Yalekile Lusibane CFO AT SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMONDS AND PRECIOUS METALS REGULATOR
1998 was already a “gap year” for me caused by financial difficulties,” she recalls. Turning to UJ’s Bunting Road campus, Yalekile applied for any other programme which had space. She enrolled for Office Management and Technology but changed to Cost and Management Accounting a year later, graduating in 2003 with a National Diploma in Cost and Management Accounting. “Although I did not have accounting or commercial subjects in my matric results, I believe I was saved by my marks in mathematics. So no, I did not stick to my dream, but I am glad about how everything turned out, as I love what I do and I don’t regret the path I’m on now,” she says. One of the highlights of being at UJ, aside from the excitement of being in Johannesburg, was the great friendships and acquaintances she made at the Clubs and Societies department, specifically the Students Christian Organisation (SCO). “It is at the SCO where I started interacting closely with people from other cultural backgrounds, and this was how my interpersonal and leadership skills were developed. I have great networks with these people to this day,” she says. Yalekile says one of the keys to her success is she is very passionate about governance and people empowerment. “Integrity and principled conduct are my key values. I am motivated by others’ success and love to see young professionals in my space/ environment progress and realise their dreams. “I’m driven by my dream of a transformed public administration, the opposite of what everyone hears of at the moment. That is the passion I share with graduates and young people who are under my authority. My message to them is, “be a game changer and be proud of being a public servant through your output, attitude and passion”.
challenges were the effective use of the limited resources, both financial and human. This has been the situation across public institutions in the country for a number of years now. However, it has taught me to think outside the box and recommend stringent controls to ensure that spending is not only necessary but adds value,” she says. There’s another challenge, in that Yalekile is still young. “Senior positions have been predominantly held by older males in the public service and one easily encounters resistance and rejection when they differ from the norm. This has helped me toughen up, enhance my people management skills and be unapologetic about who I am. I choose to be respected and accepted for who I am and my abilities in what I do,” she says. Born and raised at Mangweni, a rural village in the Nkomazi area in Mpumalanga province, Yalekile was raised by her mother after her father passed on when she was just four. “I had three siblings. Two have passed, so now I’m left with only one,” she says. Yalekile had always dreamt of going to university. “Growing up in a rural area, the professionals I was exposed to and admired were social workers, health workers and teachers from the community. I saw myself as one of them in the future. My older sister had also been to varsity and was already working when I completed my matric. she was such a great inspiration for me as well.” Yalekile matriculated in 1997 at Lowveld Christian School in Nelspruit, but the road to tertiary education would not be easy. “I was accepted for radiography at Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR) but I could not get employment in any of the health facilities within Johannesburg or Gauteng, as that was one of the conditions. After such disappointment, in 1999 I decided that I am not going to stay at home and do nothing again.
Yalekile Lusibane joined the South African Diamonds and Precious Metals Regulator as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on 1 July 2022, and before that, occupied a weighty public role as CFO in the Public Protector’s office. At the PPSA office, she provided strategic guidance on financial planning, risk and financial management. As such, she provides financial insights and advice to the CEO and EXCO, eg. funding priorities and forecasts over a three-year period. It was a role that required lateral thinking as much as it did number- crunching acumen. “My main
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