Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal government has helped sponsor scholarships for 100 students to become chartered accountants (CA) over four years as a way to alleviate the severe shortage of financial management skills in municipalities.
SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) communications and marketing project manager Yuven Gounden said the proviso for these students with a Thuthuka Bursary is that they find employment at one of the 61 municipalities in KZN once their studies are complete.
“We have been trying to get the other provinces to do the same,” said Gounden.
The first students in this bursary scheme started their studies in 2012 and there are currently 72 under full Thuthuka bursaries — the bursaries essentially cover all of the students’ costs and fees.
Another proviso to be in line for one of these bursaries is the student must come from a poor and previously disadvantaged background.
The aim of the Thuthuka Bursary Fund is to increase the number of black CAs compared with their white counterparts.
Gounden said this was a process that was gathering traction, albeit gradually.
In 2002, for instance, only one percent of SAICA’s membership were black CAs. Currently this figure stands at 10%.
Gounden said the bursary fund, which is mainly funded by large corporates, had so far paid for 117 qualified CAs, 500 honours degrees and 700 BComm degrees.
He said they received more than 1 500 applications every year for Thuthuka Bursaries, but only 200 to 300 students are selected