After performing audits on a number of public entities, Angel Mhlambi-Nqikashe was eager to experience life on the other side - and understand why the institutions she was auditing were not implementing auditor recommendations. This was the first step towards her growth into the role of CFO at Mayibuye Transport Corporations.
Growing up in the Eastern Cape in a small town called Bizana, Angel aspired to work in the banking industry.
“I loved maths from primary school, so I told myself I would be a bank clerk one day. When I joined high school, I chose commercial subjects, and majored in accounting,” she says.
Angel earned a BCom in accounting from Nelson Mandela University in 2006, followed by a BCom (Hons) from the University of South Africa in 2008.
“I didn’t even know what a BCom was, but they told me it’s a course for accounting or business people,” she recalls.
“I fell in love with it, and I learned during that time that I could be a chartered accountant and major in different things like taxation, auditing, accounting and management accounting.”
Angel shared how her background and financial status made this period in her life very challenging. “My BCom (Hons) in accounting and CTA were a difficult journey, as I ended up doing them part-time while I was doing my articles. I passed my CTA on my third attempt. I passed my board exams on the first attempt in the same year, which was a great achievement.
“I told myself I will never give up until I am a qualified CA(SA), owning my company one day, or becoming a CFO,” she affirms.
Climbing the corporate ladder
Angel started her finance career as a trainee accountant at the office of the Auditor-General of South Africa in 2007.
“This is where I grew my career, as after my three years of articles, I became an assistant manager, and within a year I became an audit manager.”
As Angel was developing herself in the auditing space, she performed value-added audits of public entities, municipalities and government departments.
“I saw myself on the other side of my career field – I wanted to see why the institutions I was auditing were not implementing recommendations by the auditors. This means I wanted to be the implementer of the auditors’ recommendations or the preparer of the financial statements,” she shares.
She recalls being such an “implementer” when she took on the accountant financial control and reporting role at the East London Developmental Industrial Zone from 2013 until 2015.
“I was introducing effective internal controls in the entire institution, and controls around financial management and reporting,” she shares.
Making waves
Angel began her career at Mayibuye Transport as a senior manager in finance in 2015, and she has made significant career progress ever since.
“This is where my finance career developed more as I became the preparer of the financial statements of the transport institution, where I also developed controls in the institution entirely.”
Angel was appointed acting CFO in September 2022 and on 1 February 2023, she was made permanent CFO on a five-year contract.
“This is also the institution that groomed me to be the CFO I am today,” she says.
Angel admits that the journey was not easy, but rather full of challenges, and significant changes that altered the company’s working culture, as she ruffled some feathers along the way.
“When I joined, I had to introduce significant changes in the operational environment, which meant tampering with people being comfortable doing things in an environment with no controls. I experienced resistance to change,” she recalls.
“In the end, the changes I introduced became effective and efficient, and personnel learned to adjust to the changed controls that were good for both the institution and for their working environment,” she concludes.
