Univen accredited to produce Chartered Accountants

The University of Venda (Univen), together with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and the Banking Sector Education and Training Authority, celebrated the SAICA accreditation of the university's BCom Accounting Science undergraduate degree last Friday at the university’s auditorium.

The accreditation means that any student with a Univen BCom Accounting Science undergraduate degree should be eligible to study for the postgraduate degree without the need to complete a bridging course or programme at a university that offers such SAICA-accredited programmes, provided that they meet the entry requirements of that university.

Speaking at the celebratory event, Ms Chantyl Mulder, SAICA’s Executive Director: Nation Building, expressed her pride and excitement as well as the chartered accountancy profession’s satisfaction at the institution’s achievement, and congratulated the team who made Univen's accreditation possible through collaboration, partnership and hard work. “SAICA’s expectation is that, on average, it takes between five and seven years of hard work, funding, partnership and commitment from top leadership all the way down to students for a historically disadvantaged institution like Univen to acquire and develop the necessary resources to deliver a quality undergraduate degree meeting the SAICA accreditation review process. In achieving this, Univen and its accreditation partners have done an outstanding job of collaboration towards the betterment of our youth.”

Mulder's sentiments were echoed by Univen vice-chancellor and principal Dr Bernard Nthambeleni, who said: “We are all painfully aware of the scarcity of qualified chartered accountants in South Africa, in particular black chartered accountants. The ultimate aim of the BCom Accounting Sciences qualification is the contribution of Univen to the transformation imperatives in production of desperately needed chartered accountants in South Africa, particularly in Limpopo Province and the Southern African Development Community region as a whole.”

Through this programme at Univen, Dr Nthambeleni said, the access to professional accounting services in rural communities might no longer be a distant dream but a reality. “Our commitment to the success and sustainability of this project remains resolute. The university’s commitment has been demonstrated in providing critical human and physical resources for the Department of Accountancy.”

Date:27 October 2019

By: Mbulaheni Ridovhona

The 22-year-old Mbulaheni (Gary) Ridovhona has been passionate about journalism to the extent that he would buy himself a copy of weekly Univen students' newsletter, Our Voice. After reading, he would write stories about his rural village, Mamvuka, and submit them to the very newsletter for publication. His deep-rooted love for words and writing saw him register for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the University of Venda, and joined the Limpopo Mirror team in February 2016 as a journalism intern.

Read: 8316