Born and bred in Howick, Vanuja Maharaj completed her commerce studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and then joined Ernst & Young for her articles as an accounting trainee where she went on to complete her board exams and qualify as a chartered accountant. At Ernst & Young, she moved from accounting trainee to assistant manager and eventually senior manager.

She went on to join the AGSA in 2005 as a senior manager and quickly made her way through the ranks, first as the deputy business executive for the KwaZulu-Natal province and as business executive in 2012 before she was promoted to corporate executive in 2017. As a corporate executive, she is also a member of the executive committee of the AGSA. She is responsible for KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and other national clients and ministries that are allocated to her. She sits on the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) board and is vice-chairperson of SAICA in the Eastern Region.

She notes that juggling work, family and friends as a woman presents some challenges because of the expectations that are often placed on women, especially for someone with as hectic a schedule as hers. She says that her approach to this is planning well in advance and prioritising things that truly matter to her. “Having a supportive husband and children who understand also really makes a difference,” she says.

Coming from humble beginnings, she says that her parents are her driving force because of the role they’ve played in shaping who she is and that they had a bigger vision for her life than she could dream of when she was younger. It is her parents, she notes, who instilled in her a strong need to make a difference in the lives of others. And she says as a corporate executive in the AGSA, she is particularly grateful to be able to contribute towards the betterment of South Africa at a high level through the countless decisions that have to be made every day.

It means a lot to me that I get to make a difference in this country through this office. We are always making high-level decisions that have a great impact on our country and I don’t take that lightly.