The drop in the number of finance graduates who wrote the first initial test of competency (ITC) board exam this year paints a bleak future for South Africa.
Experts warned the drop has serious implications for the future of South African businesses as this results in undersupply.
They are Graeme Marais, director of specialist finance recruitment company Blue Recruiting, Professor Nico van der Merwe, outgoing CA programme coordinator at North-West University, and Robert Zwane, SAICA Executive: Learning, Development and National Imperatives.
Sentiments followed a report released on 18 May by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), that the 2 946 candidates wrote the exam in 2022, compared to 3 887 in 2021. The drop represents 941 and translates to 24%.
The ITC is the first of two board exams that candidates are required to pass in order to qualify as a Chartered Accountant (CA). Two main factors highlighted for the decline are poor mathematics marks and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The numbers grew by 19% in 2020, then by 6% in 2021. This means the system will be producing fewer chartered accountants in three or four years’ time,” said Marais.
He said this situation is compounded by the ‘brain drain’ of qualified South African CA professionals leaving the country to work abroad in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
“We have also seen a steady drop in students qualifying to study CA with the poorer Gr. 12 mathematics marks the country has seen over some time. Intakes are generally down, and this has now spilled over to postgraduate level,” Van der Merwe explained.
“Factors for the drop include the challenges university students have faced regarding adapting to blended teaching and learning methodologies during the Covid-19 restrictions over the past two years,” said Zwane.
According to a government notice issued by the Department of Home Affairs early this year, the chartered accountancy skill is cited on the South African scarce skills list. Out of 47 889 registered CA’s in South Africa as few as 7 094 are black African and 32 418 are white.
