Alex Debating and Public Speaking Festival

The first Alex Debating and Public Speaking Festival was held on the 21st and 22nd March. We hosted 19 junior teams and 24 senior teams, from 21 schools from across the Eastern Cape.

It was a busy two days, with debaters competing in both prepared and unprepared debates, as well as persuasive speaking and unprepared speaking. The diverse competition was excellent for the development of debating and public speaking in our region.

Our three Alex teams held their own very well, against tough competition. Each team won 1 of their 3 debates. Special mention must be made of Amahle Zaka, James Jeffries and Polisa Ntebe, who each won a Best Speaker award and of Amy Saunders, who won a Best Speaker award and came second in the Public Speaking competition.

We are grateful for the hosting provided by the Events team, and Alex staff members who helped with festival logistics.

The festival was a great success and will definitely become an annual fixture on the Eastern Cape debating calendar.