This is a remarkable tale of ‘just a boy from KZN’ with a passion for education, philanthropy and social work.
Sitholile Sithole is busy with many things. While doing his articles to become a chartered accountant, he’s also an Allan Gray fellow, an entrepreneurship facilitator, as well as a co-founder of Pantsula with a Purpose, an organisation that seeks to develop skills among the youth in townships. Among his passions is also one for public speaking.
Sitholile describes himself as “just a boy from KZN” who is really into philanthropy and social work. “My heart is really into education and helping resolve the issue of education inequality. I always find myself in conferences for education and philanthropy work with the goal of creating social cohesiveness within the environment.”
Currently busy with his articles at one of the big four audit firms where he is in his second year, his aim is to become a trusted accountant while also linking that back to what he really enjoys: being involved in helping develop skills among younger people.
“I think I'm trying to bring in more beyond just crunching numbers on a laptop and auditing, but rather, how figures impact people and how I can bring that skill into the community.”
Pantsula with a Purpose is the vehicle he uses to help young people. The organisation aims to leave a positive impact in township communities through youth skill development. Sitholile points out that the co-founders were fortunate to have quality education at school and university, which isn’t the case for every scholar, especially those in marginalised areas.
I think I'm trying to bring in more beyond just crunching numbers on a laptop and auditing.
Through offering workshops to schools, having already partnered with schools in the Langa township community, the Pantsula with a Purpose team offers a character building programme, basic computer literacy and professional skills workshops. These, Sitholile explains, include soft skills such as communication skills, interview preparations and CV writing. “Those workshops help build confidence for the scholars as they transition into university and beyond.”
At the same time, Sitholile says, the organisation helps the students sign up for bursaries and scholarships. “We try to hone them and upskill them in soft skills and leadership, so that once they apply for scholarships, they have a higher chance of getting in.”
Building Blocks Entrepreneurship Academy, an organisation in which Sitholile is occasionally involved, benefits from his contributions of knowledge and expertise. Funded by a fellow from the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, it hosts workshops and boot camps for children from primary and high school and plants the seeds of entrepreneurship at a young age, says Sitholile.
The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation was where it all started for Sitholile and his career as “some random people” went to his school to tell them about the opportunity. Sitholile made the initial cut and missed 15 minutes of a Friday maths lesson to post off the 16-page form he had to complete. After that, he went on his first fully paid flight ever, going to Johannesburg to attend the three-day selection process. “That's where you met super bright kids from all walks of life.”
Unfortunately, Sitholile didn’t make it through the last process, which he describes as being like offering a child food and then taking it away. Demonstrating Allan Gray’s entrepreneurial characteristic of Courageous Commitment, Sitholile reapplied and was successful.
Sitholile himself is always refining his soft skills, attending various conferences depending on the topic, always with the aim of putting another tool into what he calls his backpack.
“Today, if you spent four hours out of the office, you have to look at what you learned, what knowledge you took out of it, whether you found a new perspective, and which people you can add to your network.”
Sitholile also brings his softer skills into dealing with people, treating them with empathy and sympathy. He explains that it's important to understand why a certain behaviour led to a particular outcome.
People are the true treasure, is what I truly believe.
“The more you interact with people on a normal basis, you get to see their behaviour patterns. Instead of being concerned so much about the output that, for example, was wrong, let’s rather try and find the behaviours that led to this action or to this output. If we can tackle those behaviours, we can probably fix the outputs. People are the true treasure, is what I truly believe.”
What this translates into, he explains, is considering if someone had a bad weekend, and whether this is a rare occurrence or not, and, depending on the situation, reaching out to that colleague – a style that Sitholile calls situational leadership. This is something Sitholile brings into working with junior trainees.
Sitholile fits his skills development work as well as attending various conferences into the busy season, from March to June, which is when he often gets home in the late hours of the day. “The remainder of the year will be more chilled, your normal eight hours. It’s basically finding a way to work around my schedule.”
To relax, Sitholile prefers to be outdoors, moving around, sometimes just attending an event and chatting, or exploring the scenic wonders of nature. “I enjoy being outside the house and trying new activities, and I'm dusting off my tennis racket while everyone’s padelling up a storm.”
- Sitholile is part of the 2024 cohort of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and CFO South Africa outreach partnership, which provides opportunities for CFOs-in-the-making to learn networking and community building skills
