Much of the action at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) takes place on the stages, but there’s a lot going on off-stage too, with an exciting programme of thought-provoking talks and workshops to enrich and complement every Festival-goer’s experience. Interactive audience experiences are spread across ‘artist walkabouts’, where the artist, curator or an art expert leads a discussion around an exhibition; visual art workshops; post-show discussions; and dozens of talks and discussions in the Critical Consciousness, Creativate Digital Arts Festival and Wordfest programmes. Critical Consciousness Critical Consciousness is an open platform for debate and considered opinion and…
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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Dear Residents Makana Municipality remains committed to empowering unemployed people and I am happy to announce that through our ongoing partnership with the Department of Labour various learnerships and skills development programmes are in the pipeline. The Department of Labour has identified a number of programmes with the aim of training and re-skilling 1650 unemployed people in Makana Municipality in attempts to make them employable. To this end the department has partnered with various entities to train and re-skill job seekers in market relevant fields. They have also partnered with various employers to create work opportunities which will take in…
ISIXHOSA SIYAVUTHA A sonnet about Mandela Day by DUMISA MPUPHA Olu usuku, kwanga lunga xatyiswa ngokwenza okulungileyo kwiindawo esihlala kuzo. Let there be love peace and happiness wherever we are. Love, peace and happiness are action words. Show them by doing something good for somebody else. Bayethe! Kungu Mbo nomXesibe Ngumlisela nomthinjana Kunamhla baxomolozela uxolo Babambisene ngemvano Imvisiswano yimpunga yabo Abagxekani abanyembani Ngumdilili nomtyangampo Ngapha kuphekelwa iinkedama Kwelinye kolukwa imizi neempahla Ngaphaya kucocwa izitalato Kugcobe nosebeleni Wonk’ubani umandengandengana Bonke benza izinwe Izinwe zika Dalibhunga uMandela Dumisa Mphupha writes for Grocott’s Mail under the auspices of the NRF SARCHI Chair in…
By PUBLIC SERVICE ACCOUNTABILITY MONITOR On 28 June 2019 the Premier of the Eastern Cape, Mr Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane delivered the first State of the Province Address (SOPA) of the 6th Legislature. During his 2019 SOPA address, the Premier, called to action the executive, mayors and government officials in the Eastern Cape with three ground rules imperative in carrying out the agenda of the 6th administration: there should be less talking about what needs to be done and more action and there must be open lines of communication with the people of the province. The Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) We…
NguChris Totobela Emva kokothusa abalandeli abaninzi bebhola ekhatywayo kwihlabathi jikelele ngokukhiqa oosotheko iYiphutha, iBafana Bafana ibethwe liqela laseNigeria. Bonke abalandeli beliqela bebejonge lukhulu kweliqela emva kokudlala ngokuzimisela okukhulu ngethuba bekhuphela ngaphandle iYiphutha kwindebe yamazwe alapha eAfrika ebanjelwe eYiphutha. IBafana Bafana nebikhangeleka iphelelwe ngamaqhinga, icinezelwe zisuka liqela laseNigeria kwaye khange ifumane thuba lokuphefumla tu kulo mdlalo. Iimpazamo ezininzi kudonga lwangasemva loMzantsi Afrika zizo ezibangele ukuba eliqela libethwe yiNigeria ngamanqaku amabini kwelinye. Emva kokungaqhubi kakuhle ncam kwimidlalo yokuqala yokuqokelela amanqaku nalapho iBafana iphumelele umdlalo omnye kuphela, ibetha iNamibia ngenqaku elinye eqandeni, umdlalo weYiphutha ubuyisele ithemba kubalandeli balapha ekhaya. Eyona nto ekhwinisa abalandeli…
The National Arts Festival (NAF) is a huge asset to our town. Not only does it transform Makhanda into a buzzing arts hub for 11 days of Amazing, it also contributes profusely to the town’s and province’s economy. According to Rhodes University’s Economics Department, NAF brings in R94 million to Makhanda and a total of R377 million to the rest of the province. This means more jobs for a lot of unemployed youth are created during this period. Something we should all celebrate! For those who could not afford tickets, NAF offered a number of free shows and others at…
The SPCA is responsible for preventing cruelty to animals by investigating cruelty complaints and doing routine inspections of animal facilities such as abattoirs, stable yards and touch farms to name but a few. The SPCA is not mandated to enforce the municipal by laws which is the sole responsibility of the municipality. Therefore we are not responsible for the collection of stray animals unless in the case where a stray animal is injured or suffering. For example a stray dog that has been hit by a car, has broken a leg and is in severe pain. Although the SPCA is…
The municipality has made an urgent call for residents to cut their water use to 25 litres per person per day, as Day Zero finally hits home. In a public statement, Makana Municipality today announced that the dams supplying the western parts of Makhanda have reached a level where they are too low to pump. “Due to the continuous drought conditions, it is with regret that the municipality has to inform residents that we have reached the point where we can no longer extract water from either Howieson’s Poort (HP) (11.2%) or Settlers Dam (6.3%) which supply the western side…
Dear Residents Makana Local Municipality is dedicated to improving the services we offer the community. We are striving for more transparency, accuracy and completeness of billing and customer accounts as well as improving relations with each member of the community. To this end we have embarked on a drive to cleanse and update the data on all customer accounts. I would like to call on each and every household that has a combined income of less than R3500 per month to visit our finance department and register for our indigent policy. This has benefits for both the residents and the…
By CHRIS TOTOBELA Last Saturday saw the conclusion of both football and boxing tournaments held at Fiddlers Green as part of a range of activities during the national Arts Festival. A number of thrilling bouts had the Festival crowd on the edge of their seats in the boxing arena. But there were also some mismatches with boys pitted against girls. Boxing fans gathered around the ring made it clear they did not approve of the mixed bout: beyond a certain age, boys will always have an advantage over girls, no matter how good a female boxer is. Acknowledging the concerns,…