Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors

Kingswood College sent strong hockey sides to Stirling High in East London last weekend. Boys’ Hockey The Kingswood boys had a positive experience, winning overall and drawing three matches each. The Kingswood sides improved their ball retention and played with heart and spirit. The first team drew 2-2 despite dominating 80% of the game. Kingswood were 2-0 up when Stirling pushed through and managed to equalise midway through the second half. Kingswood kept their chins up and continued to create opportunities to steal back the lead as Stirling’s defence fought back. The boys gave it their all, but unfortunately did…

By Sizwe Mda King Lobengula Lodges and Tours in conjunction with NELM institute organised a successful Africa Day on Friday 25 May. The event had children from Andrew Moyake, where Rhodes and his brother Albert used to go to school. The day was celebrated with Dance and Music and some children had a time to tell bedtimes and fairytales. The day was meant to cultivate story-telling and to get children interested in reading and writing. The children got a chance to learn the history of King Lobengula descendants that live within their midst and have no idea which country they come…

Dogs and Cats should be de-wormed every one to three months depending on their lifestyle. Worm eggs can be picked up from other animals and the outdoors and can cause your pet to lose weight, have diarrhoea and other health problems. Contact your vet to discuss your pet’s individual needs. For more information and or advice on animal care, please do not hesitate to contact the Grahamstown SPCA or one of the friendly vets in town. For any animal related emergencies and or queries please contact the Grahamstown SPCA or one of the vets below: Grahamstown Veterinary Practice on Fitzroy…

With eleven weeks to go before the GBS Mutual Bank Mountain Drive Half Marathon, here is the first week of Grocott’s Mail’s twelve week training programme, created by Terri-Lynn Penney: Monday Easy 30min Tuesday 15min warm up jog 5 x 200m hills Jog down for recovery 10min cool down Wednesday easy 30min Thursday easy 30min with the last 5min of the 30min easy abit faster Friday rest Saturday 40min easy Sunday rest Terri-Lynn Penney is a local triathlete, having great success around the province, nationally and internationally. Having recently completed her 14th Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, Grocott’s Mail asked Penney for…

Photos: Someleze Mgcuwa How is Mlanjeni (The Riverman)? Mlanjeni was a son of Kala and a young commoner under chief Mqhayi in the Ndlambe district. He began to show signs of ukuthwasa – being called by the ancestors to train as an igqirha (diviner). He spent an extraordinary amount of time lying half submerged in a deep pool of the Keiskamma River, acquiring the name Mlanjeni. Mlanjeni was famously known for his uncanny abilities to identify witches and eradicate evil spirits (ubuthi or ubugqwirha). He preached of a greatly anticipated event that would the arising and witches cast into…

St Andrew’s Prep pupil, Joshua Furtner, won the Primary School Rider Award 70cm at this past weekend’s SANESA Q3/ Eventing SA competition, held at Windsong Equestrian Centre, Kleinemonde. A tough round of events, the three-disciplines test each rider in numerous ways. Riders may be eliminated from the whole competition in any round. Winners are established by cumulative scoring only after all three disciplines have been completed over two gruelling days. Furtner, a Grade 7 learner, riding Island Romance, placed 2nd in Dressage, took one pole in Show-Jumping and had a clear cross-country round on Sunday to secure him as overall winner of…

Kingswood College travelled to East London for the second week in a row, this time to take on the highly revered Stirling High School. The game was a back-and-forth battle in the first quarter with Stirling looking the more dangerous. However, Kingswood crossed the line first with an outstanding team try, finished by Sandiso Charles and converted by Jared Manus. Stirling retaliated and started using their immense forwards to wear down a very passionate Kingswood defence. The Kingswood defence finally broke and Stirling scored a converted try of their own and added a penalty to lead 10-7 at half time.…

St Andrew’s College hosted Selborne in various hockey matches on Friday 25 May. Melbourne got the run of results in the derby matches, with only the St Andrew’s Second Team managing to pick up the victory. The First Team went 2-0 up in the first half, but were not as dominant as they would have liked to have been and their usual clinical passing game was well under par. The second half saw the SAC side give away far too much possession to an excellent Selborne midfield. This put the St Andrew’s defence under increasing pressure and although Dan Erasmus,…

When, in 2016, the Nobel Prize for Literature was controversially awarded to singer- songwriter Bob Dylan, the New York Times reviewer wrote this: “In choosing a popular musician for the literary world’s highest honor, the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, dramatically redefined the boundaries of literature, setting off a debate about whether song lyrics have the same artistic value as poetry or novels.” Since then there have been as many distinguished voices opposing Dylan’s award as supporting it – can song lyrics ever be considered poetry? I was thinking of this continuing dispute as I joined my fellow guests…

Photo: Someleze Mgcuwa Name: Eucomis autumnalis (Mill.) Chitt. Family: Hyacinthaceae (Hyacinth family) Common names: Engl. Pineapple flower Afr.  Wilde pynappel Xho. Umphompo Description A very hardy, bulbous, deciduous perennial with a plain green stem. Broad strap-like leaves, wavy, tightly scalloped or toothed. Flowers are terminal bracts; flowers white to pale yellow-green (December-April). Conservation status According to the SANBI (South A frican National Biodiversity Institute) Red list of South African Plants, Eucomis autumnalis was not selected in any one of four screening processes for highlighting potential taxa of conservation concern for detailed assessment and was hence given an automated status of…