The African Schools Debating Championships 2009, St John’s College Johannesburg, April 14 – 20

Luilmar Sabalo (Y12), Flavio Barroso, Luka Vujec (y11) and Haley Talbot (Y10) recently represented the school at the Third ASDC hosted by St John’s College. They were accompanied by Bora Rancic (DP Coordinator) and Jo Nicel (CAS Coordinator) and performed very well by reaching the semi – finals, finally losing to Botswana who were the eventual runners up.

It was an action packed week including not only debating but cultural tours, guest speakers and a visit to The Market Theatre to see the current political satire ‘McBeckie’. With elections the following week, this gave all the students much to think about!

The team competed against South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda and got off to a flying start by winning the first three matches. The motions debated were interesting and diverse and included This House Would: Teach Mother Tongue Languages In Government Schools; Ban The Screening Of Terrorist Videos; Scrutinise The Lives of Politicians and; This House Prefers Western Investment In Africa To Chinese Investment.

From the word go the students enjoyed the busy schedule which also included debate training and socializing with the other teams. Many e mail details were exchanged and promises made not to lose contact! The finals were held at The Nelson Mandela Centre where the team were very lucky to meet Zindzi Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s daughter.

All in all it was a fantastic experience and achievement, and the team now looks forward to promoting debating in the school and to returning to South Africa for the 2010 Championships.