Grosvenor Boys’ debate team rise to the occasion in tournament

OLWETHU Hlongwa, Shakeel Khan and Calvin Maharaj, Grade 11 learners at Grosvenor Boys’ High School, raised the school’s and community’s banner high as they represented KwaZulu-Natal at the Participatory Education Techniques national competition in Bloemfontein recently.

Also read: Grosvenor Boys’ High School learners score goals and secure gold

Having won regional and provincial rounds to secure their place at nationals, the trio did find the national completion a hard nut to crack. Debate coach Neil Johns expressed pride in what the team achieved.

“We competed in the road safety debate and PET regional competition in Pinetown hosted by the KZN Department of Transport. Winning that took us to provincial round at the Durban ICC, after which we won again and the boys were able to gain their provincial colours and blazers to represent KZN nationally in Bloemfontein,” he said.

John described this year’s nationals as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, adding that the learners were treated exceptionally when they arrived in Bloemfontein.

The tournament was set up in such a way that each team had to use three speakers. Speaker one presented the case, speaker two did the rebuttals and speaker three presented the closing argument. Competing in the urban debate section, Grosvenor Boys’ High debated in support of the proposition that the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety has not been effective in South Africa.

Although they didn’t win, Johns said he was proud that they had represented their school and province. Debate team captain Olwethu Hlongwa reflected on the experience as a dream.

“It was surreal, yet humbling, knowing our team from Grosvenor Boys were the voice of our province on a national stage. We felt an immense sense of pride, knowing we weren’t just speaking for ourselves, but for our school, community and province. It was a responsibility we took seriously, and one that fuelled our determination. It was a defining moment, realising our voices could spark meaningful change,” he said.

Olwethu added that the competition was exciting, and with each round, their arguments grew sharper and their confidence higher. He thanked the KZN Department of Transport for the opportunity, their coach and the rest of the school for their support.

Johns said the team had grown incredibly both on competition level and as individual debaters.

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