Johannesburg - Terence Nombembe, the former auditor-general and now chief executive of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), has made a call to action for those with skills in the private sector to support the government in achieving the goals set out by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene in the Budget.
Speaking at a networking function of the National Press Club on Thursday, Nombembe said the public service did not have the necessary skills in many sectors, and support from the public sector had in the past been fragmented.
He described the Budget as a “tight and complicated balancing act” and issued a challenge to members of SAICA, and those in other professional bodies, to take up the challenge of making it a reality. This could be done in two ways: firstly, in supporting Sars in collection of tax revenue; and, secondly, to form public-private partnerships to help roll out the National Development Plan (NDP).
“There is a lot of conversation about tax-related budget proposals which are not easy to translate to reality,” Nombembe said, joking that three-quarters of the country “probably do not know where to start”. He said this was where his organisation’s members, who are tax consultants and take a lead in institutions, can assist with ensuring adherence to tax principles and compliance.
“The minister spoke of the need for public-private partnerships, and rolling out the NDP had been in place for few years but there are reasons why, in many instances, it is going at a slower pace than anticipated,” he said.
Nombembe said the NDP would remain a pipe dream if more qualified professionals did not swell the ranks of the public sector. He said SAICA was in talks with government leadership about producing more accountants and chartered accountants because at present they were mainly in the private sector.
In government, you could count the number of CAs on your fingers, he said.
Using the model of the Thuthuka Bursary fund, which now has 2 000 students a year and had been so successful in producing accountants in the private sector, was one way of building capacity in other sectors.
Giving praise to the Engineering Council for its work in skills development, he said if every sector played its role in developing skilled professionals, South Africa would realise the NDP goals to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.
“When I listened to the (finance) minister he cited a lot of things that need to be done but none of that is going to happen without skills being infused into the public sector. He spoke of back to basics in local government (but) there have been so many campaigns around local government. None have worked because the glue that will make things happen is skills,” said Nombembe.
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