Author: Rod Amner

By POELO KETA The South African state does not have the funds to adequately cushion the working class during the Covid-19 crisis, according to Professor Lucien van der Walt, director of the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit at Rhodes University. Van der Walt was interrogating the Government’s Covid-19 social security measures at a well-attended online conversation hosted by the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) on Wednesday. While the state’s social welfare grants and social insurance measures were intended to cushion the working class, “the state cannot and will not provide welfare on a scale that can emancipate us”,…

By USISIPHO BATYI, LINDANI DONYELI and ROD AMNER With most learners are set to return to classrooms as late as August, WhatsApp groups and online lessons will continue to be a lifeline for thousands of Makhanda learners under the COVID-19 lockdown. But, with little or no online access, children from poorly resourced schools have already spent two months with no school at all. This week marks the second month that schools across the country have been closed. While several schools have stepped up with online lessons and resources, the sudden national lockdown and its subsequent extension left many of Makhanda’s…

By NASI HAKO, USISIPHO BATYI, and ROD AMNER Makhanda’s schools are in very different states of readiness for the return of Grade 7 and 12 learners on June 1, while anxious principals express deep concern for the safety of teachers and learners. Gadra Education manager, Ashley Westaway, has lauded the “political bravery” of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshega for “staring down the unions” in her back-to-school announcement on Tuesday night. Though Motshekga outlined measures to be put in place to ensure a safe environment, some local principals said they were in the dark about what needed to be done on…

By JESSICA FELDTMAN The COVID-19 lockdown has paralysed learning in many schools – in part because the majority of South Africa’s teachers lack digital know-how, experience, and resources. However, shortly after schools shut down, two concerned educators, Shaakira Mia and Janine Brown, stepped into the breach by creating a WhatsApp group for online teacher support and collaboration. Within an hour, the group had reached maximum capacity. So, they created more groups. By early May the WhatsApp groups had mushroomed so rapidly, Mia decided to switch ‘The Great Collaboration’ to a different networking app called Telegram. Now, about 5500 diligent South…

1. Makhanda Circle of Unity Food Group A diverse group of about 20 Makhanda residents has been working very hard to identify the most vulnerable, to source foods as cheaply as possible and to distribute food parcels. It is headed by Helen Alfers, backed up by Nicci Hayes and Richard Gaybba from the Makhanda Circle of Unity collective. The aim is to provide food parcels to 1000 household for at least the next 4 weeks. Each food parcel costs about R175 to feed a family per week. This will cost R700 000 for a month. They are collaborating with other…

As eager Grahamstown Primary School learners streamed in for their first day of school on a sweltering Wednesday morning, the school still hadn’t heard from the Department of Basic Education about the fate of the stalled R55-million upgrade to its original premises. Since February last year, the school has had to make do with temporary prefabricated structures adjacent to George Dickerson Primary premises. The revamp, originally due for completion in 2021, was to have included an administration block, a new library, an IT centre and a school hall. Nevertheless, Grahamstown Primary’s Head of Department, Lucien Bartis said the school was open for…

The legal challenge by the Keep Grahamstown Grahamstown (KGG) campaign to have set aside Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s decision to change the city’s name to Makhanda has failed. In the Grahamstown High Court, Judge Murray Lowe Tuesday found Mthethwa and the provincial and national geographic name change councils had acted in accordance with consultative and other requirements before deciding on the name change. Lowe emphasised the concept of redress in his judgment, saying the law required “attention to political history and a ringing and decisive break from the past”. “The inequities of the past, bearing in mind human…

By Rod Amner A R200 000 fund, raised by staff and clients of Standard Bank. will ensure that approximately 1 200 local children up to the age of five will have ready access to water in their early childhood development centres (ECDs). Local ECD Forum chairperson, Pamella Sandi, said the donation to the ECD Forum’s Amanzi Yimpilo Project would fund water tanks and gutters for all pre-primaries in Makhanda: “We will have our own clean rainwater and can continue educating our children,” she said. “Earlier this year, the water was constantly being switched off – sometimes for two weeks –…

By KAJAL PREMNATH Seated in the St Andrew’s College quad, a gentle breeze caressing our faces while our hands seek comfort in the warmth of the coffee cups in front of us, Vuyokazi Jamieson and I giggle at the expense of her mum’s cooking: “My mother was not a great cook which is probably why I am not the best cook!” Her childhood reminiscences are sharply interrupted by the screech of the school bell. Seconds later, a flood of boys in navy blazers with books in hand crowd the little eating area – their loud chatting and laughter taking over…

Imagine a South Africa where reading comes naturally to everyone, young and old. People read at every turn and in every situation; in taxis, on trains, in hair salons, and at home. They read for their children and their children read for them. Inside the classroom and beyond, books are part of daily living. Imagine this South Africa where people read for fun, for school, and for business; and their reading enables them to live better, know more, provide for their families, run their churches or companies better and enjoy a prosperous life in general. The National Education Collaboration Trust…