Many years ago, when it was still permissible on British TV to advertise tobacco products, there was a series of diverting ads that suggested (as the cleverest always do) that in purchasing a certain brand of cheroot you would discover not just a smoke but the secret to true contentment. “Happiness,” intoned a mellow baritone voice to the accompaniment of Bach’s soothing music, “is a cigar called Hamlet”. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what happiness really is and where it can be found. Is it something we can buy if we have enough money? Does it miraculously appear…
Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors
Grocott's Mail Contributors
Grocott's Mail Contributors includes content submitted by members of the public, and public and private institutions and organisations - regular and occasional, expert and citizen, opinion and analysis.
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By Anita Dywaba and Nyasa Chizanga The Rhodes University Health Suite’s annual Cyclathon last Saturday raised R10 328 for the Heart Matters Pregnancy Care Centre. Held in the Rhodes’ Health Suite’s Indoor Cycling Studio on 30 September, the cyclathon was a 12-hour marathon from 8am-8pm, with businesses, clubs and organisations ‘purchasing’ a bike per hour. A steady flow of participants came through the doors throughout. Ashley Reidman and Terri-Lynn Penney cycled for the full 12 hours and several people cycled between three and five hours each. Nontando Tusi, of the organising committee, said thiis year’s event was held to raise awareness and funds…
By HEALTHY LIVING ALLIANCE Negotiations between the government, business and labour balanced the government’s initiatives to stem the terrible tide of disease caused by excessive sugar consumption, versus job losses. An adapted form of the the long-discussed sugar tax will be implemented in April 2018. The Healthy Living Alliance, which has argued strongly for the tax, argues here for the benefits of the tax. The tax on sugary drinks The government is set to apply a tax of about 11% on certain sugary drinks [in April 2018]. No such tax will apply to artificially sweetened “light” drinks or plain bottled…
Following various conflicting accounts some of you will be wondering what on earth is going on with the administration of Makana. The first thing to note is that there has not been any reversal of commitment and intention. The second thing is to clear up a semantic ambiguity. And the third is to bring you tentative additional good news. We are assured that, following a nationwide search for a suitable highly skilled municipal manager with turnaround skills, that that person has been identified. His deployment (it is a he) to Makana has to be authorised and approved by MEC at…
By Luzuko Jacobs Three or so minutes tick by, slowly, as I stand watching Sue and a woman, whom I later discover is Bettie’s* friend hugging in solid embrace. The air is heavy with deep emotion. They separate only to hug each other once more in an even tighter embrace. Sue Smailes is the University prosecutor. I am in her office on Bettie’s invitation to talk to me about her rape ordeal. It is an unnerving moment as I stand frozen next to the door until, finally, the two women break apart. They look each other in the eye,…
The much anticipated ANC provincial conference started in earnest yesterday at the ICC in East London, close to the venue at which the ANC’s 2007 provincial conference was dubbed the point of the ‘Polokwanisation’ of the organisation. It marked the heightening of irreconcilable tensions within the organisation once known as a glorious movement. In the past, the ANC was affectionately referred to as a people’s assembly, embracing the interests of a cross section of people inside and outside its ranks – an organisation vehemently opposed to any form of sectarianism, tribalism, racism, ethnic tendencies, patriarchal gestures, pilfering, and divisive practices. As…
Makana Municipality is delighted to welcome its newly appointed Corporate Services Director who took up the new position last month. The municipality has been without a Corporate Services Director since 2015. On Wednesday during a special council meeting she was appointed as the acting municipal manager on a month-to-month basis for a period of not more than three months pending the secondment of an official from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, effective from 28 September 2017. The Communications Department sat down with the new director for an interview. Can you please tell us your full name and…
By Sarah Durr On Friday 15 September, Coaching for Conservation hosted the first Running Wild-funded Bush RAP. The money raised through the Running Wild Trail run enabled two Grade 5 classes to attend a Bush RAP (Rapid Awareness Programme) at Amakhala Game Reserve. Fifty children from both Ntaba Maria Primary School and St Mary’s Primary School, spent last Friday in the excellent hands of C4C’s 10 St Andrew’s and DSG volunteer coaches who helped facilitate the Learning from Wildlife games and activities. C4C praised the mentors for their time and energy invested. The coaches reported that the children were very…
The Rotary Club of Grahamstown Sunset and WESSA, supported by local businesses took 100 Grahamstown children to Addo on Monday 25 September in celebration of Heritage Day. Seven buses left Grahamstown on Monday morning to take the children on an unforgettable experience. A big thank you to everyone who made the trip possible – Sarah Hanton from VGHS the kingpin of the whole event; bus drivers from Rhodes University, VG, Graeme, Kuyasa and Eluxolweni; the staff members of Raphael Centre, Kuyasa, VG, Graeme, Eluxolweni and Rhodes University. A thank you also, to the Rotary Sunset members who made food – and what a…
The Rotaract Club of Grahamstown Sunset hosted a braai on Sunday for the residents of the McKaiser Old Age Home. The residents really enjoyed the friendly young faces and the aroma of wors on the braai.