Freeman Nomvalo

About Freeman Nomvalo

Sithembiso Freeman Nomvalo is the former CEO of SAICA and South Africa’s first African, longest‑serving Accountant‑General (2004 - 2013). He previously led SITA, helped shape the Audit Profession Act of 2005, served on high‑stakes governance inquiries, and advised 18 Caribbean governments on public‑finance controls with the Commonwealth. He established a leadership development program for National Treasury. He was invited as a faculty at Havard Kennedy School of Government in 2013. In 2023 he facilitated a leadership conversation with the cabinet of the State of Oromia in Ethiopia. In 2024 he was appointed Administrator of NSFAS to stabilise the scheme. He speaks on ethical leadership, professionalising public finance, and crisis governance.

Key message

Rebuilding trust through capable institutions — professionalising finance, enforcing ethics, and leading with service. Increasing chances of driving change successfully - reducing changes of being taken out, pushed aside, marginalised etc Building a save organisational environment and inculcating a performance-oriented mindset

Speaking topics and expertise

• Turnaround leadership in public finance — lessons from SA’s Accountant‑General office
• Rebuilding the audit profession’s credibility — regulation
• discipline
• renewal
• Capable state
• clean audits — what boards
• CFOs and city managers must do
• Managing Funding higher education at scale — the NSFAS case
• fixes and future
• Crisis governance in sport and SOEs — from inquiry to implementation
• Anti‑corruption and ethics — practical levers that actually change behaviour
• Leadership - Championing Change
• and Mindset change for superior performance

Achievements

Led public‑finance modernisation and professionalisation; crisis governance and ethics interventions; sector‑wide engagement through SAICA and public entities. ­- Elevated the prominence of the office of the accountant-general, through customised service offerings to state organs which enabled various improvements in financial management of various state organs. ­- Successfully led the turnaround of SITA, improving staff morale, customer confidence, reducing costs in key areas and operational stability. Revenue of R5 billion and 3300 employees. ­- Restored trust and confidence in SAICA, raising it to the world's most trusted institute and designation by an independent global survey. Improved employee engagement and increased retained reserves by 166%. ­- Stabilised NSFAS thus improving stability across the post education and training sector (PSET), clearing backlog in financial reporting and ensuring timely funding decisions. ­- Developed tools that would make it easier for state organs to assess and improve their financial management capability maturity including risk management maturity. ­- On the invitation of the Commonwealth Secretariat worked closely with 18 Caribbean countries to improve their governance and risk management practices.

Education

Academic: Bachelor of Accounting Science Honours; UNISA, 1998 Bachelor of Accounting Science; UNISA, 1994 Non-academic Programs: Choice and Choice at Work (Mindset Change Course); Arbinger Institute, 2008 Balanced Scorecard Certification; Kaplan-Norton, 2002 Mastering Strategy; GIBS Business School, 2008 Leadership for the 21st Century; Harvard Kennedy School of Government 2010 Art and Practice of Adaptive Leadership; Harvard Kennedy School of Government 2012 Art of Developmental Coaching; Coaches Rising 2016 Outward Mindset Facilitator Course; Arbinger Institute 2024

Delivery style

Measured, principled, and pragmatic — evidence‑led with clear executive takeaways.

Why audiences listen

Boardroom‑level credibility on ethics, audit reform, and capable‑state delivery; turns complex governance challenges into practical executive playbooks. The speeches offer proven, implementable actions to restore institutional trust and performance in high‑stakes environments. Increase your toolkit to deploy in navigating the VUCA world and creating an environment conducive to high performance

What the talks address

Professionalising finance, governance fixes that stick and designing systems that prevent corruption. Mobilising for change - increasing success chances and reducing the dangers. Building adaptability in self and organisationally. Framework for developing a mindset focused on performance.

What participants will learn

Frameworks for strengthening financial controls, audit quality, and governance accountability; leadership behaviours that embed ethics. Strategies and tactics for driving change and making progress on intractable problems.

What audiences take home

A practical blueprint for rebuilding trust, improving audit outcomes, and governing with integrity. A practical toolkit for navigating change successfully, as well as mobilising the workforce (organisation for change)

Benefits for individuals

Sharper ethical leadership lens; improved risk judgement; confidence handling governance crises. Realising progress when addressing intractable problems.

Benefits for organisations

Stronger control environment; cleaner audits; credible stakeholder assurance; culture of accountability. Delivering sustainable value for its stakeholders while overcoming intractable problems.