The Southern African Mathematics Team Competition is a yearly event when the cream of the mathematically talented high school learners compete against each other on provincial level. Two junior teams and three senior teams, consisting of ten members each were selected in Gauteng North. A position in one of the teams is earned on grounds of achievement in the second round of the SA Maths Olympiad, (one of the activities of the South African Mathematics Foundation) as well as achievement in the Siyangoba programme.

 

The competition has been running for the past twenty one years and the emphasis is on the fun element. Gauteng North traditionally provides fierce competition to the other provinces. This year our Senior A and B teams came respectively 8^th and 6^th from 52 teams and the Junior A team 7^th from 47 participating teams countrywide. Congratulations to these learners on an excellent performance!

 

After one workshop, the Gauteng North teams met at the University of Pretoria for the final competition.  Traditionally the competition starts with an individual section where every member of the team is presented with a paper consisting of 15 questions (worth 100 points) to be completed in an hour. The papers are marked while the team members relax for half an hour. A total for the team out of a possible 1 000 points is calculated. The individual section is then followed by the team section. Here the team as a whole is presented with 10 questions that they have to complete in 60 minutes. Strategy is of vital importance. Because mathematics is often practiced as a solitary activity the idea of a team paper is quite novel. Team members have to work together but at the same time utilise the strengths of the individual members. The team manager was Ruaan Kellerman and the Siyangoba coaches were Harry Wiggins and Eben Maré.