Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (Act No. 53 of 2003)

While SAICA has made significant progress, this has been made possible by the input from its major stakeholders, namely large, medium size and small firms, the black firms forum, commerce and industry, universities, ABASA and AWCA. All these entities are not only individually playing a role in transformation but also collectively working to achieve the strategy put in place by the SAICA Board.

SAICA's ultimate aim with regard to transformation is to grow the number of black people and women who could fulfil roles within the CA sector, but it realised that this aim could only be achieved by working from the ground up to establish a 'pipeline' leading from school level to CA(SA), and ultimately partnership, level. This means firstly increasing the number of school children who qualify for tertiary studies in accountancy, secondly ensuring that these students are successful in their studies, and finally that they also succeed in their training.

SAICA thus has a long-term shepherding role, aimed at ensuring a constant stream of students from school to postgraduate level that is demographically balanced in terms of gender and race to enable the CA sector to take them up into the learnership system. SAICA has to play a major role in this learnership system (training opportunities), too, which is aimed at expanding training outside public practice to the private and public sectors.