By SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO Makhanda’s youth face many challenges: unemployment, drugs, alcohol, and many others. It’s easy to get caught up with the wrong crowd. With this in mind, St Mary’s Development and Care Centre in Albany Road recently organised a play day for children. On a beautiful warm day, children, parents and event organisers were on the field playing, interacting, and having a good time. The event started with a prayer. Photo: Siyamthanda Pongco. One of the event organisers, Glyneise Arries, said that her team and local parents had identified a need for a deeper connection between parents and their…
Author: Siyamthanda Pongco
Read More
By SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO A call for action: the newly elected Chairperson of the Safe House and the Neighborhood Watch/Grahamstown Anti Crime, Luyanda Sakata calls on the community of Makhanda to rally behind and support groups and individuals that seek to address gender-based violence and any activity of unlawfulness in Makhanda. While Sakata is delighted to be an elected member of the Safe House, he said that keeping the neighborhood safe is a big task but a very important one. In their passion for addressing crime in Makhanda, Sakata said his team hope they can work together towards a sustainable solution…
By ROD AMNER and SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO At least three civilians were killed and two others injured in three separate incidents between November 2005 and March 2021 after military weapons scavenged from the unfenced 6 SA Infantry Battalion (6 SAI Bn) training ground detonated in local residential areas. When Grocott’s Mail recently visited the training ground beyond Burnt Kraal, the boundary fence was still in tatters, and ‘warning signs’ prohibiting access to the area had been wrenched from posts and were lying against fences or obscured by thick bush. Residents can easily access it. Rod Amner searches for what is left…
NguSIYAMTHANDA PONGCO noMBASA MAKHUBALO Iqela laseMpuma Koloni, iKhnysa naboKhanyo, likhekhenta eli-loMzantsi Afrika, liphethe umsebenzi eliwuthunyiweyo. uKhanyisa kwi-The Black Power Station. Umfanekiso: Siyamthanda Pongco uSisonke Papu ngelokuzalwa, uKhanyisa ngelezihlwele. Lenzalelwane yabaThembu iphuma kwisixeko saseMthatha phesheya kweNciba. UKhanyisa uthi uwuqale umsebenzi wokubaligqirha ngomhla wokuzalwa kwakhe. Kodwa ngenxa yokumfanyekiswa zizinto zeli hlabathi zange aluqondisise ubizo lwakhe. Kwade kwafika ixesha lokuba asabele ubizo lwabaphantsi. Kunyaka wamawaka amabini aneshumi elinesibini uthi uye wazama ukuzithoba nokuvula intliziyo yakhe, eboniswa eyona ndlela kumele ayihlabel’ umgama. UKhanyisa uthe zange ifike msinyane longqiqo kwade kwaba ngunyaka ka-2017 apho ithe yavuka ingulo ngamandla. Kunyaka ka-2018 uye wazithoba, wabamamela abaphantsi nangona…
By SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO As a guest judge for the IsiXhosa category in Public Speaking Competition organised by RU Toastmasters for Nombulelo High School learners, I witnessed a great finale on 30 September first-hand. The minute I walked into the room, I could see the confidence of all these young learners. They were not scared nor fazed by the calibre of the people in the audience. My anxiety would have overwhelmed me at that age, and I would have crumbled long before the competition started. But these young kids did not show any signs of fear. They couldn’t wait for the…
By SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO As Makhanda continues to battle rampant theft, vandalism, and gender-based violence, ‘toy gun arrests’ are on the rise. SAPS Spokesperson Majola Nkohli said the Police were investigating a robbery case with aggravating circumstances after a 25-year-old man allegedly used a toy gun to rob a local woman in Somerset Heights last Thursday. During the National Arts Festival, on 24 June, Hi-Tec arrested two men armed with a toy gun on Bathurst Street after a failed heist. The 25-year-old suspect: Photo: Hi-Tec (Facebook) One of Hi-Tec’s officers spotted the suspect in Oatlands matching the perpetrator’s description and stopped…
It’s okay to lose, to fail as long as you understand that there is a lesson to be learnt from every circumstances, I wish had learned that at an earlier age.Ntobeko ‘Promise’ Songcata By SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO Ntobeko ‘Promise’ Songcata, MSc Biotechnology student at Rhodes University, is the founder of Pro’land and Projects, and Scent of Promise. ‘Promise’ grew up in a small village called eMangcwanguleni in the Libode District of Western Pondoland, where he has lived most of his life. He arrived in Makhanda in 2016 to study at Rhodes and has since found it a place to settle. “I…
By SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO The first of September marked the beginning of a month, a season and heritage month. The day also saw the launch of the King Lobengula Foundation events that will take place in during Heritage month at the Princess Zila Lobengula Cultural Village. Stakeholders present at the event Various stakeholders gathered at the beautiful landscapes of Princess Zila Lobengula Cultural Village. Present at the even was representatives from various organisations including the Albany Museum. Makana Municipality. Rhodes University, traditional healers and members from civil society. Lost monarch, a generation lost in a foreign land Sizwe Mda is the…
By SIYAMTHANDA PONGCO Makhanda was once a relatively peaceful place, says Mcebisi Nicholas Tonyela and Luyanda Sakata, both members of Neighbourhood Watch/Anti-Crime. It was reasonably organised and driven by passion and purpose. But, they lament that crime and corruption have engulfed the town in recent years. Not all hope is lost, though. If you look, many active citizen groups are pushing back against the chaos. Sakata is the chairperson of Neighborhood Watch/Anti-Crime. Born and bred in Tantyi, he has been a community activist since the early 2000s when he matriculated from Ntsika Senior Secondary School. He started as a Community…
By SIYANTHANDA PONGCO The SAPS and the Community in Blue, a cluster operating under the Community Police Forum (CPF), removed squatters in the bushes at the end of Worcester Street on Friday night, 12 August. Ward 4 councillor Geoff Embling said that the squatters were alleged to be involved in cable theft and drug use and had been aggressive towards women walking their dogs. One woman reported a verbal threat of rape, he said. While citizens had reported this problem to the SAPS and the Makana Municipality, nothing was done until Friday, Embling said. The matter bounced back and forth…