PwC South Africa has announced the appointment of Anastacia Tshesane as its incoming Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 July 2026. This leadership transition follows the forthcoming retirement of Shirley Machaba, who will conclude a 24 year tenure with the firm on 30 June 2026. Tshesane’s elevation represents a continuity of internal leadership cultivated over two decades of service, a move reflective of the firm’s broader commitment to consistency and long term governance within the African context.
Tshesane, who has been a pivotal figure within PwC’s governance ecosystem, currently chairs both the PwC South Africa Governing Board and the PwC Africa Governance Board, roles she has held since July 2021. Her dual stewardship at the helm of these boards underscores a significant influence in guiding the firm’s strategic direction across multiple African jurisdictions. With Tshesane set to assume the chief executive role, the leadership baton for both boards will be passed to Alsue du Preez, PwC Africa’s Insurance Leader, who brings over eighteen years of experience in financial services engagements. This transition has been positioned as a stabilising move that reinforces the firm’s internal capacity to sustain critical governance processes.
Over the course of her 19 year career at the firm, Tshesane has served as an Assurance Partner with a specialised portfolio across Financial Services, Consumer Markets, and Industrial Products and Services. Her professional involvement has encompassed high complexity audit mandates for multinational corporations with extensive operational reach, reinforcing her fluency in regulated environments. In statements released by the firm, PwC Africa CEO Dion Shango cited Tshesane’s leadership as fundamental to both the organisation’s growth and the advancement of audit integrity, underscoring her emphasis on ethics, professional quality, and social inclusion.
Tshesane’s appointment comes at a moment of deep structural change for South Africa’s audit and advisory sector. Regulatory reforms such as the Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation rule, which governs JSE listed companies, are reshaping long held industry practices. Simultaneously, the sector faces a paradigm shift driven by the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence and advanced data analytics, technologies which are rapidly automating routine audit processes. According to GKL Auditors’ 2025 Audit Trends report, these developments coincide with rising expectations for robust Environmental, Social, and Governance auditing, positioning firms like PwC at the forefront of complex capability realignment.
In this high accountability climate, the emphasis on institutional trust and transparency has become increasingly critical. The South African audit profession has faced scrutiny in recent years amid calls for ethical rebuilding and enhanced oversight, as highlighted by reports from GlobeNewswire. Within this context, Tshesane’s approach to leadership signals a continuity of purpose aligned to restoring public trust and upholding professional standards.
Importantly, her appointment aligns with PwC’s publicly stated transformation agenda, a strategic imperative within South Africa’s socio economic framework. Tshesane previously served as the Transformation, Diversity and Inclusion Leader for PwC’s South Market Area, a role through which she consistently advocated for increased representation within financial services. Her leadership also reinforces the firm’s alignment with the principles of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, which remains a cornerstone of equitable business in South Africa and across its regional economic partners. This is not only a corporate compliance strategy but a structural ethos that resonates with the broader developmental goals of the continent.
PwC’s leadership change is also reflective of the firm’s global strategic framework, The New Equation, which prioritises trust based relationships and sustained impact. Within Africa’s evolving business ecosystem, this orientation is being increasingly translated into client mandates that require complex problem solving in uncertain environments. Tshesane’s stated focus is on building client confidence through delivery excellence and cultivating a sense of professional purpose among staff, aligned with a vision for enduring societal benefit.
This appointment, while significant within the South African market, carries broader relevance for the continent’s professional services sector. The framing of leadership as both a stewardship and a collective responsibility speaks to a more African centred understanding of governance, where long term continuity and inclusive representation are foundational rather than ancillary. Tshesane’s trajectory reasserts the idea that African leadership within global firms can be authentically shaped by regional values and ethical commitments, not merely global alignment.
As PwC South Africa prepares for this transition, it does so not merely as a succession of office but as a reiteration of its role in reshaping professional services within an African context. The firm’s positioning under Tshesane’s future leadership may well offer an instructive model for other African markets navigating similar transitions in an increasingly interconnected and technologically fluid professional landscape.
Tags: PwC South Africa, Anastacia Tshesane, African leadership, audit reform, AI in auditing, ESG auditing, South African corporate governance, Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, transformation in finance, The New Equation, professional services in Africa, ethical leadership Africa, audit sector regulation, African women in leadership, Dion Shango
