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Langalakhe Mabena
In recent years, the Zimbabwe National Debate team can be applauded as one the disciplines that have made the nation proud as the team has represented Zimbabwe very well in various regional and international tournaments and championships.
Debate is a formal discussion on a particular matter in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward and which usually ends with a vote.
The national debate team usually comprises students drawn from schools all over Zimbabwe.
However, the debating sport was not taken that seriously in the country until a passionate young fellow — Maison Maphosa — decided to head the team as the main coach and help young ones to realise their dreams.
Based in Australia, Maphosa has been part of the national team for the past six years, and in his tenure the team has won many accolades including being the champion at the African Schools Debate Championships (ASDC) in 2022.
Maphosa funds most trips and tournaments of the team from his pocket and tremendous support from willing parents of the students on the set up of the team. His love for debate is unmatched. It started when he was very young in the thickest part of Gwanda in Matabeleland South.
The young Maphosa had a long-held dream to start up a world-recognised debaters’ club that would benefit pupils, especially the underprivileged ones, to realise their dreams. As he fell into an intimate relationship with debate while he was doing Form One at Gwanda High School, Maphosa made it a point that he would work hard to be a famed debater and represent Zimbabwe at greater heights.
“I developed the passion for debate in 2010 while doing Form One. Advocacy made me fall in love with debating because it shaped and allowed me the ability to speak out, argue and defend myself,” said Maphosa who is a Chemical Engineer by profession.
As a way of lending a hand and creating more advocate debaters, Maphosa founded a debate club called The Royalty Pact Debating Academy (RPDA). The club has students dotted all over Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Tanzania and hopes to expand to more countries.
The RPDA club was formed in 2017 and it has graced various competitions including the Africa University Debate International Open 2018, Oxford Schools Zimbabwe rounds in 2019 and Jozi Summer Holiday Open in 2019.
“I decided to create the RPDA club so that we groom eloquent orators who will be able to advocate for people’s rights. The club started with only three members but now we are over 80 combined from three countries and we are hoping to expand. Debating is a journey filled with ups and downs.
Oftentimes when young people try debating, they easily quit because they believe they are not good enough. It is our task to inspire them not to give up on their dreams. That is what we do at RPDA,” said Maphosa.
With RPDA proving to have achieved a lot of success, Maphosa saw it noble that he dives into the national debate team where he is the current head coach for the main team.
His hand in the national team can be felt as he has led the team to greater heights winning various accolades in the continent. In 2021, he led the team to be crowned the African Schools Debate Championships winners. They retained the title after being crowned champions again in 2022, in the process defeating Morocco, Namibia, Algeria, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa and other African teams.
Last year, Maphosa also successfully led the team to triumph as they contested at the World Schools Debate Championship (WSDC) held at Hanoi in Vietnam. They managed to bow out of the tournament at the quarter finals stage.
Over sixty countries including China, Pakistan, Singapore, Australia, to mention a few, participated in this year’s tournament. For those who may not understand the magnitude of this tournament, one can say that it is equivalent to the Fifa World Cup, but instead of soccer, it’s a high school debate competition.
Being the head coach of the national team is a huge task but Maphosa said he always pushed himself and the team to the limit because for them to achieve all these accolades they have to work hard and be willing to go the extra mile.
“When I stepped up as the head coach the vision was clear which was to conquer Africa and we did that courtesy of the hard work we put in with the team. I always push the young ones to the limit because nothing in life comes without hard work. I always push them to the limit so that they reach their full potential and be able to realise their dreams. From the teams I have coached in the past years I think we have managed to have over 20 individual awards, a sign that we are also creating future leaders who will be able to stand for their people,” he said.
This year Maphosa is also expected to make wonders as he will lead his team in different tournaments including the debate Olympics in July, World Public Championships to be held in May in Australia, African Championships to be held in Kenya in May as well as the Asia World Championships to be held in June in Thailand.
On personal terms, Maphosa is also a decorated fellow. He has represented Zimbabwe in numerous countries including Malaysia and Indonesia where he was a finalist in 2018 and at Singapore Yale Nus Pro 2020 and Nepal UMSU International Debate Open 2020 where he was crowned as a semi-finalist.
In 2021, he got his efforts recognised on the world level as he was awarded a Young Achievers accolade by the Zimbabwe Association of Western Australia. The gong was sponsored by Edith Cowan University. Maphosa’s victory came after he led the Zimbabwe national debate team to glory (as coach) after they became winners at the Dutch schools debate championships in May of that year.
Online Reporter