Partner at BDO SA Assurance Services, Mohamed Zakaria (Zak) Sadek.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nCurrently, only 3% of SAICA-registered CAs work in the public sector. Sadek said this is because many accountants working in the public sector have witnessed unethical practices and received pressure to sign off on questionable activities and expenditures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis not only undermines the profession\u2019s integrity but also tarnishes the reputations of these professionals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make matters worse, these professionals in the public sector who try to address corruption encounter significant personal risks. Some even receive death threats for uncovering irregularities and speaking out against them, added Sadek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, most accountants spend their entire internships at private firms; the vast majority never get any exposure to the public sector, and they take jobs at banks, corporate finance, or other private corporate entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Sadek stressed that if the government took a hard stance against corruption and offered strategies to attract and promote professional accountants in the public sector, it could pave the way for a prosperous and sustainable future for South Africa and its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are already beginning to see it happen, with the recent formation of a crisis committee between government and the private sector to root out crime and corruption, but this is just the beginning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proposed measures to attract CAs to the public sector<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIf the government prioritises the public sector and actively works toward creating a safe and appealing environment for professionals, this could present a massive opportunity for professional accountants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Sadek, the first step is to expose students to the public sector early, starting with the school curriculum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAccounting and economics textbooks should include content on the public sector<\/strong>, ensuring that students gain an understanding of its importance and potential career prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThis should continue at the university level, where aspiring accountants learning about the Audit Professions and Companies Act should also be taught other key legislation like the Public Finance Management and the Municipal Finance Management Acts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Integrating these subjects into the curriculum and providing students with practical exposure will help them better understand the public sector and its complexities, making it a more appealing prospect come time for their traineeship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for the mandatory three-year training period required to qualify as a chartered accountant, another measure could be to make it compulsory to spend some of that time in the public sector<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThis could be a three- to six-month placement that exposes trainees to the realities and challenges of working in the public sector \u2013 akin to the compulsory community service of medical and psychology students<\/strong>,\u201d said Sadek.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf these young professionals are given such an opportunity to gain valuable experience during their training, it\u2019s likely a higher percentage of them will consider pursuing careers in the public sector upon qualification, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another approach could be offering tax incentives to professionals who choose to work in the public sector, which would make these positions more lucrative<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWith these measures in place, we could see a lot more CAs working in the public sector \u2013 bringing in the right expertise to enhance corporate governance and build a sustainable public sector that can contribute to the country\u2019s development and address critical infrastructure needs,\u201d said Sadek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRead: It\u2019s adapt or die for businesses in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BDO South Africa believes attracting qualified Chartered Accountants to the public sector could turn the country around. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":703629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[15383,9745],"class_list":["post-703587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-accounting","tag-bdo-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703587"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":703657,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703587\/revisions\/703657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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