By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – Relebohile Ngozo flew the flag of The Beacon secondary school high when she won the Sesotho essay competition that was launched by the EFF earlier in the year in celebration of their 10-year anniversary of unbroken struggle.
Ngozo says her love for politics and current affairs inspired her to enter this competition, when her class teacher Moetsi Mohlakoana announced this opportunity to her class.
“I chose the topic that asked us to explore the 10-year history of the EFF because I know and love the EFF. My class teacher motivated me to enter this competition because we always discuss current affairs with him and he knows my love for politics.
“My biggest challenge was having to write in Sesotho and having to translate some of the political concepts into my mother tongue because most of the research is written in English.”
Sesotho teacher Doctor Mollo assisted by checking Ngozo’s essay and assisted her to write proper Sesotho while making sure to follow the guidelines and criteria set by the EFF for the different topics of the competition.
Speaking to The Guard, Mohlakoana said he loves following current affairs on social media platforms and that it was when he went to the EFF’s twitter page that he saw the competition.
“Here at The Beacon secondary school, we try to encourage our learners to participate in extra curricular activities so when I saw this wonderful opportunity, I told all the learners at the school. Relebohile was the only learner who was motivated to enter the competition, so I encouraged her to do so,” Mohlakoana said.
According to the EFF, the recent Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS) showed a stark reality that among 50 countries surveyed, there is a sharp decline in reading comprehension among South African learners. This decline is mostly prevalent amongst African language instruction schools, that is why the EFF initiated the competition to promote both writing and reading in mother tongue.
The principal of The Beacon secondary school, John Mohalali, said they are very proud of Relebohile’s achievement and that this kind of achievement by a learner affirms why the school encourages and motivates learners to participate in extramural and extracurricular activities.
The winners were announced at the EFF’s 10th anniversary gala dinner and received trophies as well as cash prizes. For the essay competition, participants had to explore the topic “A 10 – year history of the EFF” in all official languages, with each winner receiving a grand prize of R40 000 per language.
For the poetry competition learners had to chronicle the EFF’s journey since 2013 in any of the official languages and the prestigious cash prize of R50 000 was awarded to one winner in any language.
