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05 May 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs
Prof Prinsloo and Minee van den Berg
Prof Frans Prinsloo and Mineé van den Berg. Prof Prinsloo believes the performance of the UFS graduates in the ITC examination confirms the quality of the Chartered Accountancy academic programme offered by the university.

The BAcc Honours and PGDip (Chartered Accountancy) graduates (2021) from the School of Accountancy at the University of the Free State (UFS) excelled in the latest Initial Test of Competence (ITC) examination of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

It was with great excitement that the school received the results that were released by SAICA. UFS graduates had an overall pass rate of 76% in this examination, comparing favourably to the national overall pass rate of 59%. 

Resilience and perseverance

“We are very proud of what our 2021 graduates have achieved. They excelled despite the very challenging circumstances of the emergency remote teaching environment in 2020 and 2021, and this outcome is proof of their hard work,” says Prof Frans Prinsloo, Director of the School of Accountancy.

He adds: “The performance of the UFS graduates in the ITC examination confirms the quality of the Chartered Accountancy academic programme offered by the UFS, as well as the strength of the learning and teaching model that is adopted by the school – which aims to add significant value in the development of Accountancy students’ knowledge and skills towards their qualifying as accountancy professionals. Moreover, these results are testament to the resilience and perseverance of our Accountancy students and the dedication of the staff of the School of Accountancy.”

What made the results announcement extra special is that two UFS graduates from the class of 2021, Lindi van Eyk and Mineé van den Berg, passed this challenging examination with distinction, ruling them as part of the elite group of 29 candidates nationally who passed with distinction – from 2 946 candidates who wrote this examination in January 2022.

Making a difference

Van den Berg, who was named the best honours student in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, also obtained her honours degree with distinction. She received the degree during the recent April graduation ceremonies.

“It is an honour to be able to use and invest in God-given abilities and opportunities. I believe that consistency, a set routine, and faith made it possible to be successful in the exam.”

“My results in the ITC exam assured me that I have the ability to successfully become a chartered accountant,” says Van den Berg, who is currently doing her internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Stellenbosch. She is hoping to complete her articles and pass the second qualifying exam to become a chartered accountant (SA), working both locally and internationally. From a young age, she enjoyed numbers and later found accounting to be the most suitable career field to live out her passion. “I believe that I can make a difference by working in an environment I enjoy,” she says. 

Hard work and consistency

‘Consistency’. This is the one word that Van Eyk uses to describe the reason for her success in the ITC exams. “From my first year studying BAcc, I was upskilling myself with the necessary business and global acumen. Following the advice of the lecturers, who do their best to prepare us to become professionals, consistent hard work is what made it possible for me to pass the exam with distinction.”

Van Eyk, who also passed her honours degree at the UFS with distinction, is currently employed by PwC in Midrand. She is still considering her options after qualification as a chartered accountant (SA), but she believes that her career opportunities will be endless.

Goal-driven and excited by the prospects of learning new things, Van Eyk also strives to be an inspiration to those who want to pursue studies in the field of CA(SA). She believes by persevering and not giving up on this long and hard journey, she will become the person that the world needs.

Prof Prinsloo also congratulated the other 53 UFS graduates who passed the January 2022 ITC examination, including a group of seven SAICA academic trainees who are currently completing the first year of their three-year training contract in the School of Accountancy.

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Nobel Prize-winner presents first lecture at Vice-Chancellor’s prestige lecture series
2017-11-17


 Description: Prof Levitt visit Tags: Prof Levitt visit

At the first lecture in the UFS Vice Chancellor’s Prestige Lecture series,
were from the left: Prof Jeanette Conradie, UFS Department of Chemistry;
Prof Michael Levitt, Nobel Prize-winner in Chemistry, biophysicist and
professor in structural biology at Stanford University; Prof Francis Petersen,
UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector; and Prof Corli Witthuhn,
UFS Vice-Rector: Research. 
Photo: Johan Roux

South African born biophysicist and Nobel Prize-winner in Chemistry, Prof Michael Levitt, paid a visit to the University of the Free Sate (UFS) as part of the Academy of Science of South Africa’s (ASSAf) Distinguished Visiting Scholars’ Programme. 

Early this week the professor in structural biology at Stanford University in the US presented a captivating lecture on the Bloemfontein Campus on his lifetime’s work that earned him the Nobel Prize in 2013. His lecture launched the UFS Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Lecture series, aimed at knowledge sharing within, and beyond our university boundaries. 

Prof Levitt was one of the first researchers to conduct molecular dynamics simulations of DNA and proteins and developed the first software for this purpose. He received the prize for Chemistry, together with Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel, “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems”.

Attending the lecture were members of UFS management, academic staff from a range of faculties and other universities as well as young researchers. “Multiscale modelling is very much based on something that makes common sense,” Prof Levitt explained. “And that is to makes things as simple as possible, but not simpler. Everything needs to have the right level of simplicity, that is not too simple, but not too complicated.”  

An incredible mind
Prof Levitt enrolled for applied mathematics at the University of Pretoria at the age of 15. He visited his uncle and aunt in London after his first-year exams, and decided to stay on because they had a television, he claims. A series on molecular biology broadcast on BBC, sparked an interest that would lead Prof Levitt via Israel, and Cambridge, to the Nobel Prize stage – all of which turned out to be vital building blocks for his research career. 

Technology to the rescue
The first small protein model that Prof Levitt built was the size of a room. But that exercise led to the birth of multiscale modelling of macromolecules. For the man on the street, that translates to computerised models used to simulate protein action, and reaction. With some adaptations, the effect of medication can be simulated on human protein in a virtual world. 

“I was lucky to stand on the shoulder of giants,” he says about his accomplishments, and urges the young to be good and kind. “Be passionate about what you do, be persistent, and be original,” he advised.  

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