Finalist: Transformative Leader | SAICA Top-35-Under-35 Awards 2025

Sizwe Makhaya is a visionary Chartered Accountant whose leadership blends technology, culture, and purpose. At 31, he serves as Head of Continuous Improvement at Momentum Metropolitan, where he is pioneering a new approach to finance — one that is data-driven, human-centred, and future-ready.

Sizwe’s journey began in Lesotho, where he grew up in a creative household shaped by his architect father. His early love for invention and problem-solving evolved into a passion for accounting, but not without setbacks. After failing ITC and facing six months of joblessness, he found his breakthrough at Momentum Holdings as the first and only trainee in their new articles programme. Within three months, he automated reconciliations using advanced Excel, earning a reputation as a data and automation wizard.

After articles, Sizwe found himself increasingly drawn to tech. He transitioned into a Business Improvement Analyst role, choosing to honour both his creative and technical sides through an automation route. He built some of the organisation’s first Power BI dashboards and automated key processes that earned him an annual award. He also began mentoring trainees, forming investment and assertiveness clubs and teaching tech skills — laying the foundation for his leadership in innovation and people development.

As Finance Innovation Manager, he built an innovation hub offering four services:

Established Tech: Delivered 24 dashboards across Finance, Procurement, Risk, and Travel.
Emerging Tech: Developed an AI strategy and pilots, including bots for policy Q&A and financial insights.
Innovation Culture: Launched “Tech Tips” sessions where staff built robots in under 10 minutes, sparking grassroots innovation.
Customer Centricity: Reframed stakeholders as customers, using journey mapping and analytics to improve user experience.

In his current role, Sizwe formalised his culture-building efforts. He launched a fitness challenge that engaged 60 colleagues, boosting morale and mental health. He qualified as a Gallup Strengths Coach, facilitated coaching sessions, and co-created the Great Leadership Tour — an experiential programme blending theory, travel, and reflection for senior managers. These initiatives now form part of Culture 2.0, a research-backed strategy to measure and improve organisational culture.

Sizwe continues to lead technology transformation, piloting agentic AI designed to become a one-stop shop for all finance requests, thus elevating self-service and user experience to new heights.

His contributions extend beyond the workplace. Collectively with his colleagues, he helped initiate Mzansi Hope, an NGO focused on raising funds directed towards mathematics tutoring for Grade 1 orphans.

Sizwe Makhaya leads with empathy, creativity, and conviction. His story is one of resilience, reinvention, and relentless pursuit of purpose. Whether building bots or building people, he exemplifies the spirit of a Transformative Leader — one who sees potential where others see limits, and turns it into impact.

Sizwe Makhaya CA(SA), 31