Online 2020

ABOUT

Due to the CoronaVirus Pandemic, the South African National Schools’ Debating Championship was held online. The Championship was held from the 15th-20th of December on the Discord Platform. Though the competition was not without its challenges and we all dearly missed the vigour of being able to meet in person, for the most part, it was an enjoyable and educational experience for all involved. There were many other firsts for the championships besides its online platform. The Free State Province took part in their first final narrowly losing out to a team from South Korea, making the South Korean team the first international team to win a National final. This year was also the first time we had two international teams competing in the finals. Kenya took part in the Senior plate-final losing out to a team from the Gauteng province. It was also the first time we had all of the top 10 junior speakers from one province, Gauteng. The eventual winners of the senior and junior championships were from the Gauteng province. Congratulations to all speakers who took part in the final. We were once again inspired by the level of intellect, compassion and talent participants displayed. It was a difficult challenge moving to an online platform, and our learners took this in great stride and made Nationals 2020 a phenomenal experience. 

Without the hard work of our volunteers none of this would have been possible. Thank you to our Chief Adjudicators, Uheli, Shannon and Amaar for their invigorating motions which challenged  us. Our Tab masters, Bradley and Lame, were essential to the success of this competition. Finally our immense gratitude to the organising committee, Lebo, Bettina and Rimbi for taking the vision of an online tournament forward. 

Congratulations to all our winners:

Senior Plate Champions 

Team Russian – Gauteng 

  • Eugene Cloete
  • Chisumino Momberume
  • Gloria Mayombo
  • Yufei Gao

Senior Plate Runner-up

Team Slovene – Kenya

  • Eugene Ntwari 
  • Kawsar Kana
  • Michelle Adika

Senior Main Champions 

Team French – Gauteng

  • Agisanang Modise
  • Lwandle Ntshangase
  • Marcus Cordeiro
  • Nyasha Mazarura
  • Ropafadzo Zharare

Senior Main Runner-up 

Team Croatian – Western Cape

  • Janya Kaur
  • Kate Forrest
  • Nathan Fobian
  • Makanatsa Ziyambi

Top speaker in each province 

Seniors:

  • Limpopo – Mantswi Ramokgolo
  • Gauteng – Amaarah Cachalia
  • Free State – Bontle Thateng
  • Northern Cape – Hannah Lawani
  • Western Cape – Joseph Zelezniak
  • Kwa-Zulu Natal – Faye Crawford
  • Eastern Cape – Pooja Damodaran

Juniors:

  • Limpopo – Dimpho Thobela
  • Gauteng – Jessica Beisman-Simons
  • Free State – Fumane Masheane
  • Western Cape – Noor Khan
  • Kwa-Zulu Natal – Ross Froise
  • Eastern Cape – Estelle Minas

Senior top 10 speakers 

  1. Joseph Israel Zelezniak
  2. Joshua Daniel Hendricks
  3. Ammaarah Cachalia
  4. Eugene Cloete
  5. Faye Crawford
  6. Molemo Olebogeng Maleaka
  7. Nathan Timothy Fobian
  8. Lwandle Tshiamo Ntshangase
  9. Caitlin Schwarer
  10. Kriti Rambiritch

Junior Main Champions

Team Yoruba – Gauteng

  • Brandon Goncalves
  • Busisiwe Kheswa
  • Danika Neuhoff
  • Dylan Steenberg
  • Jessica Biesman-Simons

Junior Main Runner-up 

Team Shona

  • Ayanda Rongo
  • Francesca Lewitton
  • Isabella Eksteen
  • Lesego Serobatse
  • Tiger-anne Cupido

Junior Plate Champions 

Team Hausa

  • Chaehwan Shin
  • Christina Song
  • Ian Yijun Chung
  • Sungbin Yoon

Junior Plate Runner-up

Team Herero

  • Ali Al Garra
  • Lindokuhle Mofokeng
  • Ayanda Mangengenene

Junior Top 10 

  1. Jessica Caitlin Biesman-Simons
  2. Tiger-anne Cupido
  3. Dylan Matthys Steenberg
  4. Francesca Daniella Lewitton
  5. Dalila Katia Pestana Spinazze
  6. Danika Neuhoff
  7. Lesego Serobatse
  8. Isabella Alice Eksteen
  9. Christina Vaudran
  10. Aarya Maharaj

TAB

Junior tab: https://sansdc2020.calicotab.com/juniors2020/

Senior tab: https://sansdc2020.calicotab.com/seniors2020/