From growing up in a Limpopo village to leading finance at the CCMA, Kedibone Mashaakgomo's journey has been defined by perseverance, purpose and a commitment to creating lasting impact. She reflects on overcoming academic setbacks, embracing digital transformation, mentoring future leaders and why true leadership is measured not by titles, but by the legacy left behind.
For Kedibone Mashaakgomo, success was never born in polished boardrooms or mapped out through privilege. It began quietly in a village in Limpopo, in classrooms filled with possibility, uncertainty and curiosity about a world far bigger than the one she knew.
Today, as chief financial officer of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), Kedibone is one of South Africa’s respected financial leaders, with experience spanning in the public and private sectors, including roles at the Auditor-General of South Africa and Absa Group. Yet despite the title, the executive responsibility and the influence she now carries, she remains deeply rooted in the values that shaped her long before corporate life entered the picture.
Her story is not one of effortless brilliance or overnight achievement. It is a story of persistence. Of failing and trying again. Of choosing purpose over comfort. And understanding that leadership means leaving behind something sustainable for others.
“I grew up in Limpopo and studied in a village called Botlokwa. At the time, I was exploring two possible career paths: pharmacy or chartered accounting.”
The decision would ultimately come down to something surprisingly simple and especially because she could not stand being in the lab at all. And at the time, her school had just received a newly built science laboratory equipped with modern facilities. While many learners were excited by the opportunities it represented, Kedibone realised very quickly that a future in medicine or pharmacy was not for her.
But another influence had already begun quietly shaping her thinking and she recalls reading about a woman from her village who had persevered through enormous challenges to qualify as a pharmacist. What stood out was not merely the achievement itself, but the intention behind it.
“She wanted to use her degree for community upliftment. That is what really stayed with me. She was building her own life, but she was also thinking about what it would mean for her community.”
Finding her feet
At the same time, Kedibone had begun reading old career guidance books that profiled different professions. One particular detail fascinated her: the extremely limited number of black chartered accountants in South Africa at the time.
“In our communities, you would hardly meet someone who was a CA and everybody always spoke about how difficult it was to become one.” However, rather than discouraging her, that challenge became part of the attraction.
That is when she pivoted straight into accounting, a decision that would change the trajectory of her life. At school, she found inspiration in an accounting teacher, Mr Rametse, whose passion for the subject left a lasting impression on her. She often questioned him about why he had never pursued CA stream himself.
“He told me that growing up, he simply did not know about it. Teaching was the path available to him at that particular point in time. But he was incredibly passionate about accounting.”
For her, that passion became contagious. Still, passion alone would not carry her through the difficult years that followed. Her academic journey was marked by setbacks that could easily have ended her ambitions. She began her undergraduate studies at what was then the University of the North, now the University of Limpopo, at a time when the institution’s accounting programme was not accredited by the South Africa Institute of Chartered Accountant (SAICA). But even then, she remained focused.
The university later partnered with KPMG and Unisa to establish a programme aimed at helping students enter the CA stream. Only the top 25 accounting students would be selected. “When I heard about it in my first year, I said to myself: I am going to be one of those students.”
Overcoming challenges
She succeeded in earning a place in the programme, but the path remained difficult. Her degree still did not provide a direct route to an honours degree, forcing her to complete a bridging certificate which she failed the first time. Then, during her honour’s studies, she failed again.
Many people would have walked away. Instead, Kedibone paused, reflected and recalibrated. This is when she realised she needed to reposition herself and refocus. However, at the same time, practical realities weighed heavily on her shoulders. Her younger sisters were approaching university age, and funding within the family was limited. She made the difficult decision to stop studying full-time and begin her articles so that opportunities could also open up for her siblings.
“It was not necessarily that I was a caregiver,” she explains. “But I understood that I had already been in school for a long time. I needed to make way for them to pursue their own studies and aspirations.”
Later, she returned to Unisa, completed her honours and continued pursuing her chartered accountancy ambitions and when she now looks back, she believes those struggles shaped her far more profoundly than success ever could.
“I always say education is important,” she says. “Even if you eventually go into business or other industries, there is something schooling gives you. It shapes how you think, how you work and how you build resilience.”
Perhaps most importantly, she rejects the myth that success in finance belongs only to those naturally gifted with numbers. “It took a lot of practice for me,” she says candidly. “I even attended Maths extra classes in high school to get myself to the level required for university.”
Shining the light for the youth
Her message to young people considering finance careers is equally refreshing and According to Kedibone, the ability to interpret information, make thoughtful decisions and understand the meaning behind numbers matters far more than mathematical perfection.
“In today’s world, it is not just about the numbers,” she says. “It is about what the numbers mean, how they impact decisions and how those decisions translate into reality for people on the ground.”
That philosophy would later become central to her leadership style. She joined the Auditor General of South Africa whilst still doing her training programme. After completing the programme, she joined Absa and later returned to the Auditor General of South Africa rising to a senior manager role, before making a move to join the CCMA as a CFO in 2019.
Her arrival at the organisation later coincided with one of the most disruptive periods in modern history. When Covid-19 struck, the CCMA, like many institutions, was forced to rethink how it operated almost overnight. The organisation suddenly needed to provide services remotely, manage labour disputes digitally and ensure access for millions of South Africans during lockdown conditions. Kedibone found herself at the centre of critical decisions.
“One of the key things we had to implement was an e-referral online platform,” she recalls. “At the time, we did not even have funding allocated for it. Finance had to quickly crunch the numbers, and support ICT in the acquisition of a services provider to build the platform.”
Innovating through technology
What began as an emergency response soon evolved into a broader digital transformation journey. “Today, most of her referrals no longer come through people physically walking into the CCMA offices,” she explains. “People use CCMAConnectAPP, WhatsApp platforms and other digital platforms.”
For Kedibone, the pandemic permanently changed the organisation’s relationship with technology and data. “We had to acknowledge that technology is part of our lives,” she says. “But more importantly, we had to understand how to use the information that comes with technology to influence better decisions.”
Even so, she recognises that digital transformation is not simply about systems and platforms. It is also about people. “There are still individuals who prefer pen and paper. There are still people who mistrust technology and as a leader, navigating those concerns requires empathy, patience and continuous engagement,” she says.
Her approach to leadership is deeply reflective and intentionally human-centred. While many executives speak primarily about performance metrics and operational targets, Kedibone repeatedly returns to questions of sustainability, ethics and long-term impact.
One of her proudest achievements at the CCMA has been helping to shape a culture grounded in governance, accountability and institutional sustainability.
“If I leave the organisation tomorrow, I want to know that certain key fundamentals of financial management will still remain in place for the next leader.” And for her, that desire to build something lasting extends beyond the workplace.
Remaining grounded through faith
When asked how she copes with disappointment or discouragement, Kedibone speaks openly about faith, family and reflection, saying that she draws strength from her family and from her faith.
As a practising Catholic, she often turns to scripture during difficult periods, seeking guidance that aligns with the specific challenges she is facing in that moment.
“I like to read the Bible for what I need at that particular point in time. If I am going through hardship, I will immerse myself in scriptures that deal with hardship.” This equally grounds her visits home to Limpopo, where she goes back home, spends time with people in the village, reminding her why certain decisions were important from the beginning.
There is a striking humility in the way Kedibone speaks about her achievements. Despite the influence she now holds, she does not yet feel she has fully achieved the impact she hopes to make in her community. “I am still trying to build my own legacy,” she says quietly.
Yet in many ways, she is already doing exactly that.
She regularly makes time to mentor aspiring CA students, particularly those struggling with self-doubt during exam periods. She volunteers to speak at schools and tutoring programmes, encouraging young people not from an academic perspective alone, but from a place of emotional resilience and personal growth, adding that she tries to help uplift them and remind them why they started.
Outside the office, Kedibone deliberately creates space for softness and restoration. She loves hiking, nature and outdoor exploration. She enjoys surrounding herself with family and friends over good food and meaningful conversation. Baking, especially cheesecake, has become one of her favourite creative outlets.
“My latest challenge is getting the perfect baked cheesecake,” she laughs, “But I also love cooking comforting meals – food that creates warmth and connection. A good pap and morogo with meat, food that makes you eat and forget about everything else,” she says.
As a mother to her 25-year-old son, she treasures simple family moments and the routines that keep her grounded amid the pressures of executive life.
Her mornings are intentionally calm: exercise, reflection and a cup of hot water with lemon before the demands of the day begin. “I prefer quiet mornings because that is when I do most of my thinking,” she says and, in many ways, that quietness reflects who she is as a leader. Thoughtful rather than loud. Measured rather than performative. Focused less on personal acclaim and more on meaningful contribution.
Even her views on artificial intelligence reveal a leader deeply concerned with ethics and accountability. While fascinated by AI’s possibilities, she is equally interested in the risks and responsibilities surrounding its use. “It is not enough to simply use technology. It must also be used ethically and responsibly,” she says.
Ultimately, she believes leadership should always be anchored in foresight and if she had one superpower, it would be the intelligence to make decisions that positively impact people not only today, but tomorrow as well.
It is a philosophy that seems to define every chapter of her life: the village girl who chose accounting because she hated the science lab; the student who failed but refused to quit; the executive who measures success not by status, but by sustainability and human impact.
