Professor Thakhathi is a professor of public administration with extensive experience in teaching, research and community engagement. He has addressed many conferences and events in more than 22 countries outside South Africa. He is a chairperson of various boards, councils and university committees. Professor Thakhathi was a member of a number of national initiatives including the Nelson Mandela Presidential Review Commission which came with good recommendations on the size and shape of the new public service. Professor Thakhathi has received many academic awards.

Dr Mokate is the executive director and CEO of the UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL). Before joining the SBL, she was an independent consultant for the Ministry of Finance and National Treasury as well as a member of the Investigation Steering Committee of the Municipal Demarcation Board. Dr Mokate has been the executive director of the World Bank Group, the deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, the Governor’s Executive Committee and the Audit Committee. She also chaired two subsidiaries of the SARB, namely the South African Bank Note Company (Pty) Ltd and SA Mint (Pty) Ltd. She has held various positions in public sector and academia, including being chairperson and CEO of the Financial Fiscal Commission, CEO of the Central Energy Fund, executive director of Group Economic and Social Analysis at the Human Sciences Research Council, director and professor at the Centre for Reconstruction and Development at the University of Pretoria, senior policy analyst of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Associate Professor of Economics at Lincoln University. She is a member of the Board of Advisors at the School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware in the USA and the Advisory Panel on the Development Progress Report at the Overseas Development Institute in the UK. In addition, she is also a board member of the Bidvest Bank and Vukile Property Fund. More recently, she was appointed the chairperson of South Africa’s Government Employee Pension Fund. Dr Mokate holds a PhD and MA from the University of Delaware, and a BA from Lincoln University. She has received various awards, including the Founders Day Award from Lincoln University as well as the Presidential Citation from the University of Delaware.

Gronie has 23 years’ experience in the financial industry and currently holds the CFO position at the South African Football Association (SAFA). Here, his key responsibilities include strategic planning, budgets, authorisations, policies, committee management and administration, reviewing, auditing, statutory management, internal controls, cash management, procurement management, payroll management, pension fund administration, management of related departments and more. One of his achievements as running CFO is the development of the SAFA Financial Management System (FMS).  Prior to his role at SAFA, Gronie worked at the Primeserv Group Limited as a financial controller, where he helped set up an internal audit department.  He has also worked at Impala Platinum Limited as a shaft accountant.

Michael, the previous accountant-general of the Republic of South Africa in the National Treasury, is now a director at Business Innovations Group (BIG). He holds various qualifications, including a master’s degree in Commerce as well as being a chartered accountant and certified internal auditor.  Michael has over 27 years’ experience in both private and public sector. He previously held senior positions with Morvest, BIG, Grant Thornton, Gauteng Provincial Government, Johannesburg Consolidated Investments (JCI) and the South African Revenue Services (SARS).  He formerly served as the National Treasury’s representative on various boards, including the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA) and the Accounting Standards Board (ASB).  Michael is the past chairperson of the East and Southern African Association of Accountants General (ESAAG) and the Accounting Standards Board (ASB).  He has published various articles in technical publications and is an accomplished speaker at conferences.  Recently, he re-joined BIG as a director and is the head: sector.

The first female board member to join CIBA, Lerato is an analytical thinker, who has proven her ability with Analytical Analysis. With an MBA from the University of Stellenbosch (USB) Business School, Lerato uses both her business and her problem-solving skills, consulting for various businesses.  She has an accounting and business background, having worked for Nedcor Investment Bank as project accountant, the Citigroup Investment and Corporate Bankin London as a business analyst, as an accountant supervisor for Multichoice Africa Ltd, an accountant for Gautrain (Bombela Concession Company), and as a commercial business analyst for Sekoko Resources.

Nicolaas joined the SA Accounting Academy Pty Ltd in 2010 as a shareholder and director. The Academy offers seminars and technical training to the broader accounting profession. As a consultant to the Academy and to various professional bodies, both within and outside the accounting profession, he assists with developing course material, technical guides, new products, change management services and turnaround strategies. Prior to joining the Academy he was the Head of Technical for the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) respectively.  As a result of his work with a number of professional bodies including SAIPA, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), ACCA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers and Accountants (ICBA), the Institute of Accounting and Commerce (IAC) and many others, he was approached by the then Southern African Institute for Business Accountants (CIBA) Board in 2012 to help develop the institute’s technical division. During this time the Southern African Accounting Association (SAAA) was also appointed as the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) provider to CIBA, an engagement that is still ongoing. Subsequent to his involvement as technical advisor and CPD provider he was elected as board member to CIBA and later as acting CEO in January 2013. Nicolaas was officially appointed as the CEO of CIBA in November 2013. Since 2013 CIBA has grown from 500 members to more than 6 000.  Nicolaas has extensive experience in management, strategy development, and project management and has developed numerous technical guides and presented on a number of technical accounting topics. He obtained his BCom in 1994 and his BCom Honours in 1995 from the University of Pretoria. In 2007 he completed his MBA through the Gordon Institute of Business Science. He has drafted numerous submissions and papers on the financial reporting requirements in the Close Corporations and Companies Act, and has also presented a number of seminars on these topics. During the initial stages of the Companies Act reform, Nicolaas acted as the coordinator for the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) Working Group on Company Formation.

Stephen Corrigan obtained his B-Compt degree and completed his Articles of Clerkship with Ernst & Young in 1991, where after he decided to pursue a career in IT. He was appointed Managing Director of Pastel Accounting South Africa in 1999 and then Managing Director of Pastel Payroll until 2007. Stephen is currently the Managing Director of Palladium Business Solutions, a company that develops and distributes the Palladium Accounting and Acumatica Cloud ERP products throughout Africa.