Author: Partner Content

Monthly rainfall: April More rain fell in Makhanda in the first four months of 2020 than during the whole of last year, reports Roger Rowswell. On 27-28 April, Makhanda’s total annual rainfall for 2020 surpassed the total annual rainfall for 2019 (411.3mm). The rainfall, read at 8am on 28 April and recorded for 27 April, was a very welcome 30mm, This would provide much needed runoff and seepage into the water courses flowing into Howison’s Poort Dam. From January to April 2020, we have had more rain than throughout 2019. Another exciting occurrence is that we are still getting good substantial…

The Eastern Cape provincial government has approved a procurement plan to buy Personal Protective Equipment to fight COVID19 from manufacturers operating in the Eastern Cape, spokesperson for the Premier Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha said in a media release. This was in line with the province in line with the provincial government’s Local Economic Development Procurement Framework, he said. “This process will ensure value for money as the provincial government will derive benefits from the economies of scale, with local manufacturers of each PPE item benefiting from government procurement,” Sicwetsha said. The Provincial Treasury had developed a concept document outlining the procurement strategy.…

We share here information from the Makhanda Circle of Unity about an important survey to assess the effect of the Covid-19 lockdown on local businesses. Conducted by Stats SA, it will help shape policy decisions and future planning. We encourage local businesses to complete the survey. LETTER TO LOCAL BUSINESSES FROM THE MAKHANDA CIRCLE OF UNITY On 21 April, StatsSA released a report entitled “Business impact survey of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa”. As might be expected, the survey results did not make for optimistic reading. We made contact with StatsSA and asked if they could conduct a survey…