Paul Roos Gymnasium to host the Masithethe! isiXhosa Oratory Competition – a first in the Boland

PRG Form is a meeting place of many of the activities in which Paul Roos learners exercise their prowess in the art of the spoken word. After discussions with ENSafrica (the official sponsor of PRG Forum) the need for the development of an isiXhosa oratory competition for high school learners was identified. Paul Roos immediately reached out to its neighbouring schools.  With the help of Rhenish Girls’ High, a teacher’s workshop was initiated and hosted at Paul Roos Gymnasium. isiXhosa teachers from Kayamandi Secondary School, Makapula Secondary School, Calling Academy, Rhenish Girls’ High, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, the German International School Cape Town, Paul Roos Gymnasium and Bishops Diocesan College attended the teacher’s workshop to discuss competition categories, evaluation criteria, training of learners and efficiently judging isiXhosa oratory speeches.

3 Paul Roos Gymnasium contestants (Left to Right: Hlumelo Sibaca, Naqeeb Rosenberg, Gareth Davidse)

Thereafter a wide array of schools with isiXhosa as subject was invited to enter for the first isiXhosa oratory competition by name of Masithethe! (“let’s talk”). PRG’s vision for Masithethe! is to promote multi-language use in South Africa and to encourage learners to speak isiXhosa. PRG wants to provide a platform on which isiXhosa speakers of any level can inform, entertain and convince an audience. Paul Roos received 87 speech entries from eight schools from the Western Cape.  These schools are Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof, Calling Academy, Grootte Schuur High School, Makapula Secondary School, Rhenish Girls’ High, St Cyprians High School, Kayamandi Secondary School and Paul Roos Gymnasium.  The competition will be held on Saturday 14 May 2022. Teachers who attended the Masithethe! workshop volunteered as judges. Two special judges from the University of Stellenbosch will be judging the final round of the competition. Masithethe! is honoured to receive Dr Zameka Sijadu (Faculty of African Language) and Dr Simthembile Xeketwana (Faculty of Education) at Masithethe!

Dr Zameka Sijadu (SU, Faculty of African Languages)

Dr Simthembile Xeketwana (SU, Faculty of Education)