2003 Media release

Following last year's first African Languages Olympiads for isiNdebele, Xitsonga, isiSwati and Tshivenda, some 1 4 000 entries from about 570 schools were received for this year's Afrikaans Olympiad.

"These results show that learners are not ashamed to speak Afrikaans," says Erna Rossouw, project co-ordinator of the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement.

The six national winners of the Afrikaans Olympiad were announced at a function in Pretoria tonight. Girls walked away with the laurels and the Western Cape had the most top winners. The joint prize money for the entire Olympiad is about R30 000.

In the category Afrikaans as first language the winner was Linde Kritzinger from the Hoërskool Klerksdorp in die North West Province, in the second place was Esthea Kruger from the Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof in the Western Cape and Michelle Barnard from the Hoërskool DF Malan, also in the Western Cape, came third.

In the category Afrikaans as second language the winner was Katherine Moore from the Hatfield Christian School in Gauteng, Elize Stoltz from the Uplands College in Mpumalanga was second and in the third place was Suné Huggett from the Eunice High School in the Free State.

Rossouw said this year's standard was the highest ever and it was heartening that despite ever increasing academic pressure, learners still found the time to enrol for such Olympiads.

"Promoting any language from a tender age, ensures its continued existence. The Afrikaans Olympiad is an honest effort to, in line with the government's policy of multilingualism, promote Afrikaans as an African language," she said.

Provincial winners

In the category Afrikaans as first language the provincial winners are Ione Loots from the Hoërskool Menlopark in Gauteng, Jaco Strachan from the Hoërskool Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal, Driekie Stander from the Hoërskool Piet Potgieter in Limpopo, Joané Marais from HTS Middelburg in Mpumalanga, Marilize Taljaard, from the Hoërskool Colesberg in the Northern Cape, lna Smit from Potchefstroom Gimnasium in the North West Province, Wynand du Plessis from the Hoërskool Brandwag in the Eastern Cape, Caroli de Waal from the Oranje Meisieskool in the Free State, Mari Rabie from the Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof in the Western Cape and Elsebi van Sittert from Tsumeb Gimnasium in Namibia.

In the category Afrikaans as second language the provincial winners are Christiaan Becker from Cornwall Hill College in Gauteng, Carike Marais from Crawford College in Kwazulu-Natal, Judith Addo from the Khanyisa Education Centre in Limpopo, Tanya Grobler from the Entheos Christian School in Lydenburg in Mpumalanga, Sonya Samson from the Kimberley Girls High School in the Northern Cape, Lauren Golden from the Milner High School in North West, Annelie Maré from the Collegiate Girls High School in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, Rialette Pretorius from Sasolburg High School in the Free State, Laurentia Robertson from the Worcester Gimnasium in the Western Cape and Jenifer Botes from the Namib High School in Swakopmund in Namibia.

Winning schools

In the category Afrikaans as first language the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool in Gauteng is the winner, with Potchefstroom Gimnasium in North West second and the Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof in the Western Cape, third.

In the category Afrikaans as second language Pretoria High School for Girls in Gauteng came first, Cornwall Hill College also in Gauteng was second and the Hoërskool The Settlers in the Western Cape, third.

The winning schools are determined according to a formula that, among other things, takes the final marks of participating learners in that school into account.

Ends