Dozens of soup kitchens have sprung up in Makhanda, providing a nutritional and psychosocial lifeline to thousands in our depressed economy. LOYISO DYONGMAN visited two of them. Lulama Maseti, 34, is a mother of two from Extension 8 who runs her Masibambisane Soup Kitchen from home. She is unemployed and lives with her two kids and mom. She said they depend on her mother’s pension and Child Support grants to buy food. But a slice of that money goes to groceries for the soup kitchen. “I started this soup kitchen after noticing how many breadwinners in my community had lost…
Author: Rod Amner
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By CHRIS TOTOBELA A few years back, the Onceya sisters – Phumza and Blondie – noticed a disturbing decline in youth participation in sport. Shebeens and taverns were packed to the rafters while the playing fields stood empty. This spurred them into action. They mobilised young girls in Tantyi and started the Misoyethu Netball club in June 2019. The team has since grown in leaps and bounds with enthusiastic support from the surrounding community. Misoyethu has a U13 team and a U18 team that regularly plays friendly matches, and the club recently won a tournament – a huge morale booster…
By FRANCES BAILEY During a recent Daily Maverick webinar, associate editor Marianne Thamm led a conversation with English historian Michael Burleigh, who has just launched his latest tome, The Day of the Assassins: A History of Political Murder. Burleigh strays from the archetypal depiction of the assassin as a lone gunman who stalks the shadows and aims at unsuspecting victims. Instead, he paints a picture of history that shows how the assassin is entwined with political and day-to-day life and captures our imaginations as we speculate on what went on behind some of history’s most infamous hits. Beginning with the murder…
By KIRAN MOLLOY A creative vision for the National Arts Festival (NAF) in 2030 has been curated in the form of a 360-degree virtual collage of images, poems, letters, videos, voice notes and sound recordings by past festival participants and attendees. The participants were asked to write letters to themselves from the future with the prompt: What will the festival look like in ten years’ time? Covid-19 has severely affected many arts, culture, music, literary, art and comedy festivals celebrated throughout the country, including our own. In response, and in collaboration with Future Festivals, Rhodes University, King’s College London, the…
By KEITH GOTTSCHALK, Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape The popularity of the African National Congress (ANC), which has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, has slipped in successive elections from its high of over 60%. Nonetheless, the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), shows no sign of benefiting from the ANC’s slack – hardly reaching even 30% of the votes cast. Instead, the ANC’s numbers have been absorbed by small, mostly new parties. Inevitably, South Africa is in for many decades of coalitions. This is the central theme of a new book, Marriages of Inconvenience: The Politics of Coalitions in…
Amazwi is holding its annual Heritage Carnival on 24 September. Traders are invited to sell their wares. Things they need to know include: * Set up from 8 am * Trade from 9 am to 2 pm * No fees * Traders must sign up to trade by contacting info@amazwi.museum or 046 622 7042. * If on Wednesday the 22nd the forecast is for rain on the 24th, then we will make a call as to whether to postpone and inform everyone on the 22nd. Performers are also welcome to share their talents in Amazwi’s open-air amphitheatre.
From the SPCA Sunday, 12 September, saw a rescue of another kind. This time, the SPCA bakkie had to be towed after breaking down in the township for the second time in two weeks! With 250 000 km on the clock, the SPCA vehicle is taking enormous strain. Not only does our SPCA respond to calls in Makhanda/Grahamstown, but also Riebeek-East, Salem, Seven Fountains, Fort Brown, Alicedale, as well as cruelty investigations in Adelaide, Somerset-East, Bedford and on occasion, Hofmeyer, too! We desperately need another reliable vehicle to enable our Society to respond to calls for assistance in the huge…
By LOYISO DYONGMAN A contingent of former learners of the Carlisle Bridge Primary School visited the school over the weekend to hand over school shoes and other items. Luyanda Matiwane has fond memories of his time at the school and felt it was time to “plough back”. “It is important not to forget where we come from. We know not everyone can afford to buy uniforms and other school materials,” he said. The Grade R-7 public primary school, located at the Carlisle Bridge Farm about 50 kilometres from Makhanda, caters to about 90 learners. “Nkosana Ludinga, Melikhaya Kepe and myself…
By CAITLYN HILLIARD-LOMAS Xolani is a community beaming with friendly faces but also inhabited by hundreds of hungry dogs. Almost every house in the area is home to a dog or two. The ever-increasing population of canines is caused by the sad reality that people in this community cannot afford to sterilize their pets. In March this year, the Makana Vet Clinic and its owner, Amy Jackson-Moss, started sterilizing the dogs in this community for free. In a recent Facebook post, Dr Amy stated, “Sterilization is, in my opinion, the most effective method of population control.” However, despite this resolution, the…
Almost 65% of those vaccinated in the Eastern Cape- including our district – are women. This is an unusual pattern. In countries where vaccine uptake is recorded by sex, there is a slight trend towards men being more likely to get vaccinated than women. So, why are South African men more reluctant to get vaccinated for COVID-19? LOYISO DYONGMAN investigates. Mohamed Docrat, head of the Department of Health in the Makana Municipality, says men’s reluctance to get jabbed is not new. “Men, in general, do not seek medical help. Whether it’s an annual check-up for chronic disease or getting tested for HIV…