Author: Rod Amner

By VUKOSI MALULEKE The start of spring has seen the sprouting of a safe space to bring regrowth and healing to Makhanda. The name says it all. The Healing Hearts Centre is a psychosocial initiative whose purpose is to provide free counselling and prayer to those who need it. The centre is the brainchild of local businesswoman Ronél Mostert, who, along with her friend Gwen Johnson, embarked on a journey to create a space where Makhanda residents, particularly women, can receive free counselling and prayer. Mostert, who’s had an encounter with Covid-19, says this period has given her time to…

By NYX MCLEAN There is still no effective preventative drug treatment for COVID-19. Some people have been using Ivermectin as a preventative, but its effectiveness is up for debate. This week, George Coetzee, a physician, wrote an opinion piece in Business Day advocating for the use of Ivermectin, which was shared as a comment on the Grocott’s Mail’s Facebook page. Coetzee said, “I’ve treated dozens of Covid-19 patients daily. I’ve prescribed and administered ivermectin to hundreds of people and tracked more than 50 patients who were moderately to severely ill, including several with severely compromised immune systems. I’ve seen Ivermectin make a…

Jim Cambray reported 9.8mm from his Park Road weather station for the week 2-8 September, including one good downpour and some heavy dew. Temperatures ranged from a cool 3C to a warm 26C. Paul Maylam reported 9mm from Cathcart Street and commented: “Spring rains are desperately needed.” After many years of drought, many Makhandans have become more than a little obsessed with poring over long-range rainfall forecasts on popular mobile weather apps. Sadly, joyful optimism often melts into bitter disappointment as the rumours of rain dry up and dissipate in the ether. At the risk of adding to this spiral…

The Puku Children’s Literature Foundation celebrated International Literacy Day on Wednesday 8 September by winning the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize for 2021. Puku, which has regularly held successful festivals in Makhanda, won for its work on “Using digital technologies to promote children’s literature in South Africa’s indigenous languages”. Puku aims to ensure that all children have access to quality, culturally relevant literature in the languages they understand. Puku does this by working to create systemic change in the reading and book development ecosystem through digital platforms that provide a structured and organised system for selecting, reviewing and sharing…

By MAKANA VETERINARY CLINIC  We recently visited Sun City, an area in Makhanda that desperately needs assistance with dog sterilisations. So many dogs here are on heat, pregnant or lactating, and we feel we must do something to help. Pictured are just some of the dogs we saw that we are hoping to spay and neuter – two of which are currently nursing small puppies. After Dr Amy Jackson-Moss’s Facebook post about euthanasing healthy dogs in animal shelters (which has received 18 000 likes, 8 500 comments and 31 000 shares), we have decided to use Back A Buddy (South…

Onesimo Sombhua, a Grade 11 learner at Khutliso Daniels Secondary School, shows off the laptop computer she won for coming top in a Sarah Baartman District isiXhosa Book Review Competition at the award ceremony in Joubertina. Her dad is holding her certificate (left) and on her right is her isiXhosa teacher, Mhlekwa Mkhuseli Welcome. She will go on to represent the District at a provincial competition in celebration of National Book Week. 

Residents’ rights to a safe and healthy environment are compromised when individual and group behaviour infringes on the general population. There are ‘public nuisance’ by-laws in place, as gazetted on the Makana Local Municipality website. Events such as the one reported by Grocott’s Mail at Makana Resort recently and also at Rustic Route should be readily resolved by invoking those by-laws. They require review, but for now, they stand. During working hours, noise complaints can be made to the Makana Manager of Environmental Health, Johann Esterhuizen, at this email address: JohanneEsterhuizen@makana.gov.za Or you can phone one of these numbers: Johann Esterhuizen:…

By LOYISO DYONGMAN The National Union of Civil Servants and Allied Sectors (Nupsaw) workers strike at Rhodes University, which began on 9 August, has been partially suspended. Nupsaw provincial organiser Lerato Thethe said Tuesday that union members would continue picketing during lunchtimes. Nupsaw, a South African Federation of Trade Unions affiliate, wants Rhodes University to recognise it as a workers union at the institution. Rhodes University said Nupsaw had not complied with the provisions of the Labour Relations Act as outlined in Section 21(2), which states that a union must supply facts relied upon to demonstrate that it is a representative…

By LOYISO DYONGMAN On Thursday, a group of women dressed in black led a protest march for Thokozile Chrisjan, the 38-year-old nurse and mother of two who was brutally murdered in her home on Friday night in Vukani location in Makhanda. The march started from Dlukulu Clinic in Extension 7 and proceeded to BB Zondani Hall. Chrisjan was fatally stabbed and her husband assaulted during an armed robbery at their Ngquawana Street home at about 10.30 pm last Friday. TV sets and cellphones were stolen and the couple’s vehicle, a Nissan SUV, was stolen and burned down on the way to…

When a pair of school shoes is far more than leather and laces… By SUE MACLENNAN “It seems such a small thing, but it makes such a big difference,” says Nomfusi Maleki. “It’s true – from a child who just keeps quiet, now you have someone who will raise their hand, ask questions, speak out,” adds Zoleka Kate. “From someone who always stayed at the back, a child will have the confidence to come to the front and lead.” Maleki teaches grades 5, 6 and 7 at Ntaba Maria Primary School, and Kate is the principal of Fikizolo Primary School.…