The Sunday News
TSHOLOFELO Tsholofelo’s name might be prophetic, or at least what it means and how his life has turned out suggests.
Tsholofelo is a SeTswana word that means ‘‘hope’’.
At the youthful age of 23, the Botswana-born young man is Africa’s top debater, having outclassed some of the top acts on the affluent motherland.
He is studying Law at the University of Botswana and was the chief adjudicator at this year’s Zimbabwe National Debate Championships which ended last Saturday at Harare Polytechnic.
Sunday Leisure correspondent Bruce Chimani (BC) caught up with the ambitious law student, on the sidelines of the national debate championships last week in Harare, to pick his mind on an array of issues. Below are excerpts of the interview.
BC: Tell us, who is Tsholofelo Tsholofelo?
TT: Tsholofelo is the third born in a family of six children. I have three sisters, two older and one younger. The rest are my younger brothers. Well, I went to Flamingo High School in Sowa Town in Botswana. I am currently in my final year studying law at the University of Botswana.
BC: So, when did you actually begin debating? Was it something you picked up because you are studying law, or did you study law because you love debating? Take us through that.
TT: Actually, I only started debating back in 2010. What happened was that I had a friend who nagged me for a whole six months to join him on a Sunday afternoon for debate training. For starters, that was a ridiculous time to set up a meeting but however, with time I considered it and actually joined. He put me on the spot right on the first day.
It was actually a shameful first shot because I only spoke for two minutes 17 seconds when I was supposed to speak for about seven minutes. From that day, I told myself I would never want to feel the way that I felt on that stage that Sunday afternoon. So, that was the start of it. From there on, I became an active debater and I improved with time until I am where I am now.
BC: By ‘‘where I am now” you do imply your current state as the top most ranked debater in Africa I assume. How did you get to attain that status?
TT: The year 2013 was my second biggest debating year. I won all the national championships in Botswana — that’s three different tournaments, namely the Botswana Debate Open, Botswana Tertiary Institutions Debating Championships and the University of Botswana Open. After winning those tournaments, we went through to South African Nationals and my partner and I made it to the quarter-finals. We then went to Pan African Universities Debate Championships that same year and we were the first team there to break on maximum points — we didn’t lose a single debate in the preliminary rounds. We then made it to the final and unfortunately we lost to University of Cape Town but that is where I was ranked the Best Speaker in Africa.
This year, I went for the Jozi Rumble invitational and I won that tournament. Straight afterwards, we had the Durban Open hosted by the University of KwaZulu Natal. We got to the semi-finals and got knocked out there. After that, there was the Southern African Debating Championships and I chose “English as a First Language” and I was the first black person and first Motswana person to win the Best Speaker in that category. I was also the first black and Motswana person to make it to the finals of that competition. The tournament has been dominated by white people and we felt we had achieved something for the black people.
BC: Sounds like you are a busy man. So, apart from you being so busy debating from one competition to another, what else do you do?
TT: Back home, I coach three different high schools, namely Westwood, Maru-A-Pula and Ledumang CJSS. These are in Gaborone. We are trying to develop debate from an early age. We host a bunch of different tournaments. I also do training tours like I am doing here in Zimbabwe. One training tour we did in Malawi stood out for me. We set up the first ever Malawian schools debate championships. The kids are really talented and I see them winning some of these tournaments in the future.
BC: Being so involved across the borders in southern Africa, what would be your general comment on the state of debating on this side of the Motherland?
TT: There is one thing that generally stands out in most African countries in terms of debating — there is a whole lot of talent! We have some really great young critical thinkers in our backyards. For example, the South African national high schools debating team actually made it to the finals of the World Championship, unbeaten. That’s one of the biggest feats.
However, another sad reality is that you find that in most countries, there are selfish people who want to take over debating fraternities. This sinister group of people seems obsessed with pushing away people who are actually passionate about debate and this is done in different ways in different places and it is sad.
BC: What other challenges have you faced especially in your context, in Botswana?
TT: I think one challenge, which is also uniform is that of funding. It’s pretty expensive to actually participate in international competitions. It’s hard to approach organisations asking for funding for debate because of their perception. We just have to push for national recognition so that companies can potentially invest.
BC: What qualities would you say make a good debater?
TT: I would say one has to be passionate about debate and also be well-informed and insightful. Passion will help you persevere. Debate needs to be a lifestyle — watch the news, be interested in philosophy and things like that. One of my favourite websites is the Cambridge website because they have a lot of interesting and different articles which are quite helpful. So, just dedicating about 20 minutes daily to that will absolutely change one’s life.
BC: What words would you say to encourage a young boy or girl in Nkayi or Binga right now about debate? How would you convince them to pursue it?
TT: One of the reasons why I love debate is that it is one of the only sports where it doesn’t matter what your background is. It’s not about whether you are from Nkayi or from Harvard — it’s a battle of ideas. What a feeling it is to walk out of a room and know you gave students from top universities a good run for their money.
Also, debate actually does change your life. Your approach to things changes and you become more critical in your thinking — which I think is a very healthy foundation for whatever else one might want to do in life.
