Deloitte black candidates on par with white counterparts

© yodiyim – 123RF.com

Deloitte's African black trainee accountants achieved an 89% pass rate in the January 2015 Initial Test of Competence exam, a "crucial milestone" to becoming a chartered accountant. This pass rate is on a par with the pass rate of white candidates at Deloitte, it says.

"This closes the gap we have always been uncomfortable with and is a clear sign that our transformation and focused recruitment initiatives are paying off. Top talent is integral to being industry leaders and we are immensely proud of our better-than-profession performance," says Geoff Pinnock, managing partner for Africa Audit at Deloitte.

The 89% achieved by Deloitte African black candidates is a 16% improvement on last year and also matches the overall pass rate across all race groups from Deloitte that wrote the exam.

Of the total 1,891 successful candidates at national level, 581 African black candidates achieved an overall pass rate of 68%.

"These results finally eliminate the historic gap between African black and white candidates' pass rates that have existed at Deloitte in past years. I am immensely proud that this milestone has been reached ahead of the rest of the profession," Pinnock says.

According to Pinnock, these results are largely attributable to the candidates' hard work and the teaching and mentoring provided by accredited universities.

"It is thrilling to see the improvement in graduate accounting skills across all race groups over the last few years. The future crop of South Africa's business leaders will be found from skilled professionals like these," he says.

The challenge is that of the more than 36,000 chartered accountants in South Africa, only about 21% are black.

However, research by South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) shows bigger dents are being made to close this gap and improve racial and gender transformation, Pinnock says.