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Kovsie alumna secures spot on SAICA Honours Roll

25 February 2020 | Story Valentino Ndaba

Kovsies is proud of Charné Ferreira one of just 12 candidates to be placed on the Honours Roll of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) recently announced the candidates who wrote and successfully met the requirements of the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) examination. One of 2 024 names released was that of Charné Ferreira, a University of the Free State (UFS) alumna.

Ferreira was among 3 560 candidates who attempted the APC in November 2019. This gruelling part of her journey to becoming a Chartered Accountant (CA) was a culmination of many years of intensive education and training.

Now a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ferreira reflects on how her career started with the decision to take Accounting as a subject in high school. In her second- and third-year as a Kovsie student, Ferreira challenged herself to become a tutor. This gave her the opportunity to secure a position as an Academic Trainee at the UFS School of Accountancy.

Recognising outstanding performance
Not only did Ferreira pass the most demanding Chartered Accounting test in South Africa, but she excelled and earned a place on the institute’s prestigious APC Honours Roll. SAICA honours only 12 exceptional candidates for their aptitude and skill.

Excellence to match market demands
According to Freeman Nomvalo, CEO of SAICA: “In many ways this is the toughest exam because it requires aspirant Chartered Accountants (CASA) to apply their technical academic knowledge from multiple disciplines to a single but complex real-life business case study. To pass, candidates must demonstrate high levels of the skills employers have told us they want in the next generation of CAs (SA).

“Succeeding at this final test of professional competence requires advanced levels of critical thinking, the ability to work with technology, and the capacity to assimilate new information under pressure over a five-day period which culminates in an eight-hour assessment. It’s gruelling but it’s exactly the kind of challenge successful candidates will soon face as qualified CAs (SA),” added Nomvalo.

A word to the wise
Looking back at the building blocks that led her to this point, Ferreira shared invaluable advice for future candidates. “Ask for help, speak up if you do not know, speak up if you are drowning in stress. Your career is not a sprint, it is okay if you fail, as long as you get up again and the most important thing is, make time to rest, do not be so hard on yourself,” she said.

In congratulating Ferreira and the other UFS alumni who passed the 2019 Assessment of Professional Competence, Prof Frans Prinsloo, Director: School of Accountancy, also paid tribute to the excellent work of the UFS academics in the School who play a vital role in developing the knowledge, skills and values of the next generation of accounting professionals. “These results attest to the quality of the Chartered Accountancy education offered by the UFS,” he said.

News Archive

Moshoeshoe's legacy lives on in university's project: City Press - 2 May 2004

2004-10-14

CITY PRESS 2 MAY 2004 P8

NEWS

JOHANNESBURG FINAL

Moshoeshoe's legacy lives on in university's project

MATEFU MOKOENA

DRUMS were beaten and the sounds of traditional songs reverberated through corridors of the University of the Free State (UFS) as Basotho students gathered at the campus over the weekend to launch a project honouring their late great king, Moshoeshoe.

The launch was organised by the Lesotho Students Association and UFS management and was blessed by King Letsie III of Lesotho.

According to UFS rector and vicechancellor, Professor Frederick Fourie, the aim of the project is to make the legacy of Moshoeshoe a living part of the university.

He said the Moshoeshoe project will include a television documentary on his life as well as an anthology of creative writings, including prose and poetry, about him.

A television documentary is already being filmed and will be screened during an international conference at UFS in October.

Fourie said the university, as part of the project, is looking at the possibility of starting an annual Moshoeshoe memorial lecture that will focus on African leadership, nationbuilding and reconciliation.

He said the university would introduce a PhD-level research course into the life and legacy of Moshoeshoe.

The university management has also taken a decision to erect a statue of Moshoeshoe on the campus.

Fourie said the project was launched after the UFS delegation, led by him, met Letsie III.

"He wanted us to ensure the legacy of Moshoeshoe is honoured and treated with the respect he deserves."

His legacy "must live on -- not only for the Basotho, but for all South Africans, black and white, and for the entire African continent", he said.

"Living out such a legacy is indeed a fitting contribution to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and to the maturing democracy that is being built here in South Africa," said Fourie.

He emphasised Moshoeshoe was and remains a model of African leadership.

Fourie said Moshoeshoe's diplomacy and commitment to peace put him on a par with former president Nelson Mandela as a statesman.

It is Fourie's dream that, through this project, the UFS will be able to give real meaning to words such as reconciliation, respect for the diversity of languages and cultures and the unity that is needed to build a democratic nation.

The Lesotho Students Association secretary, Sofonea Shale, said for an institution like the UFS to honour Moshoeshoe demonstrates that he was a great leader. "For Basotho students, the project is very significant as it clearly defines who we are and what we stand for.

"We believe the research into the legacy of our great king Moshoeshoe will open doors for more research into the life of Basotho in general.

"Africa as a whole can learn from his leadership style," he said.

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