ROJAC 2019 (Rotary Junior Ambassadors Competition)
Congratulations to Malaika Mohlaba who recently represented Stanford Lake College and Haenertsburg Rotary in the annual ROJAC competition. Malaika won the semi-finals which were organised by Haenertsburg Rotary and Tzaneen Rotary held at Merensky High School on 13 August. The competition included a prepared speech on Global Warming, an unprepared speech, some general knowledge questions on South Africa and a personal interview. Malaika was the worthy overall winner and was chosen as Haenertsburg Rotary’s candidate for the finals held at Curro Heuwelkruin on 24 August where she came fourth. ROJAC is a competition for Grade 11s to test their ability to make speeches and especially to consider their ambassadorial potential. Winners receive money to be put towards their tertiary education.
ROJAC 2018
Haenertsburg Rotary hosted the first round of the Rojac English Speech competition at Merensky High School on Tuesday 14 August 2018. Unfortunately due to some last-minute problems, two of the five contestants could not take part. However, the candidates who did take part, Zoe Robertson from Ben Vorster High School, Jean-Jacques Smalle from Merensky High School and Tshepo Mokwena from Stanford Lake College delivered speeches of a very high standard. The topic for the prepared speech was DO THE BENEFITS OF MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA JUSTIFY ITS LEGALITY? Each candidate approached the topic from a different angle and this made it very interesting. Each candidate also chose a different one from the unprepared speech topics which were: The Worst Chore; The Hardest Thing I Ever Did; Teaching my Grandmother how to use a Smartphone; Three Things I can’t live Without, and Is There Value in Homework?
After completing a short general knowledge test, mainly on South Africa, and answering questions in a personal interview, the winner was finally chosen. This was a difficult task for the judges (Kerryn Venter from Ben Vorster, Alex Schoeman from Merensky, Amy Taylor from Stanford and Ann Luther from Haenertsburg Rotary) as the scores were very close. The person with the highest overall score was Zoe Robertson from Ben Vorster High School. Haenertsburg Rotary would like to congratulate her and wish her well in the final round which will take place in Polokwane on 25 August.
ROJAC 2017
Monique Zhanda from Merensky School who was the runner up in the recent ROJAC (speech competition) that is sponsored by Rotary Clubs in the area. Here she is receiving her prize of R5000 from Rotary Haenertsburg President, Paddy Ansell.