Ms Wadzanai Mabuto (34), a Senior Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Accountancy has been selected as one of the finalists in The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Top 35 under 35 competition.
SAICA’s annual competition looks to identify an outstanding young CA(SA) who leads, takes risks, and is innovative. Someone who is creating value – either in their own business, for the company who employs them – or even for society around them.
Ms Mabuto has always known that she loves to talk and engage with people. Initially, she thought that interactions with clients as a private banker would be sufficient but later realised that she has a heart and a passion for the youth. ‘Upon this realisation, I packed my corporate bags and purchased a one-way ticket into the world of academia! This has undoubtedly been the most fulfilling experience of my life, as my sole focus is living a life of significance that adds value to others,’ she says.
Her teaching philosophy is to be in constant pursuit of understanding her students while simultaneously teaching them life skills that will hold them in good stead in becoming responsible and effective global citizens. In 2018, she designed and implemented a programme called the WorkSmart Rewards Programme, which is an online system that provides her students with an opportunity to take ownership of their learning and to ingrain in them the important life skill of working consistently to achieve an intended goal.
Ms Mabuto strives to partake in research that makes a difference in people’s lives by providing them with insight on human behaviour in the areas of financial management and accounting education. The research study for her master’s in Financial Management was entitled ‘Factors associated with retirement savings behaviour for low to middle-income South Africans’ and she presented her findings at the 2018 CIMA Management Accounting Research Exclusive Conference in Potchefstroom. She also presented a paper on the WorkSmart Rewards Programme at the 2018 Accounting and Finance Association Conference in Brighton, entitled ‘Design of a gamified application for a financial management module by integrating a motivational design model called the ARCS+G model’.
She currently holds free workshops called GirlTalk for women of all ages, with the current theme being ‘Finding my worth’. She is currently writing a book entitled Finding my magic, which is a collection of writings that range from short statements to long, unstructured poems and prose. The main message behind all her writing is finding out what you were born to do and doing it in spite of pain and discomfort.
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) is the professional home of Chartered Accountants CAs(SA).
