First-year NMMU BCom accounting student Zoleka Mtila earned the top spot in the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Student Leadership Summit this week.
The 18-year old Thuthuka student from Despatch joined 24 other hopefuls from SAICA-accredited universities across the country in Johannesburg at the FNB Conference and Learning Centre on Friday, 12 August to rub shoulders with senior business leaders at the summit.
The growing needs of people, roads, hospitals to be built and filled with nurses and doctors, inventions to better our standard of living and all of it must be generated by the world of commerce, was Zoleka’s winning argument. Her submission was in the form of a letter advising a grade 8 sibling on career options and opportunities available to them.
SAICA Senior Executive for Professional Development, Transformation and Growth, Chantyl Mulder, explained that the essay competition, now in its third year, is to emphasise the flexibility, potential and status of the South African chartered accountancy qualification, thereby inspiring the students to persevere with their studies and to complete their official training requirement.
While the judges struggled to select the winner amongst the many compelling letters, it was Mtila’s letter which came out tops in the end. She walked away with a laptop, sponsored by Softline Pastel, and valued at R10 000.
She said “When I entered the competition my aim wasn’t winning, but to make the final cut to be here today to meet the industry leaders. I am very happy that I have won. I will take home a lot of lessons from the session we had today. It is the experience that matters. I would like to thank SAICA for providing us with this amazing opportunity,” she said
The students in the Chartered Accountancy stream were asked to choose one of the following three letter topics:
- South Africa has been invited to join the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) economic grouping. Two obvious factors in considering a response to this invitation are that: a) this grouping represents over half the world’s population and represents the second largest and fastest growing economy (China) and b) as a representative of and gateway to the continent, South Africa represents more than just our own country. Write a letter to the government in support of or opposition to accepting this invitation.
- One of your siblings is currently in Grade 8. They are unsure what they wish to do with their life and, as a result, are considering opting for maths literacy and not mathematics. Write a letter to your sibling to provide them with some career guidance and insight into options and opportunities.
- Your local financial magazine recently published an article on how South Africans (companies and individuals) are applying ‘LeadSA’ to their own work and daily lives. Write a letter to the editor setting out your own ideas for expanding this initiative.
The top 25 entrants were rewarded with a summit hosted by SAICA where they could interact with South African Chartered Accountants who have already made their mark in the business world.
