ALUMNI NEWS
Sandile is the Captain
of the HR Ship
For him, this was the heartbeat of the campus, a place
where he learned the importance of intercultural interaction. “I had the opportunity to mingle with students from
various places and cultures. This played a major role in
my career and personal development,” he says.Sandile
fondly remembers his term as vice-captain of the soccer team, playing intervarsity matches. Today, he still
loves soccer and his favourite team is Kaizer Chiefs.It
was also on the Vaal Campus that he encountered the
two biggest loves in his life. Here he met his wife, also
an industrial psychologist, and today they are happily
married and have a little girl.
H
Annette Willemse
Hard work doesn’t kill, but laziness does.
These words inspired Mr Sandile Khwela, alumnus of
the Vaal Campus, to set sail for success.
Hard work, commitment and determination are key
words describing Sandile’s journey to success. He never does anything in half measures. As a student, for instance, he attended both part-time and full-time classes
for his BA degree in Industrial Psychology.
The other love in his life is music – something he nurtured during his years as a member of the campus choir,
Watuni. Today, when he is not in the boardroom, he is
a music producer and manager for Madlala Brothers, a
well-known traditional band.
Sandile is also an accomplished artist who has also recorded a number of his own albums.
Besides his family, he treasures his two guitars: one an
electrical guitar and the other a 12 string acoustics guitar.
As the best BA student on campus in his second and
third year he went on to complete his BAHons and MA in
Industrial Psychology. Today he is a registered Industrial Psychologist and recently joined the Board of Afrisam
Cement as Human Resources (HR) director.
Going forward
Sandile describes his new position at Afrisam as being “captain of the ship”, providing himan opportunity to
implement his human resources philosophy and to lead
and guide his team of executives to add value to the
business.
Work hard, play hard
Sandile’s motto in life comes as no surprise – “hard work
doesn’t kill, but laziness does”. He attributes these wise
words to his late father who also inspired him to follow a
career in Industrial Psychology.
He is using every iota of the knowledge and experience
gained first as a supervisor at ArcelorMittal, then as general manager for human resources at BMW and next
as group executive for talent management at Vodacom
Group.
“My father was a supervisor at a steel company and was
dealing with a lot of people issues. I believe I then developed an interest in knowing more about human behaviour and people dynamics.
It is clear that good human resources will add value to
any business and with captain Sandile at the helm, the
HR ship is heading in the right direction.
“The campus provides both academic and personal
growth. You can identify your weaknesses and strengths
easier here, because you are not just a number. The
campus has a reputation for delivering high caliber students, and I do believe, was it not for this campus, I
would not be where I am today,” says Sandile.
Love and life
Sandile stayed in the campus residence,
Vergelegen, until he completed his studies.
16 - Student 24/7