Westville Girls’ High Wins Durban Leg Of Vega Vibe Brand Challenge

Westville Girls’ High School recently won the Durban leg of Vega VIBE 2026, a national inter-school brand challenge hosted annually by The Vega School at Emeris across its four campuses. Regional winners from Durban, Cape Town Johannesburg and Pretoria will now compete for the national title.

Vega VIBE is an acronym for Vega Interschool Brand Experience (VIBE). This year, nine teams from six Durban high schools tackled a real-world brief from Sapmok, a premium outdoor brand which creates strong, durable gear for hiking and exploring nature.

The participating schools were Durban Girls’ College, Durban Girls’ High School, Glenwood High School, Northlands Girls’ High School, Westville Girls’ High School and Westville Boys’ High School.

The challenge? Learners had to come up with innovative ideas for Sapmok to connect with Gen Z and change the perception that hiking gear was practical, boring, unfashionable and only meant for the outdoors.

The finalists were:

• First place: Westville Girls’ High School Team One
• Second place: Durban Girls High School Team Two

Westville Girls’ High School, the national winner of Vega VIBE 2025, entered two teams of six learners each. The school is a Vega VIBE regular because the competition gives learners exposure to brand strategy, marketing and design while introducing them to career opportunities beyond traditional professions.

“It feels phenomenal to be the Durban regional winners,” said Snenhlanhla Hlongwa (Grade 12 learner from Westville Girls’ High Team One).

“We put a lot of hard work and preparation into our presentation from the time we received the brief a few days before the competition. There were sleepless nights, but it’s been an amazing experience competing against other schools,” she added.

The team said that whenever they had differences of opinions, they put ideas to a vote.

“We initially had two very different ideas. So, we remained objective and focussed on which concept best met the requirements of the brief. It was a very democratic process,” said Fumane Morojele (Grade 12 learner from Westville Girls’ High Team One).

The judging panel included Jody Simpson (Head of Academics at The Vega School at Emeris uMhlanga) and The Vega School at Emeris uMhlanga Interior Design, Experience Design, Communication Design and Brand Management lecturers Michael Barratt, Mickey Burnett, David Kwaan and Vian Roos. The judges evaluated the teams on creativity, audience understanding, how well their ideas worked together, youth engagement and experience thinking across both digital and real-world platforms.

Roos said the final was closely contested, with only two points separating the top teams. “We were impressed with both finalist presentations and could easily see their ideas being adopted by the brand,” he said.

“Durban Girls’ High had sound research and a strong understanding of their target audience. I loved their idea of an interchangeable jacket where the sleeves and the hoodie could be removed. Westville Girls’ High had a very clear message that worked well. I also loved that they incorporated South African artists into their campaign rather than random illustrators. They really captured the South African identity of the brand”, continued Roos.

Jessie Kell (Campus Deputy Head at The Vega School at Emeris uMhlanga) said Vega VIBE gave learners a taste of both industry experience and student life at The Vega School at Emeris – a brand-focused school specialising in design, brand and business.

“The level of enthusiasm, innovation and the sheer effort every learner poured into their presentations was inspiring. It was incredible to see these young creatives putting their best foot forward and truly embracing the spirit of the day,” Kell concluded.

Each regional winner will now progress to the national judging round, where the overall winner will be selected based on their presentation and artwork.

Regional winners received a R7,000 Takealot voucher for the school and a R1,000 Takealot voucher for each team member. Second place regional teams received a R3,000 Takealot voucher for their school and a R500 vouchers for each team member.