Young speakers shine at the first national Afrikaans public speaking competition
Back from left, are Marí Lategan, deputy chief executive at Curro Holdings and Isa Swanepoel, the principal at Curro Durbanville High School. Front, from right are Curro Century City pupils Priscilla Dikimbi and Hareem Amir who took 2nd place in the Junior Afrikaans First Additional Language category; Payton Niemann and Fatima Amir who took 1st place in Junior Afrikaans First Additional Language category and Riaan Stroebel, executive head at Curro Durbanville.
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A national Afrikaans public speaking competition was held in Durbanville on Wednesday, June 25, to celebrate the language's 100-year milestone as an official language.
The Nou Praat Jy! (Now You Speak!) competition was part of the week-long launch of the Kultura Festival – the first cultural festival in the northern suburbs.
Designed as a duet-style contest, pupils delivered paired speeches under the theme Afrikaans – ’n taal van kleure en klank (Afrikaans – a language of colors and sound).
"Individual accolades went to the top speakers in both home language and first additional language categories. Cash prizes of R10 000 were awarded to the top teams in each category.
The Kultura Festival also featured acclaimed artists such as Sandra Prinsloo, Early B, and Francois van Coke, alongside a local wine festival.
Joline de Klerk, head of department for Afrikaans at Curro Durbanville High School, said pupils in this competition were encouraged to deliver their message in Kaaps, Overbergs, Namakwalands, or any other variant of Afrikaans.
“Traditional team public speaking consists of teams of four. We decided on a new format with only two participants per team. The goal was to create a spontaneous conversational style between teammates rather than a rigid format where each team member has a specific function. It was important to us that each speaker’s unique personality could shine through in the speech,” she said.
The national competition took place a month after AfriForum hosted its own provincial Afrikaans debating competition at DF Malan High School in Bellville
From left, are Marí Lategan, deputy chief executive at Curro Holdings, Curro Durbanville High School pupils Risa Burger and Christina Marx who took 1st place in the Junior Afrikaans Home Language category; Isa Swanepoel, principal at Curro Durbanville High School and Riaan Stroebel, executive head at Curro Durbanville.
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From left, are Marí Lategan, deputy chief executive at Curro Holdings; Curro Durbanville High School pupils Madison-Mãe Alexander and Ngcali Dantile who were joint winners in the Senior Afrikaans First Additional Language category; principal Isa Swanepoel and Riaan Stroebel, executive head at Curro Durbanville.
Image: Supplied