When the 2023 academic year kicked-off, there were allegations that were leveled against the University of South Africa (Unisa) regarding the status of its Accounting Sciences programmes.
It was during this time that the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) released a statement, publicly affirming that it had never withdrawn the accreditation of Unisa’s qualifications.
This was followed by the university holding a press conference and using a number of platforms to bring clarity to the public and relevant stakeholders. Recently, Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Puleng LenkaBula, made an announcement:
Unisa recently received confirmation from SAICA that programme offerings of our College of Accounting Sciences has been moved from a previous rating of three to continued full accreditation.
This means that the South African accountancy body has continued its affirmation of Unisa’s Accounting Sciences qualifications as the university met the expected requirements.
This comes after SAICA reported the outcomes of its interaction with the university’s Academic and Professional Programme Subcommittee and the Initial Professional Development Committee, of which both assessed the actions taken by Unisa in response to the recommendations contained in the initial reports earlier this year.
The Accounting Sciences programmes offered by the university that will continue to be accredited are as follows:
- Bachelor of Accounting Sciences in Financial Accounting (SAQA ID 101110)
- Advanced Diploma in Accounting Sciences (SAQA ID 90559)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting Sciences (bridging) (SAQA ID 90912)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Accounting Sciences (SAQA ID 85107)
According to SAICA, these programmes will remain on its list of accredited programmes on the accounting body’s website.
Unisa will continue to work with the accounting body to promote and enhance quality assurance for the accounting qualifications, and to also monitor progress on improvement plans.
