STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER

DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI

AT THE SWAZILAND INSTITUTE OF ACCOUNTANTS’ ANNUAL DINNER AND GRADUATION CEREMONY

AT THE ROYAL SWAZI SPA HOTEL

THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2015

Honourable Ministers

CEO and Executive Director of FirstRand, Mr Sizwe Nxasana

CEO of First National Bank, Swaziland, Mr Dennis Mbingo

Chairman, Council, Members and Executive Director of the Swaziland Institute of Accountants

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

I am, as always, delighted to attend the Annual Dinner and Graduation Ceremony for the Swaziland Institute of Accountants. It is an honour for me to be with you all, and, in the first place, to welcome our distinguished visitors, especially the Chief Executive Officer of FirstRand, Mr Sizwe Nxasana. We have enjoyed very much hearing his thoughts and experiences, as well as those of Mr Dennis Mbingo, the Chief Executive Officer of First National Bank.

I admit to a very pleasant mixture of sentiments, all coming together, when I am at the Annual Dinner of the Institute. I enjoy the nostalgia when seeing former colleagues and acquaintances from the time I was a practising chartered accountant, and hearing discussion on topics that revive memories of the happy time I spent in the profession. At the same time, I am sensing, and sharing, the pride of the graduates of the various accountancy qualifications as they anticipate the awards that will be made to them this evening. Added to all that is the pleasure of attending a function held by one of the prominent and esteemed professions of our society.

Not only do I have a high regard for the accountancy profession in our country, and the institutional capacity and processes in place to ensure that high professional standards are sustained, but I thoroughly enjoy seeing the degree of support that this Annual Dinner enjoys. It demonstrates that you are proud of your profession, determined to keep it a strong one, and that you are well-motivated to be part of the team, so to speak, that upholds and monitors, the standards of financial accountability in the country.

I know that you, as an Institute, would like to see more young people becoming chartered accountants. And I am always hoping that, out there, it will be fully understood what a worthy profession accountancy is. On the auditing side, it assesses and reports on the validity of an organisation’s financial statements. Where investors, suppliers or the general public are involved, the auditor provides the immensely valuable bill of health, giving investors and the general public a reliable form of assurance when all is well in a company, and waving a red flag when things are amiss.

When working on the other side of the fence, within corporations and other organisations, the accountant is not only directly responsible for the recording of financial transactions but is also responsible for the custody and control of resources, managing financial risks, and providing financial information that assists management and future planning.

These are all vitally important functions within the complex world of today’s public and private sectors, and to its eternal credit, the accountancy profession continually strives for perfection in its work as it constantly reviews the financial reporting and auditing standards that it expects its members to observe. It is also reassuring that the Institute assists its members in their Continuous Professional Development, through workshops keeping them constantly up to date on accounting and auditing standards.

Perhaps not as clearly in evidence in the early days of human society as were doctors, farmers, lawyers, preachers and philosophers, nevertheless accountants have always been there. But corporate activity within every society has changed enormously over the millennia. Today, the transactional entities that make up a society, and especially an economy, have complex financial structures and activities. These demand careful, regular scrutiny in the form of audit. But a defining statement that may or may not have stood the test of time is that auditors are “watchdogs not bloodhounds.”

In particular, the laws, regulations and guidelines under which an auditor works are vital in creating a climate of financial accountability that is not only a great assurance to domestic shareholders, suppliers and the general public but is also a very encouraging signal to potential investors from outside the country.

We all have different personalities and varying styles of work that appeal to us. Professions like accountancy provide a less conspicuous but, in many cases, a deeper sense of professional fulfilment, knowing the extent to which their work protects the members of a society.

It may be that our promotional techniques need something of an overhaul. Perhaps we need to show a famous pop star or footballer sitting down with his or her accountant, clearly delighted at having learned the skills and benefits involved in proper financial record-keeping, or planning for the future. Or a figure, clad as Superman, blowing the lid off a monstrous scheme to hide, from the accounts, transactions that would destroy the financial security of innocent and trusting shareholders.

Seriously though, we are aware that the programme of school visits, undertaken by our Swaziland Institute of Accountants, is of considerable assistance in spreading the word. Based on the volume of enquiries, a higher level of interest is being generated among high school students. We must continue to build on that. One idea might be to link up with one of our flagship entrepreneurship programmes, like Junior Achievement, to bring accounting and auditing into the framework of their real-life school enterprises.

Even when the choice is made to train to become a chartered accountant, the opportunities are limited by the present number of registered auditors in public practice. Furthermore, many would-be trainee accountants would prefer to remain working at the sharp end out in commerce and industry. A greater number of qualified chartered accountants adds to the skills at high-end level in financial management.

Recognising this, the Swaziland Institute of Accountants will soon be spearheading an initiative called TOPPS – Training Outside Public Practice – that will enable trainees to undertake articles, that is, apprenticeship, outside public practice. That does require the buy-in from some of the bigger enterprises in our economy but I trust that we will be able to secure the requisite level of commitment. TOPPS comes across as a really worthwhile initiative and I do hope that, when we meet again next year, it will have been launched.

I take the opportunity to congratulate those who are receiving awards and thank the Swaziland Institute of Accountants most warmly for inviting me here this evening.

 

Thank you.