Apr 17, 2024 MISA, Motor Industry Staff Association, Martlé Keyter, Theuns Scheepers,
MISA Focus - The first in a series of profile articles on selected MISA staff and members
Theuns Scheepers, a career comes full circle - What started out as a temporary job for a student in B Com Informatics, came full circle 28 years later with the appointment of Theuns Scheepers, Chief Financial Officer of MISA as a member of the Audit & Risk Committee at MIBCO, the Motor Industry Bargaining Council.
“It is a great honour to be in a position where I can share my knowledge and expertise with generations to come. God has given me an amazing talent for understanding finance and information technology development and how these disciplines interrelate,” says Scheepers.
Having served on the Board of Directors of MIFA, the Motor Industry Fund Administrators since 2021, Scheepers was appointed to also serve on MIBCO’s Audit and Risk Committee with effect from 1 April 2024.
Working with numbers and doing calculations always came easy to Scheepers who achieved provincial colours playing chess in school. He was divided between his passions for accounting and information technology and was delighted when he could combine both in his studies.
“I don’t recall exactly how it happened, but there was a temporary vacancy at MIBCO in 1996 and I applied and was appointed. The rest is history. I was surrounded by so many brilliant people who went out of their way to teach me during my career in different divisions. At one stage I was even working with medical aid claims. I started loving the uniqueness of the motor industry and serving its people. By God’s Grace promotions came my way without me asking for it. There were many problems back in the day to align MIBCO’s Finance Department with the computer system and led to my appointment as MIBCO’s Business Intelligence Developer Finance. It was my task to develop a programme to assist the Finance Department in meeting their objectives. This required me to learn the functions of every department within MIBCO.”
MISA recruited Scheepers in 2019 for his skills and expertise. “I was ready for a new challenge, but insisted on giving MIBCO three months’ notice to ensure a proper handover.”
Scheepers started working for MISA in January 2020 as the Union’s Business Intelligence Developer. Three months later the country went into lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a devastating impact on the retail motor industry, resulting in retrenchments. He was tasked to develop a system for employees in the retail motor industry to claim their TERS relief from the UIF (Unemployment Insurance Fund). “I hit the ground running, but I was very satisfied when I succeeded and families could benefit. I was content in my job, but God had other plans for me,” says Scheepers.
In 2022 MISA announced that Theuns would be taking over as Chief Financial Officer from Colleen Joubert who retired in September 2023. He says, “I had big shoes to fill taking over the Finance and Claims Departments. This to me is a serious responsibility to strive to improve on whatever we are doing.“
This year to date these Departments their fastest turnaround of payment in respect of thousands of claims received. Although Scheepers is very proud of his team, he believes they can do even better going forward. He believes in learning from his mistakes and teaching others to do the same. The transfer of knowledge and expertise to future generations is also important to him.
When Scheepers is at home, his family comes first. He loves camping and spending time with his wife and 13-year old son. “I still enjoy playing chess, but I don’t play games. I decided that I need to spend time away from a screen a long time ago,” says Scheepers. He will forever remain faithful to his Creator giving Him all the praise for his achievements. “I am who I am by the grace of God.”
MISA are proud to have Theuns as a member of the team.
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