This year we began with three senior teams and two junior teams, however some experienced debaters left the team. We were then left with two senior teams and one junior team.
The Goldfields Debating League for the juniors ended with the THS junior debating team winning 3/5 debates. The senior team won 4/5 debates in their league, however the league has not ended. The senior team aims to win the Goldfields Debating League this year. The date for the semi-final and final rounds is not disclosed.
In the first term; the Goldfields Debating League hosted a district one day tournament for all the Lejweleputswa schools. The THS team sent five of the debaters (Kgosana Matee, Shaun Mmutsi, Naledi Ntima, Ofentse Bolowana and Buhle Sigcawu) to represent the school. The THS team won gold (1st Place) among all the schools which were present. Ofentse Bolowana was the overall best speaker in the tournament, he received a gold medal.
During the second school term; The Central University of Technology (Welkom Campus) and the CUT Welkom Debate and Public Speaking Society hosted the 3rd annual GOLD RUSH 3-day debating tournament. Three speakers from the school (Pule Mmula, Ofentse Bolowana, Buhle Sigcawu,) participated in the tournament as a team. The team made it to the semi-finals and came third (3rd) in the whole competition. Pule Mmula was one the Top 8 Speakers and Ofentse Bolowana was amost the Top 3 Speakers overall in the competition.
The third term had more competitions. At the beginning the Department of Education held a
In the middle of the term; Corruption Watch in partnership with Debate.Afrika hosted the 3rd edition of the Model Youth South Africa (MYSA) Schools challenge at the University of the Free State, in which some of the best schools from across the Free State Province participated in a 3-stage policy-essay, campaign and debate challenge. The THS Welkom Debating Team took part in this competition. From the team, ten learners were sent to Bloemfontein over three weekends to compete. The team pulled off an excellent performance among the best in the Free State for the 2nd year running. They won gold medals for excellent achievements as a team and individually. Their achievements are as follow:
· MYSA Free State Gold Medalists – All THS Welkom Debaters
· 3rd Best Speaker – George Motapane and Ofentse Bolowana (Different Groups)
· Best overall Campaign Video – Naledi Ntima and Kelly Naftal
· Best Speaker overall – Pule Mmula
At the end of the third term, the Free State Schools Debating Board hosted debating provincials at THS Louis Botha Bloemfontein. The provincial competition took three days in Bloemfontein. The best of the best schools and debaters in the Free State province attended. Our senior team made it to the final at the provincial competition. Overall the Free State Schools, we came 2nd as a team. Two of the debaters were selected to represent the province at the national debating competition in Limpopo at the end of the academic year. They are Pule Mmula and Ofentse Bolowana. Ofentse Bolowana was among the Top 8 Debaters in the Free State province and Pule Mmula was among the Top 3 Debaters in the Free State province. The two learners need financial assistance in order to attend and compete at the national competition. Please feel free to support us in this regard.
Under the guidance of Lesala Khetheng (The team Coach) and the leadership of Buhle Sigcawu (The team captain), our debating team performed excellently this year.
We thank our debaters for their commitment and dedication throughout the year. We also thank their parents and teachers for their support throughout the year! We hope you continue to support the team until the end of the league and with the national competition.