About us
About us
The Story Thus Far
How It Began – Our History
In 2014, the founding members of the SSSF recognised a pressing need to support bright, talented, and promising young people whose academic potential was at risk due to financial hardship. For many students, the lack of funding for tuition, accommodation, meals, textbooks, and transport created barriers to accessing higher education and, in some cases, even prevented them from reaching a university campus.
More importantly, these challenges denied deserving students the opportunity to realise their full potential and pursue their aspirations through education. The founders believed that no capable student should be deprived of an education simply because of their financial circumstances.
What began as a simple act of generosity, providing accommodation for two students in the home of one of the founding patrons, quickly grew into a broader initiative as additional benefactors joined the SSSF mission. Their support enabled the Foundation to assist an increasing number of deserving students and expand its impact within communities.
Since its inception, the SSSF has assisted numerous students by providing financial support for tuition fees, textbooks, accommodation, meals, and transport. As a result, many young people have been able to pursue their studies successfully, with graduates already making meaningful contributions to society through their qualifications and professional careers.
Beyond student funding, the SSSF has also invested in programmes designed to strengthen educational outcomes, including a wellness programme, mentoring programme and leadership camps which helps them prepare for future academic and career success.
Building on these early achievements, the SSSF was formally established as a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) in 2014. Today, the Foundation continues to expand its network of benefactors, donors, and partners, with the goal of creating sustainable educational opportunities for deserving students. By investing in education, the SSSF seeks to transform not only the lives of individual students, but also those of their families and communities, creating a lasting legacy of hope, empowerment, and opportunity.
We believe that any organization is only as good as the people who operate it, and we believe the people behind the scenes of the SSSF represent a varied range of skills, expertise and experience that is used to ensure the SSSF can be run as effectively and efficiently as possible as it grows in the future.
The SSSF also believes that good processes, controls and governance is important in an organization that receives its funding from the general public for the use of pursuing the goals, vision and mission. The people involved in the SSSF aspire to these same values and come from professions that demand this of them as well, and by following these principles, we are able to give our donors the comfort that we will manage and distribute the funds received to the best of our ability and for the benefit of each successful candidate
We have provided a list below of the people who are actively involved in building and operating the SSSF.
Our management team works to ensure that the vision and mission and plan of action for the SSSF is implemented on a monthly and annual basis. We have provided a brief of each management team member to demonstrate the skills and expertise of the people we have recruited to serve the needs of the SSSF. All management team members work on a voluntary basis so none of the funds collected are used to remunerate them for their services.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Raaghib Najjaar – Founder and CEO of the SSSF | Businessman, Auditor, Certified Public Accountant (CA USA) and Community Activist |
| Irfaan Dalvie | Accountant CA (SA), Businessman |
| Fuad de Vries | Attorney, Conveyancer and Notary |
| Farouk Adamson | Businessman, Real Estate Practitioner, Certificated (PIM) and IT – SAP Program Manager |
| Abdullahi Ali Hassan | Businessman, PhD student, Assistant Lecturer |
| Amina Sarvan | Founder, Professional Accountant, MBA, |
| Dr. Aziza van der Schyff | Medical Professional (Paediatrician) |
| Sadick van der Schyff | Educator & Community Activist |
| Zaahid Ismail | Businessman, IT Specialist |
| Fierdous Allie | Business Woman; Liaison Officer; Student contact; Essential Specialist |