The 2025 National ABC Motsepe South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE) is now in full swing at provincial level, with learners from General Education and Training (GET) to Further Education and Training (FET) aiming to qualify for the national championships. The 2025 event will take place at Rhema Bible Church, in the Gauteng Province from 1 to 4 July 2025. Since its inception in 2000, the ABC Motsepe SASCE has been a sustainable flagship programme, which enabled the DBE in affirming the role of arts and cultural activities in schools. The programme is also supporting the implementation of the curriculum and holistic development of learners through co-curricular activities and/or school enrichment programmes.

According to Mr Given Mabena, Director for Sport and Enrichment, the ABC Motsepe SASCE assists the Department in nurturing musical talents of children in their early years of schooling: “The programme continues to play a vital role in ensuring that learners stay at school until they complete the FET phase. I can confirm that this platform promotes social transformation and cohesion amongst learners. Through the programme, learners are familiarised with the national symbols such as the National Flag and the National Anthem. We also encourage young people to adhere to the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the African Union Anthem. Annually, the ABC Motsepe SASCE participants have access to titles of the prescribed music and a complete music book disseminated through the departmental website and social media platforms. The provision of these items assists the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) in maintaining uniformity amongst all the participating schools from district level up to the national level of the Championship”.

The DBE Team is currently monitoring the provincial ABC Motsepe SASCE Championship to ensure effective administration and implementation of the programme throughout the sector. “We have also deployed external professional staff from the national pool of adjudicators across all nine provinces to sustain impartial adjudication processes, whilst maintaining the high standards of the eisteddfod. Preparations for the eisteddfod programme commences with monitoring of the development workshops with provincial training for the conductors and adjudicators. The officials from the Sport and Enrichment Directorate are deployed to oversee and facilitate the training workshops in all provinces. As a sector, we encourage education stakeholders to support our children as they showcase their musical talents throughout all levels of the ABC Motsepe SASCE Championship,” concluded Mr Mabena.