Nelson Mandela famously said that “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
According to Statistics South Africa’s National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), approximately 10.1 million learners walk to school in this country, representing nearly 60% of all pupils and making it the most common mode of travel. Many of those walk barefoot because their parents or caregivers cannot afford shoes.
Determined to do something about this societal issue, Ms Charne Verster (right), a student at the University of Cape Town, has developed size-adjustable and GPS-enabled school shoes targeted specifically at learners in under-resourced communities.
For her ground-breaking idea, Verster and her UCT Genesis team took fifth place, winning R50,000 in the EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge national finals on 26 November. The EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge is the largest student innovation initiative ever launched across South Africa’s 26 public universities, which ABSA sponsored with more than R1 million in its inaugural year in 2025.
The patented Smart School Shoe, Verster believes, is the future of school shoes.
“We noticed that parents faced two recurring challenges – the cost of replacing outgrown school shoes and concerns about children’s safety during school hours. There was also a substantial gap between price and durability. And so, the product that we have designed is the world’s first school shoe that grows up to three sizes and includes a smart tracker, a reflective heel strip and a broad ergonomic toe box. We combine comfort, longevity and affordability using innovative materials that withstand tough daily use,” she explains.
“I hope that this product ensures that every child, no matter their background, has access to comfortable, long-lasting school shoes that support their confidence and dignity. Long term, I want Smart School Shoes to become the trusted standard for school footwear across the country. One smart school shoe replaces three traditional school shoes.”
Verster is nearing completion of a Postgraduate Diploma in Management (Entrepreneurship) at UCT. She also holds a Higher Certificate in Banking, a BCom in Entrepreneurship and is a member of MENSA South Africa. She will be starting her MBA next year.
What advice would she give to budding innovators and entrepreneurs? “Be ready for a journey that mixes creativity, resilience and constant learning. I soon discovered that the footwear and education‑tech space demands both innovation and practicality, so I learnt to stay open-minded, test relentlessly and listen carefully to my product users – especially the children and their parents.”
She says the EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge recognition validated all the team’s hard work: “It was an overwhelming and incredibly proud moment. Being recognised among so many brilliant innovators showed me that our mission matters and that we are on the right path. Competitions such as these are vital as they provide visibility, funding, mentorship and validation for young entrepreneurs who are still building their networks. They help ideas grow into real, impactful businesses.”
She was delighted that the awards were a triumph for female entrepreneurs and innovators who took the five top spots in the competition.
Always remember your ideas are valid
“I think women bring powerful problem-solving perspectives, especially in community-driven innovation,” says Verster. “I believe the strong performance of female innovators reflects our ability to identify real needs and build practical, meaningful solutions. My message to other women is to always remember that your ideas are valid; back them boldly, even if the path feels daunting.
The R50,000 prize money will go towards improving prototypes and rolling out production so the shoes can be brought to an expanded market as soon as possible. The next steps include refining manufacturing processes, increasing partnerships with schools and preparing to enter larger markets.
In five years, Verster sees Smart School Shoes operating nationally with a strong retail presence and continually innovating in the youth‑focused education product space.
This is not the only notable achievement of Verster in 2025. She also participated in the SUNECO student exchange, titled “Co-creating Sustainable Entrepreneurial University Ecosystems.” SUNECO facilitates student exchange, primarily between the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) and UCT. Verster contributed to interdisciplinary work on bio-based material innovation within an eco-straw concept developed by the cohort.
Says Verster: “SUNECO is a meaningful demonstration of how structured learning mobility can re-situate African students as co-designers rather than downstream users of northern innovation ecosystems. Perhaps my most enduring lesson of SUNECO was that collaboration across borders does not dilute anyone’s strength … it multiplies it! When northern infrastructure and southern contextual intelligence meet at eye-level, both sides leave with capabilities they did not possess alone. True partnership is not extractive; it is the quiet but profound realisation that progress is faster, deeper and more durable when we build it together rather than in parallel.”
EDHE – a programme that aims to develop the entrepreneurial capacity of university students, academics and university leaders – is a collaboration between Universities South Africa (USAf) and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). It helps students become more economically active by providing support, running competitions such as the EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge and EDHE Entrepreneurship Intervarsity, while offering programmes and initiatives to foster entrepreneurial skills.
Janine Greenleaf Walker is a contract writer for Universities South Africa.