The life story of Musa Ndlovu, a charted accountant from Giyani, epitomises the concept of conquer and success
Ndlovu, 28, has had to overcome a number of life challenges in order to reach his full potential as a chartered accountant. After matriculating in 2011 at Kanyisile Education Centre in Giyani, Musa enrolled at the University of Pretoria but knew that his parents couldn’t afford to pay for his fees, especially as his brother was also studying at the time.
Stuck between the metaphorical rock and a hard place, Ndlovu knew he wouldn’t qualify for assistance from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme as his family fell into the ‘missing middle’ that earns too much to be eligible for aid but too little to cover the costs themselves.
Knowing that a bursary was his only option, Musa reached out to Ellie Olivier, Operations Manager of the South African Mathematics Foundation whom he met while taking part in the South African Mathematics Olympiad. It was Olivier who urged him to apply for South African Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (Saica) Thuthuka Bursary Fund.
Ndlovu’s first attempt at the Saica board exam, in November 2017, delivered an unfavourable outcome. It was also his first experience of failure in his academic life and, according to him, almost too much to take in.
Drawing on his strength for encouraging others to keep going despite the setbacks they face, he realised this was an opportunity to practice what he had preached. A year later, in November 2018, he wrote the exam again and passed hereby removing the last hurdle before becoming a chartered accountant. Shortly thereafter he signed-off his Saica training contract with Nexia SAB & T where he had completed his articles in the audit environment and acquired his CA (SA) designation in January 2019.
He was immediately employed as an audit manager at BDO Port Elizabeth, but just three months in he was offered an appealing opportunity by international company, Thales South Africa Systems. He took the plunge and relocated across the country where he now works as a financial engineer.
