By SUE MACLENNAN (text and photos) and ANELISA CENTANE (audio) Learners and parents at Mary Waters Secondary School are hoping that the visit to the school this morning by a high-level provincial government delegation will resolve the school’s teacher shortage. Learners in Grade 8 and 9 universally failed four subjects at the end of the first term because they had no teachers for them. Last Friday, with no sign of a resolution, around 200 learners, parents and teachers marched to the local offices of the Department of Education to hand over a memorandum with their concerns and demands. The school…
Author: Grocott's Mail Reporters
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By TRISTAN COOKE and SUE MACLENNAN More than a month after the already late start to the school year, 44 children from the rural areas of Collingham and Fort Brown near Makhanda had not set foot inside a classroom in 2021 and on Tuesday 23 March, a group of parents converged on the Department of Education’s district offices in St Aidans Avenue to demand answers. “Kids, small kids have to walk 10, sometimes fifteen kilometres to and from school,” Bongani Peter, a driver tasked with fetching children from Fort Brown as an interim measure told GMDirect on 24 March. Peter,…
We are coming closer to that time of the year when teams from all over the country come to Makhanda for the popular soccer showpiece, the New Year’s Cup. This year’s will be slightly different due to the pandemic that is currently keeping everyone on their toes. This has led to the organisers cutting down the number of participants for this year from the usual 32 teams to 16. As part of the NYC 5th anniversary celebration, Port Elizabeth-based Chippa United MDC side will grace this year’s event. New Year’s Cup 2020 will take place from 23 to 31 December.…
NguCHRIS TOTOBELA Umbutho olawula ibhola ekhatywayo apha eMakhanda iMakana LFA. ikhuphe isaziso nalapho ibisazisa bonke ababandakanyekayo ebholeni ngenkqubo ezakulandelwa ukubheka phambili. Esi saziso sikhutshwa emva kwenkcazelo neenkcukhaca ezikhutshwe sisigqeba esikhokeleyo kulengingqi yeSarah Baartman. Kulo unyaka, alikho iqela elizokunyuselwa ukusuka kwiLFA ukuya kukhuphiswano lweSAB. Inaba ithi le ngxelo, lonke ukhuphiswano okanye imidlalo yeLFA iphelisiwe nanjengoko kuyakuqalwa ekuqaleni kunyaka ozayo. ILFA nganye inikwe ithuba lokubonisana nawo onke amalungu ayo ngendlela ekuyakwenziwa ngayo xa kuphinda kubuyelwa ebaleni malunga nomrhumo oye ukhutshwe ngalamaqela xa ebhalisa. Inyoba yokubhaliswa kwabadlali iyakuvulwa ukusukela ngomhla wesine kuJanuary kude kube sekupheleni kwakhe kulonyaka uzayo. Kwenziwe umbulelo ongazenzisiyo kubo bonke…
By STEVEN LANG and SUE MACLENNAN The ANC’s Vuyani Nesi has won the by-election in Ward 14 of Makana Local Municipality. The by-election was one of 19 held in the Eastern Cape yesterday. Nesi received 79.15% of the largely rural ward. Ward 14 includes the rural areas of Alicedale, Highlands and Seven Fountains. Vuyani Nesi of the ANC and the EFF’s Busisiwe Wendy Nyamakazi were the two candidates. There was no DA candidate for Makana’s Ward 14 in Wednesday’s by-election. Around midday on voting day, Wednesday, Makana councillor Phumla Matyumza, outside the Alicedale Town Hall voting station, said around 200 people…
By AALIYAH ABOOBAKER and TEMBA MKOSI The current water crisis in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) is having a devastating impact on its inhabitants. Parts of Makhanda East, mostly townships, are sometimes left without water for over a week at a time. When levels are critically low, bigger institutions such as schools are badly affected. George Dickerson Primary School was one such institution that was impacted, particularly when it came to its ablution blocks. “The water crisis in Grahamstown was severely affecting the school,” said Principal Malcolm Douglas. “In January, the school lost five teaching days in the first two weeks of…
In a dramatic protest, a group of women from the Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) lay in Raglan Road alongside Fingo Square on Friday 26 June. Around 80 women and some men dressed in black also held placards with anti-GBV messages for the Friday midday traffic at the busy intersection. Organisers Siposethu Manyati and Sinesipho Soxujwa spoke to Grocott’s Mail about the silent protest and explained why they hope Makhanda takes the message to heart. “We saw that there are many cases of femicide around South Africa. We wanted to address it as well,” said Manyati. “We wore black to show…
By JULIAN JACOBS The Makana Joint Operating Committee meeting heard on Tuesday morning that one person died as a result of COVID-19 in the Makana Municipal area, with a further 20 new cases between the period 2 June to 8 June 2020. It was also reported that seven people have fully recovered from the virus. This brings the overall cases in Makhanda to 28 since the lockdown period. Makana Executive Mayor, Mzukisi Mpahlwa, said the rising number of positive Covid-19 cases in Makana was very concerning. “I urge the residents to stick to the basics by washing hands or sanitising,…
By JULIAN JACOBS No personal protective equipment (cloth masks) for learners were available at four schools in Makhanda on Monday when a delegation led by Makana Mayor Mzukisi Mpahlwa visited them. As part of a national assessment on the readiness of schools to receive learners back to classrooms, as well as check their preparation to curtail the spread of the coronavirus at these schools, several schools were identified to check their readiness. The schools visited were Samuel Ntlebi Primary School, Khutliso Daniels Secondary School, and Mary Waters Secondary School. A small delegation (without the mayor) visited George Dickerson Primary. Before…