About the SASDB

The South African Schools Debating Board (SASDB) is the official governing body of high school debating in South Africa. It is a registered non-profit organisation (registration: 026-935-NPO) which oversees debating in the provinces and sets policy at a national level. Constitutionally, the primary objects of the SASDB are:

(a) coordinating schools debating in South Africa

(b) developing schools debating in South Africa

(c) furthering schools debating in South Africa

(d) affirming the ownership of the intellectual property of the Board

To this end, the SASDB focuses on the following projects each year:

• the National Schools Debating Championships: held in December of every year, attended by the Provincial teams of each delegation
• selection and training of the National South African Schools Debating Team: which takes part in the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) and various international tournaments
• organising debate tournaments throughout the year: with the aim of increasing accessibility to debating
• the Social Justice Writing competition: a yearly publication composed of essays and poems written by high-school learners, in collaboration with the Center for Sexuality, Aids and Gender (CSA&G) at the University of Pretoria
• the development of debating in schools and provinces where it does not exist or is not affiliated with the SASDB
• provision of resources, training materials and workshops: with the aim of improving the quality of debating in the Nation

Our Vision as the SASDB

Our vision is for all learners in South Africa, regardless of socio-economic background, to have access to debating as a means to learn skills in critical thinking, argument formation and public speaking.

We hope to empower young learners and create educated global citizens who are knowledgeable and passionate about the issues facing the world around them.

Our hope is for learners to leave our program with increased confidence in their own voices and the tools to become high-impact leaders in all sectors of society.

Our Mission as the SASDB 

Our mission is to create and increase access to debating, especially to learners from less-resourced schools, by facilitating accessible debate tournaments, training opportunities and finding creative competitions and ways to present the art of debating.

Our objective is to improve the overall quality of debating and public speaking in South Africa.

Our Values as the SASDB

“Development and Empowerment”

We provide and facilitate Debate Training and development for over 2000 School Children per year with a specific focus on less resourced schools.

“Debate Excellence”

To maintain in our ranking as 1st in the World in Schools Debating through developing the best thinkers and orators in South Africa and indeed the world.

“Diversity and Exposure”

To expose children from varying backgrounds to the world and facilitate them learning from one another through debate.

South African Debating is recognised as one of the top debate organisations in the world.

Internationally, South Africa is recognised as a top tier team which is both competitive and successful, receiving various accolades in European, Asian and World tournaments.