Dream finally comes true for accountant

BECOMING a chartered accountant was all Vusi Nkabini ever dreamt of. He did not, however, think it would take him more than 20 years to do so.

After failing five board examinations and missing out on two, Nkabini finally achieved his life-long goal this year.

"I haven't grasped what it all means for me yet. All I know right now is that it was my dream and it came true," the 52-year-old father of three said.

A lack of funds forced Nkabini to work as a lab technician for four years after matric in spite of obtaining an exemption.

In 1989, he completed his BCom degree at Rhodes University. He wrote the board exam five times between 1990 and 1994 but failed, causing him to put his dream on hold for 13 years.

In 2007, he enrolled for his certificate in the theory of accounting with Unisa, but was bed-ridden for two weeks during the 2008 exams with chickenpox.

Then in 2009, the taxi which he was travelling in broke down en route to his exam venue.

Determined to make it on time, he ran 5km, arriving an hour late for the five-hour test. An anxiety attack prevented him going beyond the first question.

"I thought I had a streak of bad luck because every time I tried to write my exam, something would happen. But I kept telling myself that I had to do it – and I did," he said.

Nkabini is now a project financial manager at Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, and one of just more than 3000 black CAs in the country. - Poppy Louw