DAG inspires the next generation of CAs(SA) at the Saica Difference Makers event

“Today, we celebrate excellence. You have reached a significant milestone by joining one of the most respected professions in South Africa and globally. You have not only earned the chartered accountant's CAs(SA) designation, but you have also inherited public trust and the responsibility of shaping the future. From this day forward, your greatest challenge will not be mastering accounting; it will be mastering yourself. The future does not require qualified professionals alone. It needs trusted stewards." 

These were the inspiring words of DAG Bongi Ngoma to hundreds of young professionals and newly qualified CAs(SA) at the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (Saica) Difference Makers event, held on 31 July 2026, in Houghton, Johannesburg. 

The event celebrated the achievement of the newly qualified CAs(SA) as they prepared to embark on the next chapter of their professional careers. 

The DAG challenged the young CAs(SA) to embrace the following principles that will shape them into future leaders: 

• Excellence – begins with the individual, grows into collective excellence and, ultimately, contributes to building the nation. 

• Essence – develop the indispensable qualities that give you substance and cannot be taken away. 

• Ethics – no amount of excellence or expertise can compensate for the absence of ethics. Ethics goes beyond compliance; it is character in action and doing what is right, even when it is easier not to. 

• Ego – can be a thief of destiny. Future leaders require more than technical expertise; they need the character and resilience to steward the future responsibly and build stronger generations.