Nelson Mandela University: National reading competition honours for residence book club
Sarah Baartman Junior Residence book club members recently participated in the 2022 Funda Mzantsi championship and were placed 2nd place in the Xitsonga debate section.
The Funda Mzantsi championship is a joint project of the Department of Correctional Services and the National Library of South Africa, that seeks to enhance South Africans’ reading habits. It seeks to foster a culture of reading, advance South Africa’s linguistic diversity and literacy, and inspire all citizens to read, write, speak, and value the opinions of others.
Participants from any registered book club from high schools, the community, universities and the Department of Correctional Services compete in this annual, national competition.
The participants can compete in any of the 11 South African languages, with a minimum of three and a maximum of five languages per book club. The categories are reading (impromptu), spelling bee, debate and book reviews and critical analysis.
The Sarah Baartman ladies competed in the following categories:
English – impromptu reading, spelling bee, book review and debate
Xitsonga – impromptu reading, spelling bee and debate
IsiXhosa – impromptu reading, spelling bee and debate
Isizulu – spelling bee
The competition took place in George, from 3 to 7 October 2022.