FASSET ANNUAL REPORT

Tax Faculty Graduates FASSET partnered SAIT in providing career development for tax practitioners through the Tax Faculty, an initiative of SAIT. The cohort for the year under review included of people living with disabilities working within the FAS sector. What follows are the inspirational stories of the journeys - against all odds - of three FASSET-funded graduates of the Tax Faculty, namely Octavia Leisa from Soweto, Nevonia Moodley from Chatsworth and Joshua Rashopola from Tshwane.

Octavia Leisa Occupational Certificate: Tax Professional at The Tax Faculty

“Coming out of theatre with one leg in 2013 was painful. I had to come to terms with it by accepting that my life had changed. I am still Octavia who can still do things, not depending on other people. For people to accept me, I have to accept myself first.”

Boitumelo, Octavia’s daughter says her mother has three passions: “Passion for life, people and tax.” Octavia grew up in Soweto and Alberton, her family home was “loving but strict” . Her father was a medical technician and her mother a professional nurse. Matriculating in 1980 and informed her parents that she would like to find a job instead of peruse further studies. She started in a temporary position at Woolworths in Rosebank as a stock clerk and later working as a cashier. She was then transferred into permanent position at the Westgate branch. In 1985, Octavia decided to go back to school and enrolled in social work studies at UNISA. She quickly realised that this was not for her and switched to a secretarial and bookkeeping course at a college. In 1987, she joined an import and export company where she gained important business and office skills. After that companywas liquidated, Octavia found a job opportunity at an organisation which later became NOBSA (National Organisation of the Blind in South Africa). This is where her interest in tax started, she was involved in everything from fund raising, to doing payroll, calculating and handling tax. She taught herself

about tax through textbooks and manuals that SARS provided. She then enrolled for a certificate in tax at UNISA and landed a job at SARS. Her work in different units provided her with the opportunity to learn everything about tax which led her to enrol for an advanced diploma in international tax and offshore finance, after which she completed a master’s diploma. When asked what about tax excites her so much, she responds confidently, “it’s the story behind tax that interests me most, how they work out tax rules, regulations and calculations.” She left SARS in 2009 as a team leader to become self-employed, meaning that she does not have a fixed income anymore. At the end of 2012 her career was interrupted; a series of blood clots caused a lack of circulation in her left leg that eventually led to gangrene which necessitated an amputation. In January 2013 Octavia faced a world in which her life had changed, but it did not stop her from perusing her career goals. She realised that she had to update her knowledge and skills in the tax field and applied

FASSET Annual Integrated Report 2020/21

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