Meet The New Auditor-General SA:

Tsakani Maluleke

by Charndré Emma Kippie

In November 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa made the special announcement that Tsakani Maluleke would take up the position of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), for the next seven years. development finance, and skills development agencies.

Adding to her string of impressive accolades, Tsakani previously served on the Presidential BEE Advisory Council. Here she led a subcommittee that developed recommendations for broad-based black economic empowerment. Taking up the position of chairperson of the CA Charter

Tsakani is the first woman to hold this position in the supreme audit institution’s 109-year history, and was also the first female deputy auditor-general, working alongside Kimi Makwetu since 2014.

Tsakani, who has been dubbed the ‘public finance watchdog’, takes over from her predecessor who passed on 11 November 2020, after serving as the auditor-general between 2013 and 2020. Tsakani is a highly talented Chartered Accountant with a booming career which has spanned over more than 20 years. She has experience in both the private and public sectors, and has expert knowledge in areas such as consulting, auditing, corporate advisory, investment management,

Council, she headed the first BEE sector charter, which focused heavily on essential transformation initiatives, which continues to open doors for black people to enter the accountancy profession. Tsakani is also currently the Chair of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.

A mom of two beautiful daughters, today Tsakani manages to balance a big career with a healthy lifestyle, often taking time out to play a few sets of tennis. It is also known that she is quite the fan of Formula One and motorsport, in general.

BACKGROUND

Born and raised in Soshanguve, Pretoria, Tsakani started working in her family’s supermarket, as a cashier, at age nine. Tsakani and Basani Maluleke’s father, George Maluleke, who died in 2017, was a renowned lawyer and later judge at the Venda High Court. Continuing her father’s great legacy, Tsakani instills all the wisdom imparted upon her, in her career and daily decision-making.

“I would love to pretend I dreamt about being an auditor when I was a little girl, but that would be untrue”, she admits. “I was raised by a father who was an attorney for many years, and I’m the quintessential daddy’s girl. All I ever wanted was to be like daddy.”

Tsakani and her family moved to Johannesburg in 1987. During the holidays, she would go back and visit Soshanguve, attentively working in the family store, which is where she eventually picked up key accounting practices, such as reconciliation and working with cash on hand.

In terms of her schooling, Tsakani attended a boarding school in Senderwood, Johannesburg - Saint Andrew’s School for Girls. She later went on to study at the University of Cape Town, which is where she graduated with a BCom (Accounting) in 1996. She also completed her Post-graduate Diploma in Accountancy in 1997. Thereafter, the talented accountant completed her articles at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and kicked off a fruitful career working for the Eastern Cape Development Corporation and Izingwe Holdings, in her early days as a finance fundi. In the past, she has also held directorial positions at companies such as Aberdare Cables and Onelogix.

ORGANISATIONS

• Business Unity South Africa

• African Women Chartered Accountants

• Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (Abasa)

• South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica)

• African Leadership Initiative

• Aspen Global Leadership Network

• Financial Advisory & Intermediary Services (FAIS)

Although her journey at AGSA has just begun, Tsakani’s passion for finance, and contributing to the upliftment of black men and women in the field of accountancy, continues to grow stronger and stronger. She is committed to upholding the values of AGSA, whilst paving the way forward for generations of black accounts still to come. Thus, she does not take her newfound platform lightly, and is dedicated to fostering the growth of the socio-economic development (SED) programme of the AGSA, which includes three key initiatives: the Adopted Schools Initiative, the Mandela Day Initiative and the University Sponsorship Initiative - geared towards assisting the historically disadvantaged.

AGSA VISION

To be recognised by all our stakeholders as a relevant SAI that enhances public sector accountability.

MISSION

The AGSA has a constitutional mandate and, as the SAI of South Africa, it exists to strengthen our country’s democracy by enabling oversight, accountability and governance in the public sector through auditing, thereby building public confidence.

CORE VALUES

We value, respect and recognise all people

Our accountability is clearand personal

We are performance driven We value and own our reputation

We work effectively in teams We are proud to be South African