By GEMMA RITCHIE Should the government subsidise the education of undocumented children? This is the gist of the matter that will be discussed in the Makhanda (Grahamstown) High Court on Wednesday (September 18). The Centre for Child Law and the school governing body of Port Elizabeth school Phakamisa High took the matter to court over the unconstitutional nature of sections 15 and 21 of the Admissions Policy which the applicants claim is selectively enforced. Section 15 of the Admissions Policy states that a child can be conditionally accepted into a school without a birth certificate on the provision that the…
Author: Grocott's Mail Reporters
Read More
By GEMMA RITCHIE Three grade 6 and 7 pupils sit in Gonubie Library, heads bent over a reference book, phones out, searching for terms on Google. They are not using their mobile data. Since December 2018, the Gonubie library has had free wifi, which has benefited the pupils and residents of the seaside village outside East London. Gonubie is not the only library with wifi. Across the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, 14 libraries have public access internet and some have computer terminals available to work on. One librarian at the central East London library said the wifi worked best off…
NguCHRIS TOTOBELA It was back to business for Makhanda’s young footballers as both Makana LFA under 13 and under 15 leagues kicked off. There were some very interesting clashes and closely contested ones. Defending champions Sophia Stars had a very good start as their under 13s won 4-2 and 6-0 against Joza Callies and Golden Brothers respectively. Newcomers Black Stars FC had mixed fortunes as they won their first game via a walkover after Eluxolweni failed to pitch up. On Sunday, they narrowly lost 2-3 against seasoned campaigners and tittle contenders Young Eagles. In another under-13 clash, old rivals Sakhulutsha…
By THEA KOEN A new African altitude record was set by four South Africans for amateur rocketry. This included two Rhodes University alumni, John and David de Bruyn. The launch took place in the Karoo on 3 August after having received flight clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority. For decades the race had been on to break the 10km barrier and the team from Cape Rocketry managed to not only break the previous record of 9.5km, but pip the elusive 10km mark at 10.37km. They were determined to build as much as possible of the rocket themselves and to only…
By ZAKEELAH JANSEN and SUE MACLENNAN Up until Monday morning, the mother of murdered University of Cape Town (UCT) student Uyinene Mrwetyana had no doubt her daughter would still return. “The Mrwetyana family are devastated,” said Colleen Vassiliou, Head of Kingswood College, during a service in the school’s chapel on Monday night for ‘Nene’, who matriculated in Makhanda (Grahamstown) last year. “We mourn a young life taken from us too soon.” Meanwhile Rhodes University, where Nene’s mother works, has condemned her violent death and is setting up a fund to support the family during this time. An intensive search by…
By CHRIS TOTOBELA It was a great weekend for football lovers in Makhanda (Grahamstown) with the conclusion of the Makana LFA under 13 and under 15 tournaments. Sunday 25 August, was the day of the finals of the two competitions with the under 13 final kicking off earlier. Sophia Stars took on Sakhulutsha in an action-packed contest. Sakhulutsha threw everything at their opponents from the first whistle and created a lot of chances that they failed to convert. Sophia Stars with their backs against the wall spent most of the first half defending and trying to catch Sakhulutsha on the…
Boxer must fight by end September to remain SA champ By CHRIS GILILI Makhanda based, SA Champ Mziwoxolo Ndwayana faces the possibility of vacating his SA Champ title unless he stages a fight by the end of September. In March this year, Ndwayana defended his SA title against East London boxer, Odwa Gaxa. But while the frustrated former WBF title holder, complains of lack of support from his home town, public service watchdog PSAM says it would be questionable for a local municipality to foot the estimated R300 000 it would cost to stage a title fight. “Ever since I…
By GEMMA RITCHIE Eastcape Midlands TVET College (EMC) students protested outside the Makhanda (Grahamstown) Regional Court in High Street on Thursday 29 August after 18 of their peers were arrested yesterday following a week-long strike over National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) grant allocations. The 18 students were released without bail pending a court hearing on 18 October. They face the following four charges: public violence, offences relating to the Damage of Infrastructure Act, offences under the Gatherings Act and hindering the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the execution of their duties. The protests began over several allegations: that…
By GEMMA RITCHIE School pupils across the Sarah Baartman district gathered on Wednesday morning, August 21, to compete in debating, general knowledge and in three languages (Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa): Spelling Bees, reading and book reviews at Nonkqubela Library, Alexandria, in Ndlambe municipality. The event was in celebration of the 10th anniversary of national book week coming up in September and saw the best school pupils from Ndlambe, Koukama, Kouga, Sundays River Valley, Makana, Dr Beyers Naude and Blue Crane compete. “Sitting in front of us are our future leaders,” said Ndlambe Mayor Khululwa Ncamiso, a former foundation phase teacher.…
The 2017 New year’s cup player of the tournament Mzoxolo “Etto” Rafane has finally managed to catch the eye of the proffesional scouts, having been noticed by the Free State Stars. Rafane has signed a two year deal with the recently relegated Bloemfontein-based team. Rafane has all the attributes and qualities of a great striker and, with his goal poaching skills, he can definitely walk straight into any NFD team’s starting line up. He is expected to help the Free State outfit in their Glad Africa league campaign where they will try and push for automatic promotion spot and immediately…