To celebrate the date of 50 days until the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC a.k.a. Worlds) start the organizing committee held a dinner in early November that was addressed by the Attorney General of Botswana and Advocate George Bizos, the lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela during his Apartheid-era trial.

While Worlds financial officer Taylor Tebogo Mogotsi admitted that they still face some major needs, convenor Justice Motlhabani is sure that after all the obstacles they have already overcome they will also manage that.

Up to date, 333 teams have registered for WUDC in Gaborone, Botswana – that’s over 100 more than the last Worlds staged in southern Africa, but fewer than at last year’s Worlds in Antalya, Turkey, the convenors report. They suppose the reason behind this is the high travel costs to Botswana. But that works two ways, the organizers indicate – the high travel costs are what the African teams are forced to pay to go anywhere for Worlds. But on the other hand there will be at least twenty teams from ten different African countries attending this year’s Worlds – in spite of the usual three teams at any other WUDC, Justice is proud to announce.

Especially the cooperation of the convenors and the national broadcaster Botswana Television (BTV) makes the organizational team proud: Not only have they been broadcasting exhibition debates twice a week to generate interest in the lead-up to Worlds – if all works according to plan, they will also be providing live coverage of the semifinal and final rounds, making Botswana Worlds 2011 the first to broadcast final rounds live on national television, as is reported.

“Botswana has never hosted a ‘world’ anything,” Motlhabani points out. “The people of Botswana need to come together and own this event because it will determine how a generation of future leaders views their country.”

Since 1981, debaters from all over the world have been competing at the World Universities Debating Championships at alternating locations across the planet. It was not before 1996 that the British Parliamentary Style became the mandatory format for this annual tournament. The African continent has been host to previous Worlds (Stellenbosch, South Africa, 1997 and 2003) and stages the Worlds now for a third time, this year from 27 December 2010 to 4 January 2011 at the University of Botswana, Gaborone. The tournament’s schedule is accessible on the WUDC 2011 homepage. Language of debate is English and there are three categories: “Main” for native speakers, “ESL” (English as a Second Language, for those who prove great proficiency in English) and “EFL” (English as a Foreign Language, for those who studied English as a mere subject).

apf / glx