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UFS to host ABASA’s sixth annual Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu Lecture

18 July 2023 | Story Kekeletso Takang

UFS to host ABASA sixth annual Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu lecture

The University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased to host the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa’s (ABASA) sixth annual Wiseman Nkuhlu lecture on 28 July 2023 in the Equitas Auditorium on its Bloemfontein Campus.

The prestigious lecture will be delivered by Tantaswa Fubu, ABASA past President and CEO of Great Well, under the theme, The Value of Accountants Reimagined.

ABASA was established in 1985 to promote the professional interests of black persons engaged in the accounting profession. Through this lecture, the association aims to raise renewed support from ABASA stakeholders, captains of industry, and corporates to assist in providing the resources and expertise required for the university to continue producing the leadership excellence it is known and respected for.

Attendees can look forward to presentations by Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu, Chancellor of the University of Pretoria and Chairman of the Board of KPMG; Linda Maqoma, ABASA President; Dr Molapo Qhobela, a Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the UFS; Ayanda Mafuleka, CEO of Fasset; and Likeleli Monyamane, Programme Manager at Standard Bank Group.

The event will be attended by dignitaries from the UFS, SAICA, Fasset, and ABASA.

Event details:

Date:	28 July 2023
Time:	14:00-16:00
Venue:	Equitas Auditorium
RSVP:	communications@abasa.org.za

For more information, click here: https://ufsweb.co/3rzOORh

The prestigious lecture will be delivered by:

Tantaswa Fubu

Tantaswa Fubu was Group Executive: Human Capital and Transformation at Barloworld Limited, an industrial brand management company based in Sandton, South Africa. Fubu’s experience spans 30 years in diverse areas of the economy, including the banking, industrial, automotive, medical scheme, and mining sectors. At Barloworld, she was also instrumental in the integration of newly acquired businesses that performed exceptionally well in their first year; under her leadership, Barloworld was named among the overall Gender Mainstreaming Champions of 2020.

Fubu has worked for KPMG SA, where she was Executive Head: People (HR) and Transformation, and a member of the executive committee. She is a chartered accountant with qualifications in industrial psychology, accounting, banking, and finance.

She has also served as National President of the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA). In addition, Fubu has previously worked for Standard Bank and Nkonki Inc, and serves as a non-executive director on several boards.

She is the founding CEO of Great Well, as well as a mentor and coach.

Bios of speakers:

Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu

Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu is the former Chancellor of the University of Pretoria and a member of the advisory board of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

Prof Nkuhlu served two terms as President of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, from April 1998 to April 2000. He is passionately involved with the development of black accountants and is the patron of the Nkuhlu School of Accounting at the University of Fort Hare.

He served as economic adviser to the President of the Republic of South Africa, TM Mbeki, and as chief executive of the secretariat of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) from 2000 to 2005, playing a major role in the elaboration of NEPAD policy framework and in promoting the programme both in Africa and internationally. He regularly participates as a speaker at international conferences on African development issues and corporate governance.

In recognition of his contribution to education, business, and development, Prof Nkuhlu has received a number of awards, including honorary doctorates from the University of the Free State, Stellenbosch University, the University of Cape Town, the University of Pretoria, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of Fort Hare; and merit awards from the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce, the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa, and the Black Management Forum. He was also awarded the President of Convocation Medal by the University of Cape Town in June 2004. The medal is awarded to graduates of UCT for outstanding community service.

Linda Maqoma

Linda Maqoma is the national president of ABASA, as well as the founding and chief executive of the Nomatshawe Group. Maqoma holds a BCom Accounting degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Fort Hare and has 11 years of experience in the audit space, both in the public and private sectors. She is the deputy chairperson of the Southern African Institute of Government Auditors (SAIGA) Africa and Global Committee, a member of the Black Business Council, National Council and Women's Alliance, Black Management Forum, as well as a member of the Black Business Women's Alliance steering committee.

With an inherent passion for business, people, and development, Maqoma is also an independent non-executive director of the Young African Entrepreneurs Institute, providing advice on the finance and fundraising portfolio. She is a candidate fellow of the fourth class of the Young African Leaders Initiative – South Africa (YALI), an extension of the Aspen Global Leadership Network fellowship. She has served as an audit manager in financial services at KPMG and as a success coach at SAPRO.

Dr Molapo Qhobela

Dr Qhobela holds a PhD in Plant Pathology from the Kansas State University in the United States of America. His career started at Rhodes University in 1991, where he was a lecturer in microbiology and pharmacy, after which he joined the University of Cape Town, before joining the public service sector. His leadership and strategic direction have been sought by several large and complex organisations in the course of his career. From 1998 to 2007, he was Chief Director: Higher Education Policy and Development Support in the Department of Education, from 2007 to 2009 he was Deputy Director General: Higher Education in the same department, and from 2010 to 2011 he was Deputy Director General: Human Capital and Knowledge Systems in the Department of Science and Technology.

Dr Qhobela was appointed Vice-Principal: Institutional Development at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2011 and held the position until 2015. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Foundation (NRF) from 2016 to 2020.
Dr Qhobela has strong governance credentials, having served and led governing boards, among others as the former chairperson of the boards of the Agricultural Research Council, the Global Research Council, and the Committee of Heads of Organisations of Research and Technology (COHORT). He is currently the chairperson of the Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa (TENET).

Ayanda Mafuleka

Ayanda Mafuleka was appointed CEO of the Financial and Accounting Services Seta (FASSET) with effect from 1 January 2019. She previously served as the CFO of the state-owned coal mining company, African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC). Prior to her AEMFC role, she was CFO at the National Credit Regulator. She has worked in finance across a diverse range of departments in government, including Transtel, the National Ports Authority, National Treasury, the Department of Home Affairs, and Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo. She holds a BCom Honours, Postgraduate Diploma in Forensic Auditing, and an LLB from UNISA.

Likeleli Monyamane

Monyamane sought to utilise the platform that her profession provided to serve her community. From her articles days, Monyamane served as a member of the Free State chapter of the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA), rising through the ranks to become its first female chairperson. She also served as the youngest member of the University of the Free State Council, as well as on its audit and risk and finance committees.

She co-founded the Keep Lesotho Clean Campaign, which aims to solve Lesotho’s waste management challenges. The group hosts monthly clean-up campaigns and is planning to host a waste management conference and business and innovation challenges.

Monyamane is committed to the development of the accounting profession in Lesotho and has partnered with the Lesotho Institute of Accountants to host a number of development initiatives, such as a young accountant development workshop and a student leadership summit.

Monyamane is also a successful businesswoman who runs a professional services company in Lesotho – Inspire Innovation Business Consultants – with a number of leadership achievements, including the Mandela Washington Fellowship. She holds an MBA from the African Leadership University.

News Archive

Prof Jonathan Jansen bids farewell to Kovsies

2016-08-31

Dear Kovsie staff and students

This is my final message to you all.

I wish to use this opportunity for some brief reflections, share a word of gratitude, and convey a sense of the future for our beloved university.

Since the announcement of my departure, I have had more than a dozen breakfasts with mainly students, but also staff, to offer an opportunity for the final sharing of thoughts and, of course, goodbyes. The most common questions asked at those breakfast sessions were the following, with my responses. I repeat them here, since these might also be of interest or concern to you.

What are your proudest achievements?
Two things. The increase in the academic standard for the UFS, both in terms of admission standards and pass rates, but also in relation to the requirements for appointment and promotion especially of professors. This is important because in a globally competitive world, a university stands or falls by the quality of its degrees. And for this you need the best students and the best professors.

What would you do differently, given another chance?
Nothing. I believe that leadership is about doing the best you can with the cards you are dealt in the circumstances in which you are placed. There is no point in second-guessing past decisions. I have always been ambitious as a leader, knowing that most of my goals would be met, and that some would not. That is normal in large and complex organisations, and so, I do not sit around pondering regrets, only remembering with gratitude the things we could achieve together.

What did you learn?
A lot. I learnt that our students have tremendous capacity for greatness both in their academic pursuits but also in their ability to live, and learn, and love together. I have learnt never to underestimate the capacity of our youth to excel in whatever they do. Sometimes I felt I was more ambitious for our students and staff, than they were for themselves. But I have constantly been surprised by the capacity of young students to rise above bitterness and division, and to make great our campus, country, and continent.

I learnt, again, that the overwhelming majority of our staff and students are good people, respectful of each other, and determined to work together to heal our broken past and build a more just society. And I learnt that it is much more fulfilling to build up than to break down, to embrace than to exclude, and to love than to hate.

Were you frustrated with the pace of transformation?
Sometimes, yes. But fortunately I studied educational organisations all my life, mainly schools and universities. Universities are called institutions for a reason, and on century-old sites like the historic Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State, there are core beliefs, values, and practices deeply ingrained in the culture of the place.

Anyone, therefore, who believes that transformation is easy, has obviously never tried to change an old university. It is difficult. You will get blowback. You will get bad press. You will, sadly, lose the support of some people. Some believe the university is changing too fast while others will tell you it is not changing fast enough. As you press for change, you find the university going two steps forward and one step back; in these circumstances, the solemn duty of the leader is simply to ensure that the overall momentum is always forward.

For such a time as this –
a commemorative journey:
2009-2016 (PDF book)

I therefore budget for disappointment even as I relish the many changes we have experienced together over the past seven years. If you want to obtain an objective sense of the scale of the changes at the UFS, ask those students and staff who were here in 2009, not those who came recently. They will tell you that we have a very different university, even though we all acknowledge that there is still some distance to travel. Our remarkable story of change is told in the recent Transformation Audit of the UFS, chaired by Prof Barney Pityana; that Audit Report will be released after it is read and studied by the University Council at its November meeting.

At an individual level, I learnt that most campus citizens change quickly and others more slowly, and that one has a duty to constantly push for change, but also to be patient about change. And I learnt that the ideal change retains the best of our past even as we embrace a more just and inclusive future in which all campus citizens feel that the university truly belongs to each and every one of them.

Are you optimistic about the future of our university?
Yes. The UFS is a very well-managed university thanks to the exceptional talent in the management of our finances, human resources and information technology environments. By the end of 2016, we will have record enrolments, from undergraduates to doctoral students, which is good for our future income. We run a tight ship with regard to the university’s finances, and we have greatly improved the academic standard of our qualifications; in this regard, I am very proud of my senior management team, and the talented middle management personnel, and those who make things work at the coalface of our operations.

I am very concerned, however, about future funding of the 26 public universities and the extremely vulnerable situation of at least 10 higher-education institutions. The economy is not growing and the costs of running a modern university are escalating. The delays in government commission reports on tuition fees do not help, and there seems no urgency ‘higher up’ to make the tough decisions.

We have to ensure free education for the poorest students — that is the position of your senior management – but we also need to guarantee the financial sustainability of our universities. The task of the UFS leadership, in this period of uncertainty, is to manage those two expectations as best we can. But this cannot happen without your assistance, and I do ask that you provide the new Rector and his or her team with the same understanding and support which I have enjoyed from you.

In conclusion
I am grateful.

To the many hundreds of students who have passed through my office and our home, and who sat in my many lectures and engaged me in your residences – thank you for enriching my sense of life and leadership. I am grateful that Grace and I could support and mentor many of you over the years and see you graduate. I am a better leader because of you.

To the staff of the three campuses – there is no university Rector, I can assure you, who enjoyed more love and support than what you offered me since the day I arrived here. Students come and go, but you have been my foundation year after year, and I thank you for that.

To parents, friends, and followers off-campus, in South Africa and abroad – thank you for hundreds of letters, emails, phone calls, prayers and ‘packages of support’ (from biltong to books). In the most difficult times, you rallied from everywhere with a word of support, often on social media. Know this: your words kept me calm in the storm.

Thank you, everyone.

Goodbye.

Prof Jonathan Jansen
Vice-Chancellor and Rector
University of the Free State

Description: Prof Jansen saying goodbey Tags: Prof Jansen saying goodbey

Prof Jonathan Jansen steps down as UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector (16 May 2016)

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