Sicelo Joja will now join Siya Kheswa, another UJ student, in the South African CEO SleepOut campaign to raise money for educational programmes. Joja was one of the only African accountancy students who competed in the 2015 KPMG International Case Competition.
The SleepOut campaign will take place on 28 July 2016.
In 2015, Joja and three other University of Johannesburg (UJ) students from the Accountancy Department jetted off to Dubai to compete against other bright minds from 27 countries around the world. He, together with Klaus-Peter Gӧbel, Rèzanne Neethling and Chad Prins represented South Africa at the 2015 KPMG International Case Competition finals. They were the only African students to take part in the competition.
These are some of South Africa’s agents of change committing to rising to the challenge; sleeping at the Nelson Mandela bridge for one night to raise money for educational programmes. The SleepOut campaign organisers are inviting all citizens who know that money is good for nothing if it’s not doing good, to participate in this global movement.
Joja had this to say after learning about the CEO SleepOut campaign invitation extended to him: “Having represented KPMG South Africa in Dubai at the KPMG International Case Competition, I still had close ties with KPMG and in early June this year I was approached to participate in the CEO SleepOut challenge with the current KPMG CEO, Mr Trevor Hoole.
“I was honoured to be considered and immediately accepted and expressed my interest in being part of the KPMG team at the CEO SleepOut. I believe a profound statement is made as captains of industry take of their time and money to give back and experience (just in one night) what the less fortunate go through on a daily basis. And not only this but for these leaders to select future leaders to accompany them as a symbolic act of passing on the baton to young leaders; reminding them of the responsibility required to carry the future of this country that we will one day inherit.
“Through this initiative, the money raised will go towards funding education programmes, which I believe is fundamental to South Africa’s growth and will grant many young people the opportunity to liberate themselves and their communities. Being at the University of Johannesburg, I have grown immensely and holistically as an individual. With the guidance of the Accountancy Department, I have been groomed into a leader and change agent. In participation with KPMG South Africa we hope to inspire South Africans to be the change they want to see in the world.”
