South American figure turned up at four after end of debate (5)
I believe the answer is:
evita
'south american figure' is the definition.
(Eva Peron, wife of Argentine president Juan Peron)
'turned up at four after end of debate' is the wordplay.
'turned up' is a reversal indicator.
'four' becomes 'IV' (Roman numerals).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'end of' suggests the final letters.
The last letter of 'debate' is 'e'.
'at'+'iv'='ativ'
'ativ' written backwards gives 'vita'.
'vita' after 'e' is 'EVITA'.
(Other definitions for evita that I've seen before include "Eva Peron" , "Stage musical" , "Famous musical" , "Nineteen Dn musical" , "Show" .)