Nthabeleng, boldly building her empire

CEO of Fezi Auditors and Consultants, Nthabeleng Khawe.

It has taken accountant and business woman Nthabeleng Khawe, just over a decade to build a business that she is extremely proud of. Not only has she dedicated hetime, knowledge and skills to developing and growing her business from the ground up but she has also put in twice the effort to ensure that her brand speaks of her work ethic.

This boss babe, mother and wife, who hails from Brandfort in the Free State, is the Chief Executive Officer of Fezi Auditors and Consultants.

This is an audit firm that has its roots firmly in the Free State province, but has expanded its footprint to other provinces throughout the years.

Business pedigree

Her experience of over two decades spans from the financial sector to services, manufacturing, construction, engineering, government institutions and parastatals.

Her areas of expertise include IT post implementation reviews, application control reviews, operational audits, compliance audits, finance audits, value for money audits, audit turnaround, AFS compilations, risk management, insurance, governance and special investigations.

She has also served on various boards such as the Free State Black Business Council, the Financial Fiscal Commission, the Free State Gambling and Racing Board and the Free State Development Corporation.

She has chaired many Audit Committees and has held several executive positions in various portfolios like the Association for the Advancement of Black Chartered Accountants in South Africa and the Black Management Forum.

Not every business sees the milestone that is 10 years and Nthabeleng’s success is something to take a leaf from.

“The firm has grown phenomenally over the 10 years. I went from being founder, CEO and ultimately a board member,” she says.

She transitioned into business after completing her articles with the audit firm KPMG and working for the firm for two years.

She felt adequately skilled and there was no hesitation to start a small business.

Nthabeleng says all the positions she has occupied in life have been to better the lives of black women and to push them to the front.

“I undertook the positions with the belief that I can benefit most from an integrative approach.

Black empowerment

Nthabeleng is definitely accomplished and proud of her accolades yet prefers to rather advocate for reading and mastery rather than flaunting her achievements.

It is this belief and her passion for black empowerment that drove her to establish the Mzansi Graduates platform.

“I started a platform called Mzansi graduates, to make educational look cool and help support our graduates to reach their goals,” she says.

When asked why it was important to empower women in business, she said: “Patriarchal tendencies and barriers exists in the business world and as women, especially black women in business, we must fight together and empower each other to defeat those barriers”.

Sound advice

Failure is a true measure of success. Failing and learning to stand up after failing is part of being successful. So rising above the odds determines your success. No stumbling blocks = no success. Embrace and learn from your failures.