Two student entrepreneurs head to national competition final

Two University of Cape Town (UCT) student entrepreneurs, Sonwabise Gcolotela and Kamogelo Mokale, pulled out all the stops during the regional round of the Absa Entrepreneurship Innovarsity competition. They will join students from around the country at the national final later this year.

The competition is an initiative of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme and is presented by the Department of Higher Education and Training. It aims to locate the top student entrepreneurs across South Africa’s 26 public universities. At UCT, student entrepreneurs are supported by Careers Service, which is based in the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED). The regional round of the event was hosted by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and took place at the University of the Western Cape’s Innovation Hub from 19 to 20 August. During this time, Gcolotela and Mokale were up against the region’s best from CPUT, the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University.

“We are so proud of Sonwabise and Kamogelo. They flew the UCT flag high, and we congratulate them on this outstanding achievement. Now, it’s heads down as they prepare for the final. We are behind them every step of the way,” said Nadia Waggie, UCT’s Entrepreneurship Innovarsity coordinator.

Winning concepts

As tradition dictates, Gcolotela, Mokale and other contestants had a nail-biting three minutes to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. Thereafter they were quizzed on their concepts.

Waggie said Mokale’s business, Vhutomi Trading Enterprise, was established in 2023. The startup grows castor plants and aims to manufacture value-added products like castor oil and castor-based derivatives for the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and industrial markets. The company aims to reduce South Africa’s dependence on imported castor oil and in turn create sustainable opportunities for local farmers and rural communities.

“These business ideas speak for themselves.”

On the other hand, she said, Gcolotela’s business, Guideian, uses an artificial intelligence platform to help South African youth seek career guidance and measure their job readiness. The platform uses local labour market data, academic results and personal interests to match users with aligned careers.

“These business ideas speak for themselves. They are innovative and are solving real challenges and judges were impressed with the pitches. We wish Sonwabise and Kamogelo the very best as they prepare for the national finals,” Waggie said.

The final leg of the event takes place in Johannesburg in November.