
What the growth of black firm means for the country is that they are now able to increase their intake of trainees.
They are able to contribute to the pipeline of chartered accountants. Black firms are not able to attract the top
performing students, who traditionally go to established firms. This hampers their ability to produce Chartered
Accountants. These firms are producing black professionals who may not qualify as CA’s but pursue other
disciplines and are nevertheless deployed into the economy. These firms are now establishing proper learning and
development units, with formal academic support programs. They are already seeing an improvement of their
performance in the qualifying examinations and can only continue to improve in the future.
6.3.2 Economic transformation framework
The progress that the black firms are making as mentioned in the previous paragraph is very encouraging. We
however have to appreciate the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done. We also have to appreciate the fact
that 80% of the work that black accounting firms are doing is in the public sector. The private sector is still closed
to them. This hampers their growth and ability to specialise. The result of this is that their trainees and professional
staff do not get exposure to different sectors. This also contributes to the poor pass rate of black firms in the
qualifying examination.
The country is in a phase of rebuilding, as we can see from the major infrastructure projects. This opens an
opportunity for the development and growth for those citizens that were previously disadvantaged. Right through
history nations developed with their citizens during times of rebuilding, as we saw after the Second World War.
There is a need to develop an economic transformation framework that will give the country a national vision that
can give proper direction. The current BEE policies are an important starting point. We however as a country need
to have a clear vision on the issue of economic transformation for us to see real progress on the economic
development of the majority of our people.
6.4 Auditor General - Eshana Manichand
The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) takes a structured, multipronged approach to the transformation of
the profession which includes the following areas:
6.4.1 Creating awareness of the accounting/auditing profession The organisation has aimed its awareness program at communities and young people living outside of the large
metropolitan areas by adopting 206 rural high schools throughout the country. Our business units have regular
interactions with students and teachers in the form of presentations, discussions, career planning and upliftment
initiatives. These interactions are intended to introduce the profession and the organisation and to demonstrate
accounting and auditing as exciting and acceptable careers. The schools are encourages to introduce and the
students to take up mathematics as prerequisite for higher education and achievements in the auditing profession.
Practical demonstrations are arranged for high school pupils throughout the provincial offices as part of the “Take
a learner to work” day.
32
6.4.2 Providing financial and intellectual support to CA students The AGSA provides bursaries to talented young people from the previously disadvantaged communities, which
allow them access to accredited learning institutions. After qualifying the students become eligible for any of our
training programmes.
In 2012 the value of the external bursaries awarded by the AGSA was increased to R80 000 per bursary. 53 new
bursaries were awarded at the start of the year bringing the number of external bursary holders to 119. In addition,
31 of the bursary holders were employed in the AGSA.
The organisation’s Centenary Scholarship fund awards full scholarships to students that have achieved
exceptional results in Grade 11 and 12. In 2012 this number was 34 .The success of the collaboration of the
organisation with its adopted schools is evident in the fact that 70% of the centenary scholarship holders have
come from those rural schools. Our AGSA bursars are now attending all major universities in the country; the
breakdown is reflected hereunder:
Name Percentage of scholarship holders
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 3%
North West University 12%
University of Cape Town 26%
University of Free State 6%
University of Johannesburg 9%
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal 6%
University of Pretoria 23%
University of Witwatersrand 15%
The AGSA continues to contribute substantially to the Thuthuka fund through which we are currently sponsoring
40 students per year at a total cost of R1.6 million.
We provide specific financial assistance to the University of Fort Hare by subsidising their School of Accountancy.
AGSA’s experienced CAs provide active support to their local universities through specialized presentations,
reading various subjects and taking part in open and career days.
One unique initiative is the establishment of “AGSA corners”, i.e. dedicated furnished and equipped rooms on
campuses which provide access to the organisational information and our career site.
6.4.3 The AGSA’s unique Trainee Auditors (TA) scheme
The organisation offers its unique training scheme which, in addition to being one of the largest CA learnership
programs provides, the only registered government auditor (RGA) training in the country. The trainees are given
bursaries, study leave, study support, technical and soft skills and on the job training.
In 2012 the AGSA launched two unique programmes for its trainee auditors, the ASU jumpstart and the CTA2
Boot Camp; two novel initiatives for South Africa. The ASU jumpstart is a combined initiative between the AGSA,
SAICA and UNISA where additional live classes were given to all our CTA1 and CTA2 students at our Brooklyn
campus. Another unique opportunity was also afforded to our top 25 CTA2 students as part of the CTA2 Boot
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Camp. They were given the exceptional chance to attend a six week intensive programme where they received
live classes from lecturers, writing mock exams, receiving individual feedback from lecturers, taught exam
techniques, stress management and study methods. Out of the first group 17 passed their first Board exam.
During the reporting period 14 SAICA TAs and 13 SAIGA TAs passed their final qualifying examinations and are
only required to complete their practical experience before being accepted by their respective professional bodies.
The AGSA produced 37 CAs(SA) , 35 RGAs and 4 CISA professionals that passed their final qualifying exams
and completed their practical experience.
6.5 National Treasury - Zolisa Zwakala
The National Treasury CA programme was established in 2008 as one of the strategies intended to transform the
public sector in the field of financial management. This was in response to the requirements of the Public Finance
Management Act (PFMA) section 6 (2)(d) which requires National Treasury to assist departments and
constitutional institutions in building their capacity for efficient, effective and transparent financial management.
The CA programme targeted candidates from the historically disadvantaged communities who aspire to become
chartered accountants. The programme was during 2012 extended to the three metropolitan municipalities;
namely eThekwini, City of Cape Town and City of Joburg. During 2013 it was further extended to the Department
of Home Affairs. This has allowed National Treasury to appoint and place trainees to all the institutions that have
become part of the programme. Further extension is expected in the future and discussions are taking place with
the interested institutions for purposes of putting in place the required system in preparation of inclusion to the CA
programme.
The programme has to date produced 13 chartered accountants (10 males and 3 females). 11 of them where
absorbed by the public sector. There are 25 trainees in the programme and 12 of them are female. The current
selection process seeks to achieve a balanced gender representation. During 2012, National Treasury established
the Public Sector Forum with public entities and constitutional institution for purposes of strengthening the CA
programme in the public sector. Current participating institutions are the South African Reserve Bank, South
African Revenue Services, Public Investment Corporation, Industrial Development Corporation and Transnet. This
number is expected to increase through engagement with other institutions.
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7 BEE VERIFICATION AND THE AUDITING INDUSTRY13 The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) was approached by the Department of Trade and Industry
(the dti) to regulate the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) verification industry. This shows
the trust that the department has in the auditing profession and the rigour that the IRBA has come to be known for
in protecting the public and pursuing the transformation, social and development goals of the country’s economy.
The IRBA welcomed the challenge to regulate the B-BBEE verification industry and whilst the legislative process
of amending both the B-BBEE and the Auditing Profession Acts was continuing, several other processes were
being embarked on to prepare for the change.
The dti seconded one of its staff members to the IRBA to assist in preparation for the move over of the function to
IRBA. We also hosted a round table with Registered Auditors (RAs) to get their comments on the codes released
by the dti for comment. Several other stakeholders were consulted and continue to be engaged in order to draw
on their expertise in the industry. The IRBA submitted comments to the dti on the Codes of Good Practice (the
codes) and the Technical Assistance Guideline (TAG) compiled from the round table with RAs who mostly
expressed concern not only from the profession but from their client’s perspective as well.
The B-BBEE amendment bill has since been issued and the Auditing Profession Act will be amended by the end
of the year to incorporate the additional mandate of the IRBA. In the interim, the IRBA is empowered to approve
Registered Auditors who meet certain requirements to provide B-BBEE verification services and to issue valid B-
BBEE certificates according to Statement 005.
Until the process of the amendment of the Auditing Profession Act is completed and the necessary approvals
received, IRBA will keep supporting the dti in all their processes and the RAs in implementing their verification
mandate.
13 Report provided by the IRBA
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8 CAPACITY BUILDING The Thuthuka Education Upliftment Fund (TEUF) partners with universities to build additional capacity at
Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs) to offer accredited qualifications that lead to a career in Chartered
Accountancy. The primary and most important benefits are to ensure that there is sustainable capacity in the rural
communities of South Africa and to provide a quality education available in the rest of the country.
The inability of accountancy graduates from historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) to register for the SAICA
examinations without a bridging programme of some sort not only carried a negative stigma but rendered them
less competitive in the labour market.
Thuthuka continues the work of building capacity at Historically Disadvantaged Institutions. In 2012 Thuthuka
began working with Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and the University of Zululand (UniZulu) to begin new projects
to build up the BCom Accounting degrees at these institutions to the level required to achieve full accreditation.
Both projects aim to fully capacitate the Accounting Faculty and to secure the necessary infrastructure to support
the students during their studies. By running accredited programmes, graduates from the university will not have
to complete bridging programmes before being eligible for a CTA or equivalent programme. The University of
Cape Town (UCT) is acting as an alliance partner on both these projects. Qualifying graduates from the project will
complete CTA at any of the selected SAICA accredited university on completion of their undergraduate degrees.
In 2012, 120 students (100 first years and 20 second years) were supported on the WSU project funded by the
Department of Higher Education through the National Skills Fund. Fifty (50) first years were supported on the
UniZulu project funded by the Bankseta. Only the University of Venda, of the HDIs allowed to offer general
degrees, remains unaccredited by SAICA. Investigations are intended during 2013 to determine the feasibility of
supporting such a project at this institution.
Fasset has approved funding to the value of R2.99 million for Non Thuthuka African students. This project will be
running at the Universities of Pretoria; Johannesburg and Cape Town. Thuthuka seeks to offer additional
academic support and career development in the form of additional tutorials and Life skills workshops for these
students who are not funded by Thuthuka.
8.1 Walter Sisulu University (WSU) The first full cohort of students at WSU achieved 88% pass rate with the second year pilot group achieving a pass
rate of 81%. There is a new intake of 100 first years in 2013. This brings the total number of students on the
programme to 197. The year commenced with an orientation programme to help the students cope with the new
environment which went very well.
The allocated residence will be renovated in 2013 therefore the university faces the challenge of finding temporary
accommodation for the students. The Department has managed to find alternative accommodation outside the
campus and will be hiring buses to transport the students.
The performance of the students in the 2012 academic year far exceeded our expectations. The students worked
very hard and diligently which has evidently paid off. The Department of Chartered Accounting at WSU is excited
about the 2013 year and is anticipating that the results achieved by candidates during the year will be even better.
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8.2 University of Zululand There are three major categories of beneficiaries within this project:
1. The first category is the students themselves. Through this project, 350 students (four intakes of African and
Coloured students per year – 50 students in 2012 and 100 students in 2013 to 2015) will gain access to an
undergraduate degree of a quality that may not have been available to them previously. They will be
effectively equipped for entry into the labour market in an area of scarce skills and will be supported
throughout their undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
2. The second category is UniZulu itself. Through this project, it is expected that the University will gain
accreditation from SAICA for a BCom (Accounting) programme. This then offers the university greatly
enhanced credibility through the ability to offer a qualification attractive to high-calibre students.
3. The third category is the Chartered Accounting profession. Enhanced capacity to deliver this qualification
ultimately means an enhanced supply of students will be available to be recruited onto the learnerships.
There is currently a shortage of students available for recruitment. Not only will there be more students
available, but these students will be more adequately equipped for the workplace making them more effective
to the profession.
The future of the students, who will benefit directly from the Project, is secured with tremendously valuable work
opportunities. Their ability to support and grow the communities from which they come is tremendous. During the
course of their studies, the students will participate in formal community support programmes. Some of the
students will be selected to attend and support Grade 11 and 12 Thuthuka learner camps in the province. At these
camps, they will act as mentors and role models to youngsters who are keen to study for their tertiary
qualifications. As the students' progress in their studies, they will also play a mentorship role to the younger
students entering the University. Through this, they give back to their communities and gain valuable leadership
skills.
The first cohort of students at UniZulu achieved a 93% pass rate. There is a new intake of 100 first years
registered in 2013. The students have all received books and accommodation. The Induction/Orientation week
took place in February and was a great success.
8.3 University of Limpopo The University of Limpopo (UL) was approved as a SAICA accredited university in 2011 and continues to work
hard on building the strength of its undergraduate programme i.e. BAccSc degree. The partnership with the
University of Johannesburg (UJ), which is a key partner during the course of the capacity building project at UL,
has proven to be a critical aid to UL. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) also offered students access to its
postgraduate Certificate in Theory of Accounting (CTA) programme to enable UL graduates to write the qualifying
examinations.
The 2012 graduates are the first full cohort to come off the now accredited programme. The results of this cohort
in their CTA year at UJ in 2013 will be indicative of how the programme has progressed. The plan is to work with
the UL to prepare it for accreditation of its CTA programme in 2016.
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9 THUTHUKA BURSARY FUND (TBF) PARTICIPATION IN TRANSFORMATION
The Thuthuka Bursary Fund (TBF) strives to support the vision of the CA Charter by advancing the education of
the youth thereby empowering them to become prospective Chartered Accountants and sustaining the future of
the profession.
In 2012, a total of 1 041 students (806 undergraduates and 235 CTAs) were supported by TBF at the nine partner
Universities across South Africa. Again in 2012, 130 TBF students wrote the Part 1 QE examination and 105
candidates passed; an 81% pass rate.
9.1 Funding TBF is supported by funding from various donors inclusive of which are individuals, companies, government and
foundations. These donors are contracted for a minimum of three years which is sufficient enough to support a
candidate's undergraduate studies.
In order to adequately support the 400 new recruits and ensure the 70% pass rate is achieved, the fund requires
an annual amount of R42 million.
The current donations received are from the following categories and funders:
Revenue 2011 2012
(millions) (millions)
Thuthuka Fundraiser Project - 83
Commerce and Industry 9 351 13 654
Large Firms 6 185 7 000
Medium Firms 1 190 1 760
Public Sector 7 350 10 800
Other 2 273 1 082
TEUF reimbursement 2 844 -
Member pledges 82 240
TOTAL 29 275 34 536
It is pleasing to see the increases in funding allocated by various donor partners to TBF. In particular, the huge
increase in funding from the public sector which is almost as comparable to that donated by Commerce and
Industry firms.
In addition to funding that is donated by the public sector, the evidence that TBF is making an impact in terms of
transformation becomes even more apparent when provincial departments follow in the footsteps of their national
counterparts in donating to the fund. The Kwa-Zulu Natal Treasury has formed a partnership with TBF to grow the
much-needed financial skills for the province in general. Over the next four years the KZN Treasury will contribute
R16 million towards TBF, making it the first provincial government body to partner with the fund.
Trainees that are recipients of the Thuthuka Bursary Fund are allocated to various SAICA accredited companies
divided across the sector as large firms, medium firms, small firms, public sector, financial services sector and
commerce and industry. In 2012, there were 124 TBF candidates that were allocated across the donor
companies; this is a sharp increase from the 54 candidates in 2009. The number of students allocated to each
donor is determined by the funding each donor contributes to TBF.
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9.2 Conclusion The proposed changes to the BBBEE Codes provide TBF with an opportunity to access available funding that is
earmarked for skills development. The change in the definition now means that donors would, by contributing to
TBF, qualify for points under skills development as well as under socio-economic development. A greater effort will
be made in 2013 to draw potential and existing donors' attention to this change, with the aim of raising more
funding in this area.
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10 CA CHARTER SECTOR COMMUNICATION
The CA Charter Council has realised the importance of active communication to our members in order to keep
them abreast of the developments in the Sector as regards to BEE.
One of the aspects that are of major concern and confusion are the changes to the Charter that will be taking place
subject to the specific key principles that will be outlined by the dti. As a result of the amendments that are yet to
happen, firms were unsure how to proceed in the interim. The Council then issued a communique to all our
members explaining that the amendments to the CA Charter have not taken place as yet and that firms are to
adhere to the current targets as stipulated in the CA Charter gazette number 34267 of 10 May 2011.
The CA Charter Council also endeavours to ensure greater visibility of the Charter and the Council as a whole.
The manner in which this will be achieved is through the use of more advertising in various publications inclusive
of which are newspapers and magazines.
In order to maintain this increased visibility the CA Charter Council will also be sourcing sponsorships and in
addition will also be advertising through the use of strip adverts, editorials, live reads and placing the CA Charter
banner on the websites of various constituencies.
It is envisaged by the CA Charter Council that through the use of the media and by placing greater emphasis on
visibility, there will be a greater increase in the rate of submissions of scorecards from firms. Due to the fact that
submissions by firms are not compulsory and bear no penalties for lack of compliance, the Council seeks to make
submissions about "best practice" rather than to focus on compliance. This approach has already born much fruit
and is evidenced by the increase in scorecard submissions from firms between the previous period and this period;
almost double from 30.5% to 57.22%.
Some of the recommendations were tabled before Council detailing the methods of communication that will be
used this year are as follows:
Member communication - this will serve to keep our members updated on various aspects of the amendments
to the Charter ;
Media release/articles - will be written based on the dti amendments on the key principles ;
Road shows - will be used as a platform to communicate more directly with members ;
Accountancy South Africa article - a detailed article will be published in the magazine to highlight the
amendments to the CA Charter and the impact that these amendments will have on the sector and the Charter
as a whole ;
Breakfast session - this would be used as a method of presenting the report from the submissions received by
firms in this reporting period. The Council will also take the opportunity to unpack the key principles as outlined
by the dti ; and
Advertorial article in Transform magazine - this article will outline the impact that the amendments will have on
transformation as specific to the CA sector and will also be used to highlight the various transformation
initiatives that are currently underway in the Sector.
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11 FASSET TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES14
One of Fasset’s strategic objectives is to increase the flow of new entrants to the labour market to address the
skills shortages and drive transformation in the finance and accounting sector. In line with this imperative, Fasset’s
strategic direction has placed particular focus on ensuring that more Black African people and Black African people
with disabilities are assisted to gain access to the sector.
For the 2012/13 financial year, discretionary funds were directed towards upskilling as well as fast tracking the
transformation agenda by funding only African Black people and African Black people with disabilities through the following:
The availability of the Strategic Cash Grant (SCG) to employers who employ new African Black and/or
entrants with disabilities on learnerships or who offer bursaries to new African Black and/or African Black
entrants with disabilities to study at recognised tertiary institutions or professional bodies in scarce skills areas
of study. For the 2012/2013 financial year, 269 learners were funded through the SCG bursaries and a further
269 learners on learnerships were also funded through this grant. Postgraduate qualifications undertaken and
claimed for in respect of this grant ensure that research and innovation is undertaken in the Fasset sector.
The availability of the Learnership Cash Grant (LCGs), a special skills-initiative grant that enables SDL-paying
and non SDL-paying employers employing up to 49 people to claim a grant according to a set of standard
tariffs. In terms of the LCG, grants are available for learners upon entry (registration) on the learnership and
another grant may be claimed on exit (completion) of the learnership. The grant is aimed at incentivising small
firms to increase their rate of taking on African learners on learnerships and is open for only African Black
learners and/or African Black disabled learners who successfully register for, or complete learnerships in the
financial year. For the 2011/2012 financial year, 200 learners on learnerships were funded through the LCG
and a further 263 for the year ended March 2013.
The support provided by Development Projects is informed by the increase in the number of youths not in
employment, education or training as well as the need to ensure that the pipeline seepage in education and
training is contained. Development Projects therefore focus on providing unemployed learners and graduates
with an opportunity to complete occupationally-directed qualifications as well as workplace readiness training
that focuses on soft and technical skills required for employment. Projects supported include the following:
1. Project
name
Programme type NQF level Number of
beneficiaries
Start date End Date
IRBA PPE 2012
Repeat
8 80 June 2012 April 2013
Project summary An intensive 20 week postgraduate support programme aimed at providing black learners with a second opportunity to write their PPE. Technical and soft skills support is provided to complete the Registered Auditor (RA) or Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification. Programme includes soft skills and technical/ academic assistance.
Result Pass rate target achieved at more than 10% above the national pass average
2. Project
name
Programme type NQF level Number of
beneficiaries
Start date End Date
Thuthuka – QE I CA 8 500 June 2012 April 2014
14 Report provided by FASSET
41
2012/13
Project summary Academic assistance to 2nd and 3rd year students who did not have access to Thuthuka
bursaries, in order to improve the throughput rate of learners who want to enter the Fasset
sector
3. Project
name
Programme type NQF level Number of
beneficiaries
Start date End Date
Thuthuka – QE
II 2012/13
CA 8 100 June 2012 April 2013
Project summary Academic assistance to 2nd and 3rd year students who did not have access to Thuthuka
bursaries, in order to improve the throughput rate of learners who want to enter the Fasset
sector
Result Pass rate target achieved at more than 10% above the national pass average
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12 CONCLUSION
The CA profession is out of the starting blocks and working towards the achievement of the vision of the CA Charter. The Charter Council is aware that there is no magic wand that will transform the CA Sector but that change comes with continuous and consistent effort and never taking one’s eye off the ball. To all who have contributed greatly and without regard to their time – thank you.
Tsakani Maluleke
Chairman
B-BBEE CA Charter Council