Head of Department – Accounting Sciences at Walter Sisulu University and Managing Director at SnB Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors
Senzo Ndlangamandla is an accomplished education and leadership professional, having served as the JSE Investment Challenge Coordinator in the Mthatha region from 2015 to 2018, introducing students and learners (predominately from rural communities) to stock exchange dynamics. He has climbed the rank in the academic world to being formally appointed as head of department in 2022.
Since stepping into the role of the head of department, there are many initiatives that Senzo has successfully introduced and formalised: not only those aimed at transforming the department’s approach to student support and development, but also at supporting and developing staff.
In 2022, he proactively put together an improvement and implementation plan which has led to an improvement of their SAICA rating from the danger zone (rating of 3) to a rating of 2. As part of this exercise, he set up a special task team comprising of senior academics from the department, WSU senior staff and some external experienced academics and educationalists from various universities. He also led the development of the department’s 2030 strategic plan, outlining a number of special projects such as meeting HoDs from several universities to initiate discussions for potential collaboration and mentorship (specifically for their PGDA project); initiating the WSU Accountancy Alumni Association, which has already been approved at an institutional level and aimed to launch in March 2024; and forming strategic partnerships with the local business community (Mthatha).
In 2023, he played a significant role in coordinating the moving of the faculty from one campus site to a new site – which was a complex process, including the development of a tuition timetable and allocation of offices for staff.
In June 2023, he initiated the setting up and launching of a Facebook page for the department − currently the only academic department within the university with an official and university-approved presence on social media (Accounting Sciences WSU).
He recently played a lead role in organising an academic excellence awards ceremony to recognise students who excelled academically The event, which will be hosted annually going forward, is meant to motivate students and create a culture of excellence among students. This event was a game-changer, as other departments and faculties within the university were inspired and will most likely follow suit in 2024.
On the side, he runs an audit practice, SnB Chartered Accountants and Auditors, with a staff complement of 11, all youth − thus playing his part in addressing the all-time-high youth unemployment rate in South Africa.
