Royal Pact shines at Oxford schools debate championships

Langalakhe Mabena
The Royal Pact Debate Academy has made the country proud after they came out tops at this year’s Africa Oxford Schools Championships.

The championships are an annual event run by Oxford Union and they are the largest British parliamentary school level debate competition in the world.

The competitions were held online on 13 February using the Zoom and Discord applications.

More than seven countries participated and they included South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Royal Pact was represented by two groups at the championships.

The first group was made up of eventual winners Nkosilathi Nkala and Zukisani Nameka.

Nkosilathi Nkala

The second Royal Pact representative team comprised Bongani Dube and Providence Nhongo and they were the first runners-up at the competition.

Bongani Dube

 

Nkosilathi Nkala managed to defend the Best Speaker’s trophy as he won the gong twice, last year and this year respectively.

The founder of the Royal Pact Debate Academy Maison Maphosa said that he was overwhelmed by the performance of the young debaters.

Zukisani Nameka

“These kids have made me feel great, they have given me a purpose in life. It excites me to see them growing into professional debating and winning. This is also a sign that the work they are putting in training is undoubtedly paying off,” said Maphosa.

Maphosa, who is a world famed professional debater based in Australia, revealed that he sees a greater future for the students he grooms, especially Nkosilathi Nkala.

“Nkosi is one of the best upcoming debaters. I believe if he keeps on putting the amount of work he is putting at the moment, he will definitely take over university debating as soon as he finishes high school,” said Maphosa.

Meanwhile, Maphosa said the debate academy had expanded its boundaries as it started grooming students in other Southern African countries including South Africa and Tanzania.

They are looking forward to expanding into other African countries.

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