By Chris Totobela An old giant of local rugby was awakened recently when Winter Rose RFC took to the field for the first time after years of absence on the rugby scene. Indlov’ enebatha, as the team is affectionately known by its fans, took on Fort Beaufort-based Home Defenders in a friendly game at Lavender Valley in Makhanda on Saturday. Although the score did not go their way as they went down 15-7, the once-popular team was applauded by many in rugby circles for their brave effort. Winter Rose president and Makana ward 2 councillor, Ramie Xonxa, spoke to Grocott’s…
Author: Luvuyo Mjekula
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By Chris Totobela An 18-year-old Makhanda soccer player was laid to rest this past weekend, just weeks after the local football community buried a young coach. Asonge Phongolo and Mncedisi Qenge were fatally stabbed in separate incidents in Makhanda recently. On Saturday, heartbroken football lovers mourned with Phongolo’s family and friends at his funeral service at the Extension 9 community hall. Nicknamed Mpehle by his fans, Phongolo succumbed to stab wounds at Settlers Hospital. His death shocked the local community. Two weeks ago, Grocott’s Mail reported that Qenge, a local football coach, was laid to rest after a fatal…
By Luvuyo Mjekula Tensions remain high in Alicedale following a mass protest by angry residents on Monday. A large group of community members, from both Nonzwakazi and Transriviere townships, blockaded roads with burning tyres and rocks amid a heavy police presence. The protest is a result of Alicedale residents’ frustration that their worries over the unsafe school in which their children are expected to study, is not being properly addressed by either the province’s education department or the contractor responsible for fixing the Hendrik Kanise Combined School buildings. Residents’ leader Khayalethu Nyamakazi said: “It was a massive response from all sections of…
By Chesley Daniels Trying Stars and Klipfontein United registered impressive bonus-point wins in their respective Score Epru Grand Challenge Top 12 and Adams Cup rugby fixtures over the past weekend. Stars registered their second win of the competition while Klipfontein recorded its first win after a draw against Paterson Lions in their first game, and still remains unbeaten in the Adams Cup South Section. Epru Grand Challenge Top 12 Trying Stars vs United Barbarians – Wentzel Park Sports Ground Stars hosted the struggling United Barbarians from Patensie in a crucial Grand Challenge Top 12 encounter in front of a decent…
By Chesley Daniels Grahamstown Brumbies caused the upset of the weekend in the SCORE Epru Grand Challenge Top 12 encounter when they stunned current Eastern Cape Super 14 champs Progress in their own backyard at the Central Sports Ground in Kariega on Saturday afternoon. The home side led 7-5 at halftime. The ecstatic win put Brumbies on top of the Epru Grand Challenge Top 12 log standings after four games. What also makes the win so memorable for the top Makhanda cub is that they last beat Progress in 2017 in Kariega. The long-awaited clash took place in a tense…
By Chris Totobela The Ivy Madyo and Mafa Bavuma birthday tournament came to a conclusion on Sunday with Maru FC crowned champions after a close 1-0 victory over old rivals XI Attackers. The game started at a blistering pace as was expected by the huge crowd that packed JD Dlepu Stadium. Both teams made their intentions very clear from the first whistle but were both guilty of squandering scoring chances. XI Attackers dominated the midfield battle but Maru kept their shape and composure. Attackers thought they had taken the lead when they headed home from a set-piece, but the referee…
By Chris Totobela Top netballers from Makhanda, Gqeberha and Kenton-on-Sea battled it out on the Rhodes University netball courts at the weekend in a bid to gain much-needed match practice. The Rhodes netball team hosted the festival with two women’s teams and one men’s side representing the local university alongside other Makhanda competitors such as Ravens, Celotape, Juventus, Falcons and East Cape Midlands College. Golden Queens, SABC and Zim Lillies, all from Gqeberha, also took part, while Sunshine Coast showed up for Kenton-on-Sea. In one of the exciting games, Sunshine Coast dismantled Gqeberha’s Golden Queens by 45 goals to 10.…
By Luvuyo Mjekula The Hendrik Kanise Combined School saga in Alicedale is set to reach a boiling point after residents this week vowed to implement a total shutdown of the town on Monday. This follows the residents’ frustration caused by protracted delays to a R150m project to rebuild a “dangerous” structure on the premises of Hendrik Kanise in the township of Nonzwakazi. “We are continuing with our protest. There will be no school on Monday, 5 May, until we get the attention we need,” said an angry Nontobeko Gojela, one of 13 delegates who travelled to Bhisho last week to…
By Luvuyo Mjekula Irregular expenditure, slow revenue collection, lack of consequence management and abdication of responsibility by senior officials. These are just some of the “own goals” that have landed the Makana Municipality in the “financial crisis” it finds itself in. These were the findings of the Makana Municipality Audit and Performance Committee in its second quarter audit report tabled by chairperson Misile Kenneth Mafani during Wednesday’s ordinary council meeting in the City Hall. The committee reported that the National Treasury is currently reviewing the municipality’s financial recovery plan (FRP), and this will assist in tracking the municipality’s position in…
By Luvuyo Mjekula Makana mayor, Yandiswa Vara, survived a vote of no-confidence at an ordinary council meeting in the City Hall on Wednesday evening. Vara won by 14 votes to nine. Thirteen African National Congress (ANC) councillors and an independent councillor all voted in Vara’s favour, while five Makana Citizens Front (MCF) councillors and four from the Democratic Alliance (DA) supported the vote of no-confidence. An Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillor abstained while council Speaker Mabhuti Matyumza also chose not to participate in the ballot. There was controversy when the MCF questioned Matyumza’s assertion that voting would not be by…