EDITOR’S NOTE: A few weeks back, Grocott’s Mail published a story on the 19 October Makana Stakeholder Collaboration Meeting at the Monument. This is the full report on the meeting compiled by the Kagiso Trust’s PAUL SMITH, who also facilitated the discussion. Welcome and background: Makana Council Speaker Mthuthezeli Matyumza The municipality derives its mandate from the constitution, which emphasises sustainable service delivery and community engagement. Urgent turnaround is required in Makana, and the municipal executive must enforce institutional accountability to achieve this. Public participation and stakeholder engagements are essential components of the municipal mandate and must be embedded in…
Author: Rod Amner
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The Friends of the Library (FOL) Lecture series for 2022 concludes on Monday, 14 November 2022, with a talk by Justin Jonas entitled, “MeerKAT, SKA and Ventilators: Radio Astronomy in the time of Covid”. “The MeerKAT radio telescope is now fully functional in the Karoo, and international teams of scientists have been using the instrument to produce some unique and spectacular scientific results. A project to extend the capabilities of MeerKAT has just started, as has the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, so there are some significant developments happening at the observatory. The talk will present some of the spectacular results from MeerKAT, plans for…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last week, Grocott’s Mail published a report on the 1 November Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) oversight meeting on the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works upgrades. The following is the official report submitted to Parliament, which also contains information on planned maintenance of the recent upgrades to Somerset and Hill streets. Meeting Summary 01 November 2022Chairperson: Mr F Xasa (ANC) Video The Portfolio Committee was told that the Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Department was very disappointed with the progress of the James Kleynhans Bulk Water Supply project, as it was supposed to have taken three years…
You are invited to the launch of Subtle Gravity by former Rhodes University Political Studies associate professor Leonhard Praeg. He will be in conversation with Rhodes Creative Writing lecturer Stacy Hardy and University of Pretoria Literature professor Willie Burger. DATE: Thursday, 10 November 2022TIME: 6 pmVENUE: ZoomRSVP: mbambos@ukzn.ac.za or 033 260 5423 Register in advance for this meeting: https://ukzn.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUocu2upjkpH9fpwHSg6sV4BXadw11XVRYv After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
BOOK REVIEW: Heroes of the Struggle – ‘Forgotten Bastards’ by Mzi Mahola (Mahola publishers, 2022) Reviewed by: ROBERT BEROLDBOOK LAUNCH: 5.30 pm, Tuesday, 8 November, ISEA (St Peter’s Building, next to Eden Grove) Mzi Mahola is one of the Eastern Cape’s well-known poets, writing in both English and isiXhosa. He ventured into the novel form in 2016 with a fictionalised version of his rural childhood and young adult life titled Dancing with Hyenas. This new autobiographical novel, Heroes of the Struggle, is set in New Brighton in the 1980s. Lizo Khanya is a young man in his 30s and recently married when he…
Dear Makhandans, On 27 October, a jolly crowd of 305 runners/walkers/strollers took part in this event. True to tradition, local schools’ newly elected prefects (management committees) dressed up for the party, bursting with enthusiasm and creativity. Besides cash prizes for the fast runners, almost everybody received something, from vouchers for eating out to having a botox treatment! The first three men were Lubabalwo Bokuva (18 min 27 sec), Sisa Camagu (18:58) and Kenneth Peters (19:14), and the first three ladies were Lauren Ranger (20:44), Emma Gush (22:53) and Candice Serfontein (24:19). At a function after the event, a symbolic cheque…
Just 24 hours into his tenure as Moppo Mene’s replacement as Makana Municipal Manager, Phumelelo Maxwell Kate spoke to ROD AMNER and OVAYO MILISA NOVUKELA on Grocott’s Mail’s ‘Makana Matters’ on RMR last Thursday. Kate, who schooled in Makhanda and served as its Executive Mayor from 2006-2009, committed himself to “working with all the stakeholders of Makana to find solutions and return the district to its former glory”. Here are some highlights from the interview. Question: What state was Makana in during your mayorship from 2006-2009 compared to now? “Some of the challenges from 2006-2009 were not as prominent or…
GCB 1st League Log as 30 October Southwell 26 (5)Rhodes 25 (10)Sidbury 20 (5)Salem 16 (4)Willows 12 (4)Makana Sona 12 (5)Station Hill 9 (5)Cuylerville 6 (3) GCB 1st League as 29 October 2022 Leading wicket-takersB van Heerden Rhodes 16C Wessels Willows 14P Gradwell Sidbury 11Josh van Rensburg Southwell 10R Klopstra Rhodes 10S Mungeka Rhodes 9B Ngugi Rhodes 9F Jacobs Station Hill 7A Wright Rhodes 7S Saki Station Hill 7L Sam Makana Sona 6R Moss Southwell 6Jesse van Rensburg Southwell 6B van Heerden (Salem) 5L Qinela Makana Sona 5A Hashe Makana Sona 5M Kuhlane Makana Sona 5B Howarth Sidbury 4G Bladen…
By STAFF REPORTER The Makana Municipality Executive Mayor Yandiswa Vara, Speaker Mthuthuzeli Matyumza, newly-appointed Municipal Manager Pumelelo Kate and all municipal directors have been invited to attend and answer questions at a special community engagement meeting: Date: 10 November 2022Time: 5.30 pmVenue: City Hall All residents in Makana are welcome to attend. Ward 4 Democratic Alliance councillor Geoff Embling urged citizens to attend and invite others. “We will discuss water, refuse, roads, and sewage; and the political and administrative leadership of the city will answer questions,” he said. Hilton Haakonsen, who, with Dagmar Kirk, is helping the National Arts Festival…
By ROD AMNER Paul Maylam recorded 21.7 mm from 27 October to 2 November in Cathcart Street, mostly steady drizzle. Jim Cambray measured considerably less – 13.6 mm – in Park Road for the same period. Temperatures ranged from 11.5-27C. For October 2022, Cambray reported a total of 51mm, well below the long-term average of 81mm and median of 62.6mm. The least Makhanda had in October was 19.8mm in 1987, and the most was 319.7mm in 2012. “We are supposed to be in a wet cycle, and October didn’t live up to it!” Cambray complained. Let’s hope November has some…