Author: Busisiwe Hoho

Over 350 excited mountain bikers gathered at the Oude Molen Brandy Distillery in Grabouw in the Western Cape, recently to participate in the inaugural Oude Molen Distillery MTB Challenge. Geddan Ruddock (2 hours 39 minutes 58 seconds) and Elzaan Visser (3:37:31) were the men’s and women’s 60km riders to beat on the day.

On a pleasant Saturday afternoon, there were sidesteps and dummies galore at the Graeme College Fun Touch RugbyTournament. The tournament was held toraise funds for the Graeme U13A rugby side to take part in a festival in Cape Town next year. As many of the team members have never flown on a plane, tournament organiser, Craig Holman hoped to raise enough funds to fly the pupils to the tournament.

A number of anglers took part in the recent Port Alfred River and Ski Boat Club river competition, with 33 anglers taking part and eight juniors taking part. The competition attracted anglers from across the Eastern Cape, including Grahamstown, East London, Cathcart, Bathurst and Port Elizabeth.

Ronaldo Burger of Grahamstown recently returned from an international aikido seminar which took place in La Madellena, Italy from 22 to 29 August. Burger, who represented the Aikido Federation of South Africa, said the seminar was a “great success” with about 25 students in attendance.

This evening Grocott’s Mail and the Rhodes Journalism School will be hosting a panel discussion on whether the media in South Africa is under siege or not. The choice of topic follows the government’s support for the Protection of Public Information Bill and a media tribunal, both seen as ways to muzzle the media.

The local branch of the Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) marked the 33rd annual Stephen Bantu Biko’s Commemoration on Saturday afternoon at Raglan Road Multi purpose centre. On Sunday thousands of people marched in Biko’s commemoration provincial rally in Port Elizabeth.

Schools have reopened after the 21 day long public service strike, which brought some schools in Grahamstown East to a complete standstill, was suspended. “I am happy to be back at school. Work is back to normal and its like we were never on strike,” said Simlindile Xanga, a Grade 8 learner at Nombulelo Secondary School.

AT a Community Policing Forum (CPF) meeting held at the end of July, Brigadier Morgan Govender said that the Grahamstown police have been on the look-out for new members. “People can start applying for police positions with or without driver’s licences, the intake is from 18 to 30-year olds, preferably Grahamstown residents,” he said.

Portfolio councillors of the Budget, Treasury and IDP (BTI) committee have expressed their frustrations that the BTI meetings are not being taken seriously enough. This is indicated by the way some councillors often don’t attend meetings.

New residences are popping up all over the outlying hills of Rhodes University, townhouses are being built and large apartment blocks are being constructed. Investors and developers in Grahamstown are betting on an influx of students in coming years, but student populations are stabilising and some real-estate agents think the bubble may burst.