Thursday night, Nelson Mandela Bridge. "Name please?" says a woman at the Braamfontein entrance. She checks a list. On it are the names of 173 CEOs who will be sleeping on the bridge tonight at the second CEO SleepOut, to show their solidarity with homeless people. A homeless man peers over the fence at the commotion. He'll have to find another place to sleep tonight.The entrance is clogged with police cars. Earlier that evening, students had gathered in protest. "I heard them say they are making fun of homeless people," says a bystander. "Police fired rubber bullets."story_article_left1On the other side of the fence, as VIPs stream in, the vibe is different. The vibe is open-air cocktail party. Bright lights everywhere - from film crews, hovering helicopters, giant plasma screens."There was a lot of criticism [of this event]," Gauteng premier David Makhura says from the stage. "'You are behaving like white middle-class guys' ... Let them stay at home. We will be out here every year."Yusuf Abramjee says: "What we are seeing here is ubuntu in action. The dogs bark but the caravans move on."Pro-SleepOuters say the event is making South Africa a better place. The goal this year is to raise R40-million, which will go towards three education-focused beneficiaries.In the lead, Brett Levy, joint CEO of Blue Label Telecoms, has raised more than R570,000."I told all my friends they'll be fired if they don't give me money," he says on the bridge, dressed in a blue onesie. Other CEOs are wearing slippers.To participate, you had to pledge at least R160,000. "They are paying to sleep on the bridge? Ai, I do that every day and I don't pay," says one homeless man.full_story_image_hleft1On the bridge the decor is shack chic - multimillionaires sit around bonfires, sipping beef soup out of tin mugs, talking and laughing. It makes homelessness look pleasant, like a safari outing.Some would argue that the conviviality is partly what makes it a powerful charity event - this year CEOs were invited to bring outstanding students and matric pupil s. Sisanda Vananda, a township student, says: "It's a great opportunity and I'm very excited to be a part of it."Around Gauteng, 41 companies took part in "sympathy sleepouts" that night, along with 10 colleges and universities and 60 schools.block_quotes_start I've bought five cups of soup, three bags of wood, two bottles of water, and I'm waiting for Pizza Hut to deliver block_quotes_endTo "truly experience homelessness for a night", participants are encouraged to bring little more than the thermal, fleece-lined jackets on their backs.If you want anything else, you have to earn it on the night. That is, by doing good deeds at stations along the bridge, such as donating a blanket or making sandwiches in the pop-up kitchen.Or you could sit on the "reflection bench" and think about social change.In exchange you'll get virtual cash on your smartphone (there's free Wi-Fi along with luxury portable loos), which you can use to buy wood for your bonfire, a sleeping bag, eye shades to shield you from the glare of city lights while you sleep.mini_story_image_hright2Through the cold night, you see CEOs in their black beanies (labelled "CEO") redeeming their good deeds with their smartphones. "I've bought five cups of soup, three bags of wood, two bottles of water, and I'm waiting for Pizza Hut to deliver," Levy says.You can even buy cardboard to create your own shelter, at five virtual rands a panel (comes in deluxe and standard sizes). You get handed written instructions. "This is hard," says one executive, trying to assemble it."I enjoyed the trading part of it all," says Nicky Newton-King. Of course she would: she's the CEO of JSE Limited.In a model corrugated-iron shack, people pose with cardboard signs for photos. Twitter, that night, is flooded with #ceosleepout2016 selfies.The morning after, about 600 homeless people arrive to claim what is left. An hour before that the CEOS had gone home.hunterl@sundaytimes.co.za..