Announcements 

The tournament has ended. Wits won EFL, USDV won ESL.

The results should be available here, or visit nationals.org.za/results.

Welcome

Welcome to the official website of the 9th Southern African National Debating Championships, hosted by the Debating Union at the University of Cape Town. This is the only authoritative place you will find information and communiqués relating to the event, apart from official emails, which you'll find on this site, too.

Event Details

Dates
The dates for the Championships were from 5 to 10 July 2004. Delegates arrived before 15:00 on Monday 5 July and departed on the morning of Saturday 10 July.

Accommodation
All delegates were accommodated in mostly single rooms in the University of Cape Town's Smuts Hall and Fuller Hall. These beautiful residences are both national monuments and command a stunning view over Cape Town.

Venues
All round debates and the quarterfinals were held in the Robert Leslie Social Science, Arts, Menzies and Beattie buildings, while the semifinals were held in the Wilfred and Jules Kramer Law Building. The venue for the finals was the Baxter Theatre.

Background Information

The inaugural National Universities Debating Championships was hosted by the University of Stellenbosch in 1996 and in the intervening years has become recognized as the premier debating event on the African continent and is ranked amongst the world's foremost debating competitions.

2004 will see the University of Cape Town host the Championships for the third time in its history and the event promises to surpass every one of its predecessors.

Sponsorship

British American Tobacco South Africa are donating R50 000 to cover part of the costs of running the tournament and will also be providing R40 000 to send the winning EFL and ESL teams to the World Universities Debating Championships in Malaysia in January 2005.

UCT's Vice-Chancellor's Discretionary Fund has also provided the Championships with a grant of R20 000.

Registration

Registration is over as the tournament has ended. Please check back at a later date for the results. Results should be available here.