With less than a week until the 2018 CEO SleepOut, operations head Liane McGowan notes an interesting trend. A number of leaders unable to make this year's event (like being on company duty in Russia) are playing it forward by offering the experience to fellow executives or staff within their organisations.

Almost 500 CEOs and executives have participated over the past three years, but the 2018 edition is the most special of all - being held at Liliesleaf on the 55th anniversary of the raid where six of the 10 Rivonia Trialists were captured; and exactly one week before the centenary of Nelson Mandela's birth.

The beneficiaries, discussed in some detail in this interview, also have closer links to the first president of the democratic South Africa.