In an effort to encourage youth participation in regional integration affairs, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) launched the SADC Secondary School Essay Competition, which is open to all secondary school learners in South Africa.
The topic for the 2025 SADC Secondary School Essay competition is: “How can innovation enhance SADC industrialization and sustainable economic growth and development?” The topic is derived from the theme of the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in the Republic of Zimbabwe, Harare on 17 August 2024, which is: “Promoting Innovation to unlock opportunities for sustained economic growth and development towards an Industrialized SADC”. The theme seeks to recognise that innovation is a fundamental instrument with significant potential to drive priority sectors of manufacturing, mineral beneficiation and agro-processing to enhance industrialization and economic growth of the SADC region.
All entries must be typed and submitted in electronic version. Entrants should sign and initial each page of the document to make sure that they have not been altered. All essays entering the competition should be in one of the SADC working languages, i.e. English, Portuguese and French. All submissions must contain full names, contact details of the entrant, name of school and province.
Winners will be awarded a cash prize. The national winners of the 2024 competition were: First place winner was Samkelo Dubazana, Ladysmith Secondary School in KwaZulu-Natal (US $500); the second-place winner was Nadiyah Rasool, Empangeni High School in KwaZulu-Natal (US $300); and the third-place winner was Fanelesibonge Gumede, Empangeni High School in KwaZulu-Natal (US $200).
The essay should be 1,000 words and a complete word count must be provided at the end of the essay. Learners must provide references for their work where necessary; however, references do not contribute towards the word count of the entry. The preferred format of citation is APA. To facilitate simple sequencing, each answer must be accompanied by the question at the top and learners are cautioned against using the bullet point format for their work.
The deadline for the submission of entries is 19 April 2025. All essays should be emailed to: sadcessay@dbe.gov.za.
For enquiries, the following individuals can be contacted:
Matome Sekgota Lucky Maluleka Pono Chiloane
012 357 3373 012 357 3494 012 357 3470
sekgota.m@dbe.gov.za maluleka.l@dbe.gov.za chiloane.p@dbe.gov.za