Two students from Westcol’s Randfontein campus bagged medals at the 2021 annual TVET National Debate competition held between September 6 and 10 at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.
For their efforts Nelly Zulu, 20, received a gold medal and Valentine Mangoegape, 21, was awarded a bronze medal. The duo, who are in the second semester of their Public Management studies went head to head with 16 others opponents from all over South Africa. They said they were honoured and proud to represent their institution at a national intellectual level.
“People have always regarded me as a talkative person. As I was growing up I started challenging a lot of ideas many conform to or simply accept. My high school teacher introduced me to debating,” Valentine said.
Nelly said it was either sport or debating, but she eventually was drawn to debating.
“It was something I found intriguing. The ability to stand in front of people and be able to talk always excited me,” Nelly said.
Both students agreed that to excel in debating, one has to be extremely eloquent and knowledgeable, adding that reading is important.
“One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from debating is that if you find yourself siding with the majority, you owe it to yourself to do some introspection; you have to be willing to challenge the beliefs of the majority,” Valentine said.
Nelly added that debating also helps to show that it’s important for people to express how they think and be given the freedom to interpret things as they understand it so that they challenge the status quo.
“You should stand up, read, ask, learn and do whatever you can to interpret things and formulate your own opinion,” Nelly added.
John Mgocha, mentor and coach of the two star debaters said they have set the bar high at the institution. John further explained that unlike a few years ago when students were given weeks to prepare their arguments, this time around they only had 30 minutes.
He said leading up to the competition, the students were exposed to different styles of debating and made points based on the topics on the table.
“While preparing, we gave them random topics to work on and do some research. If you want to make a great debater, you should always have facts at your fingertips,” John believed.
