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6 THE STANDARD STYLE / MAN August 24 to 30 2014
August 24 to 30 2014 THE STANDARD STYLE / MAN / PROFILE 7 Star Profile Gwinyai Dube Prudence Muganiwah A Politics and International Relations Honours student at Wits University in South Africa, Gwinyai Aubrey Dube is a former Northwood Adventist, Vainona and St Augustines’ Mission School boy who was literally born to talk. Along with his three siblings, Gwinyai had a fairly strict religious and academic upbringing, although he professes that he does not resemble what would be considered a “conventional Christian.” “I fell in love with debate in primary school, back when we would debate about simple things. Over the years my love for it increased. Debate is the most important form of intellectualism.” Having taken part in the prestigious annual South African National Universities Debate Championship which takes in Mzansi, Gwinyai became the first Zimbabwean and black debater to ever win the prestigious tournament in the EFL category. The event attracts over 500 students from all over Sadc, and the competition itself is split into two categories; English as a first language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL). Over a decade ago various other races began to get representation in the EFL category and this “ Debate is the most important form of intellectualism… year’s debate nationals were a historical event, with the EFL final comprising of only two white speakers, one Indian lady and the rest being black. Given the history of university debating in South Africa and Southern Africa which has been marred by racism and prejudice Gwinyai’s achievement is nothing short of a great feat. “It feels amazing. It is the culmination of over 100 years of dreams passed down from generation to generation. For myself, it is a humbling experience as well, I’ve had people congratulate me from all over telling me what an achievement this is. Knowing that you have made such an impact on an entire race is huge and fills you with awe.” Gwinyai acknowledges his partner in debate, Saul Musker. “We both came up with brilliant ideas and worked well together to get to where we are. You challenge yourself to come up with ideas better than your partner’s. It’s healthy competition. So I would say that it’s the combination of having a winner’s mentality with the ability to speak with a challenging partner.” Currently a Marketing Director for the Wits Debating Union, Gwinyai is also the treasurer for his Residence Committee – a clear indication of how representing people comes naturally to him. A natural at debating, he loves music and reading informative books. “My passion is debate and music. I love them both equally, in fact I applied for music as a first choice degree at Wits and took up a general BA instead. Debate has always been a passion I’ve had since my early childhood. I love developing ideas and engaging people meaningfully. I always want to be the best at doing what I love most so I push myself every day to be better than everyone else, but more importantly to be better than I was previously.” Asked what he enjoys the most about what he does, Gwinyai explained, “The value of debate is in its ability to stretch people’s minds, principles and values to the extent that you often find yourself arguing for a position you would never advocate. You are pushed out of your comfort zone and you end up arguing for something you are opposed to in real life, or arguing against something you are in full support of in real life. That is the beauty of the sport -- it allows you to understand every perspective that exists around a particular issue because at any point you could be arguing from one of those perspectives. I love that, it keeps you on your toes mentally, but makes you more understanding of difference too.” Gwinyai however, states that his field has its fair share of challenges, “The biggest challenge would have to be this year’s tournament. I was literally one of the best speakers we had from my institution and my partner and I made up the strongest team so there was so much pressure on us to win, especially in a category that was dominated by speakers that have English as their first language.” The young orator values selflessness, courage, strength in character, and love as vital characteristics one should have. “I am not very loud about issues that disappoint me or when someone disrespects me in a way that goes against my values. I usually try speaking to them so that they understand the weight of what they did, and usually that always works.” Also a staunch advocate for solidarity amongst Africans, Gwinyai speaks highly of his parents, siblings as well as his extended family. “Every family has its own politics, but we always manage to overcome those things and stick together because we share a common love and are willing to make some serious sacrifices for each other.” “ He mentions his late biological mother as being his first role model. “She was bold. Brave. Firm and flexible. She was a fighter, and she prevailed through even the toughest of times for her. When she fell ill she had to take a lot of medication, and there is a day when I had a serious migraine at home. She gave me her tablets but I refused because it would affect her medication course. She was adamant and actually forced me to take them! It was that love and sacrifice that I drew the bulk of my inspiration from. My dad is the one man I look up to the most. He is single-handedly the most organised person I know. Everything has an order and that order rarely breaks. He has made many sacrifices for us, and he works tirelessly. His faith in me is rivaled only by that of my late mother. From a career perspective, my other inspiration would have to be my aunt Florence Ziumbe, my late mother’s immediate sister. She has had a successful career in law and has gone on to sit on various company and industry boards in Zimbabwe.” Currently running for the Student Representative Council at his university, Gwinyai, who loves soccer, spends most of his time engaging students on matters that affect them, and coming up with solutions. On his biggest life achievement thus far, the well-spoken young man said, “I think it’s between graduating and winning this tournament.” Gwinyai’s other huge love is for music, politics and governance with particular regards to African development. Expressing how much he detests disrespect, he explained, “Even when someone approaches you begging for money you should afford them the respect; ANY human being should be afforded and respond courteously.” Imparting advice to younger generations, Gwinyai emphasized the need for his generation to realise the vital role they have in shaping Africa. “The next 50 years are the most crucial for Africa, and our generation has been tasked with ensuring that when people look back and smile at their progress, they will look to us as having been the pioneers of that progress. So every single person has a responsibility towards ensuring that Africa becomes the economic centre of the world that it once was, and it is possible. Nothing can stop us.” “For me, winning this tournament proves that we have an opinion, a voice, and a means to voice our opinions for black people all over. We have no reason to fear what other people will think of our ideas, if we can defend them with our minds.” Gwinyai, who believes that ideas can never be killed, states how power of an idea is immeasurable. His passion for equality amongst the nations is evident through his vision for a better world. “It is through mending race relations that we can begin to address issues of inequality. I’ve made some very good friends with white people and simultaneously met some horribly racist black people. Once we understand that having the same skin colour does not equate to people necessarily thinking the same, we can begin to engage with each other without prejudice and generalisation. I envision a world where we value ideas over skin colour. Africa is where it is today because of racism and hate and if we mend that, we can build on something better than what we’ve done in the past 50 or 60 years.” “I never would have thought about winning EFL and being the first black person to win it, but this year it all changed and I pushed myself harder than ever before. I realise now that I’m nowhere close to where I am meant to be and that makes me work harder every day.” It is undeniable that the self-motivated, well-groomed, easily likeable gentleman is definitely driven to constantly become a better person, with each breath he takes.
Page 1 and 2: The Standard Style AUG 24 to 30, 20
Page 3 and 4: August 24 to 30 2014 THE STANDARD S
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Page 9 and 10: THE STANDARD STYLE HOME & GARDEN CO
Page 13 and 14: THE STANDARD STYLE FOOD & DRINK 1 I
Page 19 and 20: Mr & Mrs Nyamasoka THE STANDARD STY
Page 25 and 26: THE STANDARD STYLE ARTS & CULTURE I
Page 31 and 32: R R August 24 to August 30 2014 THE

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