Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors

Over the weekend of 2-3 February, Kingswood College hosted its eighth Brian Baker water polo tournament for First team girls. In a Jubilee year where Kingswood celebrates its 125 year anniversary, this event was always going to be a certain highlight. The Brian Baker Tournament – in honour of the late Brian Baker, who was responsible for starting Girls’ water polo at Kingswood, has become an extremely popular tournament on the first team girls water polo circuit. This year’s tournament saw Durban Girls College, Herschel and Crawford Lonehill take part for the first time. All three schools have historically proven…

Following the registration of new students for the 2019 academic year at Rhodes University this past week, the University is now set for the registration of returning students. “Although the registration process has been very smooth, we faced some serious challenges with students arriving on campus without being cleared for registration, as they had not received their confirmation from NSFAS. The University was, however able to accommodate these students in temporary accommodation on campus, and the majority of them have now been allocated to residence,” said Dr Adele Moodly, Registrar at Rhodes University. Returning students are encouraged to ensure that…

WELCOME MESSAGE TO TERTIARY STUDENTS FROM THE MAYOR  On behalf of Makana Municipality and all its residents, I welcome you and wish you the best during your stay here. Like most cities in our country, Makana Local Municipality is experiencing one of the worst droughts in history. This results in low dam levels and the town is experiencing a water crisis. Notwithstanding this reality, there will be no Day Zero in our city. Several organisations representing the residents of Makhanda and representatives from government have come together and developed a Water Crisis Disaster Management Plan. A Water Crisis Joint Operation…

This year saw Kingswood College return to the Jason Murray U14 Water Polo tournament, hosted by Selborne College in East London over the weekend of 8-10 February. This is a popular event on the U14 Water Polo circuit, particularly in and around the Eastern Cape. As it co-ed tournament, Kingswood once again entered teams into both the boys’ and girls’ sections. It was the Kingswood girls’ team, though, who impressed from the onset with a convincing 3-1 win against Collegiate. Kingswood then went on to beat the Clarendon B and Stirling sides to eventually top their pool. This signalled their…

Thank you for the splendid centrespread for Alicedale in this week’s Grocott’s Mail. We hope this will serve to galvanize Makana Municipality and provincial government to attend the travesty of continued and rampant neglect of infrastructure, which devastates communities not only here in Alicedale but throughout this municipality serving Grahamstown and surrounding rural areas, and thus so many of the poorest of the poor. As you have shown, and despite Letters of Non Conformance from the Department of Water Affairs served on 9 January 2019, giving the Municipality 48 hours to rectify, the sewage runs unabated, and we would ask what…

On Saturday 26 January, the traditional declaration match between St Andrew’s College and Grey High School First team sides took place on Lower Field at St Andrew’s. The match was adjusted to 50 overs, due to the delayed start from a morning drizzle. Grey High School elected to bat first, and were well poised on 39/1 with inform batsman Nicholas Keevy and Luke Beaufort at the crease. The St Andrew’s bowlers led by Miles Danckwerts and Liyama Dotwana stayed patient outside off stump and encouraged some strokes towards the cover region. St Andrew’s College held onto their catches and Grey never…

The St Andrew’s College First Water Polo Team travelled to Cape Town over the weekend of 25-27 January to play in the Paul Roos water polo festival. The St Andrew’s side played 140 minutes of water polo on the Saturday, against various teams from around the country. The teams included Paul Roos, Wynberg, Bishops, Reddam, SACS, Rondebosch, St Johns and Hilton. St Andrew’s managed to get 2 quarters against all the teams except Hilton. The team improved on various aspects of their game over the weekend, but they did not perform consistently enough. The St Andrew’s side scored 33 goals…

It was another derby day between two of Makhanda’s (Grahamstown’s) top schools on Saturday 2 February, when Kingswood College hosted St Andrew’s College on the basketball court. The day started off with the U14 A teams facing off, before the U16 A and second team matches played out on the court. The final match of the day saw the two first teams battle it out for bragging rights as well as league points. Early in the day, St Andrew’s looked to have the upper hand. In a closely contested match, the St Andrew’s U14 A side got the better of…

For a conscientious person, hard work or study is often a simple matter. The challenge, however, can be in finding rest, and creating a balance between work life and relaxation. Yoga practice is all about balance. Put simply, it comprises of a series of breathing techniques and postures that allow the mind and body to take time out, and provides a method of coping with stress. As raja yoga instructor Kelly Bernard says, “In busy times it is easy to become off balance. Yoga is a way for me to reclaim that calmness and clarity.” Vinyasa instructor Tash Dom adds…

Karate-do is a discipline for both mind and body and benefits children and adults of all ages and body-types. Consistent practice strengthens the entire body while simultaneously encouraging the development of self-discipline and good character. In addition to being an effective and practical form of self-defense, karate is also an excellent form of exercise. It improves self-confidence, coordination, concentration and focus. Although participation in the sports arena is encouraged at the Rhodes University Shotokan Karate Club, emphasis is placed on traditional karate values with the development of a positive attitude and a healthy way of life being of primary importance.…