By Adam Wakefield

The media launch of the 2016 Sun International CEO SleepOut took place at Shine Studios in Braamfontein with the Nelson Mandela Bridge, the venue for this year’s Sun International CEO SleepOut on Thursday, July 28, firmly in view.

Adam McCarthy, Australia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, got proceedings underway. It was Australia that hosted the very first SleepOut event in 2006. 

This year’s focus was on education and McCarthy challenged South Africa’s business leaders to rise to the occasion. 

The panel discussion that followed, reflecting on the 2015 event, was moderated by Bonang Mohale, vice president upstream & chairperson of Shell South Africa.

Mohale said those participating in this year’s Sun International CEO SleepOut would not only talk but “dig deep into their pockets”. He noted that business was about two important things: usefulness and being an agent of change. 

“The broader good. How can you be a part of the South African society and use your company to give effect to the country of Nelson Mandela to be the greatest in the world?” he said.

Darren Oliver, a trustee and CEO of The Sun International CEO SleepOut, told the audience that from the R26 million raised last year, six legacy projects were identified with Girls & Boy Town. Spending began in November 2015 and will continue to 2018. 

“The role of the [CEO SleepOut] trust is to meet with them and with the stakeholders quarterly to found out where those funds are going,” Oliver said.

The CEO SleepOut, launched in South Africa by The Philanthropic Collection, would also see new brands The Sympathy SleepOut, The Student SleepOut and The School SleepOut being created in conjunction with The Sun International CEO SleepOut.

Graeme Stephens, CEO of Sun International, noted that when Sun International first got involved with the CEO SleepOut last year, they forgot to tell him that the event would become as big as it did.

“The whole country got behind it. Our media partners pushed hard behind it. I twisted the arms of a number of CEOs that happened to be close friends,” he told the audience with a smile.

“I bonded with people from the public sector, with people from other companies and it was an amazing event. It happened to be the single largest funding event South Africa has ever undertaken. Then we came to what comes next.”

He said that for a number of years,  Sun International has been highly supportive of education. If education was positioned correctly, it was “really a long term solution for the country. We found common purpose with the CEO SleepOut,” Stephens said.

“I also felt if this thing is going to have longevity, it needs to extend beyond CEOs to a much broader range of leaders.”

Adam Craker, CEO of IQ Business, admitted he used to hold a prejudice towards the homeless but this all changed after he participated in last year’s CEO SleepOut. 

“At 3:30 in the morning I was so cold that my bone marrow was beginning to crystalise”, he said, despite him wearing numerous layers of clothing to deal with the elements.

Craker noted that it took R13 million for last year’s CEO SleepOut to get off the ground, and rhetorically asked what was achieved as a result of that investment.

Including the R26 million raised for Girls & Boys Town, the return of social investment was valued at R39 million, three times the initial R13 million investment.

Depending how that social investment panned out, it could turn into R82 million.

Mohale concluded, noting that education was the only way in which people’s lives could be touched in a truly sustainable way. “[Through education] You can wake up in the informal settlement of Alexandra, and oneday find oneself in a leafy suburb of Bryanston,” he said.

Following the panel discussion, the media suite partners were introduced, being Jacaranda FM, Moneyweb, Times Media Group, eNCA, Cliff Central, Kagiso Radio, Caxton and The Star newspaper.

The three primary beneficiaries for this year’s Sun International CEo SleepOut are the Asha Trust, Columba Leadership and the Steve Biko Foundation.

For more information, visit www.theceosleepoutza.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.