The Department of Arts and Culture and the Department of Basic Education have arranged for grade 10 & 11 students from 9 provinces to participate in the Nat Nakasa Debate Competition. The Competition will be hosted at the Durban Natural Science Museum from Saturday, 06 to Sunday, 07 September 2014.

Nat Nakasa’s remains were successfully repatriated and brought back from New York on the 19th of August 2014 by a team led by Arts and Culture Minister, Mr. Nathi Mthethwa. Mr Nat Nakasa’s remains will be reburied on Saturday, 13 September at Heroes Acre in Durban.

Mr Nakasa was born in Chesterville, Durban in 1937. He worked for Ilanga laseNatal, Drum Magazine, Golden City Post and the Rand Daily Mail. He founded The Classic in 1963 with the intention of publishing “African Writing of merit.” He called himself “A Native of Nowhere,” after the apartheid government left him with no option but to take a one-way exit permit, when he went abroad for his studies.

Mr Nat Nakasa`s ‘homecoming’ after 50 years of forced exile has a significant meaning to the people of South Africa in this twentieth celebration of freedom, as he wrote eloquently about an ideal South Africa that would be democratic, non-racial and socially cohesive.

This initiative is aimed at educating the youth about the role of journalists during the liberation struggle in South Africa, what freedom meant to them and most importantly redefining their ideal South Africa through nation building, social cohesion and moral regeneration. Currently there is also a Nat Nakasa Exhibition underway at the Oral History Museum in Durban until the end of the year.

The debate is scheduled in the following manner:   

Saturday, 6 September 2014

1st session: 09h00-12h40: The Eliminations.

2nd Session:  14h00-15h30: The Finals. This session will include a formal programme followed by the actual competition (6 students representing 3 provinces)

Media Enquiries:

Mack Lewele - 082 450 5076 (Department of Arts and Culture)

Elijah Mhlanga: 083 5808275 (Department of Basic Education)