Budding chartered accountants aim to improve communities
STELLENBOSCH University student Lungelo Ngobese clinched first place in the 2018 South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Student Leadership Summit competition.
This was for his insightful and solution-driven essay detailing the contributions chartered accountants [CAs(SA)] must make to improve the communities from which they come.
The three-day prestigious annual summit drew 30 CA-stream BCom students from around the country who were invited to attend after they beat hundreds of other students in a thought leadership essay.
According to the judging panel who selected the top 30 university students for the 10th South African Institute of Chartered Accountants’ annual Student Leadership Summit, responsible leaders need to be willing to base every action and decision on their values and principles to make a positive impact on society. The first agenda item was to network, interact and engage with some of the country’s top business leaders at an exclusive Summit business leader networking function and prize-giving sponsored by Deloitte and Pick n Pay.
It was here that the names of Ngobese, runner-up Ashleigh Langton from UJ, and third-placed Asanda Mhluzi from UCT were announced.
Project director for SAICA’s university projects, including the Summit, Teboho Moephudi, said the quality of entry for the 2018 Summit essay competition was of a very high standard.
“The judges struggled to select 30 students out of the hundreds of entries we received,” Moephudi said.
“However, when it came to the winner, their pick was unanimous.
“Lungelo’s thought leadership piece was so solution-driven and wellthought out that they all knew they had found the winner upon reading his essay.”