“I was crowned the winner of the National Public Speaking Competition which comes with the prize of R50 000 that is going to be used to develop the school, and it is going to be a legacy that I will leave at Nageng Primary School”
By: Lerato Moteane
Bethuel Malebe has made his mark by becoming in a first place for National Public Speaking Competition that took place at Birchwood Hotel from the 22nd to the 25th of September 2019. An educator at Nageng Primary School,Vosloorus and an environmental activist is passionate about the performing arts and exploring talents of learners in finding their potentials.
Bethuel initially got into debating in 2015 at Nageng Primary School. Apart from being a teacher, he is also an environmental activist after winning the National Public Speaking Competition.
He mentions“the topic was about sustainable environment and I was competing with eight other teachers from various provinces,while representing Gauteng province. The competition was hosted by the Department of Water and Sanitation, so they needed to see a project that one have initiated within the school, through my presentation I took the first position and won the title of environmental activist.”
Environmental conservation pursues the goal of making life more sustainable for the planet and Bethuel is involved in the school when it comes to that topic. He added “we have an on-going project within the school which is about sustainable environment and under that we have water usage, littering, sanitation and hygiene; so I presented about those topics.”
Bethuel takes us through the experience that he had at the National Public Speaking Competition, the support that he received from Department of Education as well as Ekurhuleni Municipality. “I felt like the most valuable individual,as various organisations supported me,” he said.
“on the day[25 September] of results, you should’ve seen me when they made the announcement. When they mentioned the top three I was nervous, and then it was down to two spots left, which I couldn’t believe. After announcing my name as the winner I don’t know how I flew from my chair sit to the stage; so all in all it was a great experience.he said”
Bethuel continues to excel as he receive number of nominations in his career. being nominated for Excellency in primary teaching i previous year is one of the highlights of his teaching experience and he has treasured the acknowledgement that he received.