By STAFF REPORTER The National Arts Festival (NAF) has announced that the call for the 2023 Curated Programme is open. The Curated Programme is the Festival’s multi-disciplinary offering, selected from proposals submitted by artists locally and abroad. The NAF programme also features a Fringe, comprising works not curated but brought to the Festival and financed by artists. The call for the Fringe is a separate call that will open on 1 November 2022 and close on 13 January 2023. Artists working in performance and public arts, theatre, dance, visual art, music, poetry, illusion, comedy and cross-genre arts mediums are invited…
Author: Rod Amner
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By STAFF REPORTER The Makana Municipality has been ordered to issue a written apology to the Unemployed People’s Movement and its leader, Ayanda Kota. The Makhanda High Court also ordered the Municipality to pay the costs of a defamation application by the parties. The civil matter stems from an ex-parte application by the Municipality in 2021 to interdict any person from acting unlawfully during spontaneous service delivery protests in the City. The Municipality cited UPM and Kota as respondents and made defamatory allegations regarding their alleged involvement in the protests. Makana Municipality withdrew the application, but Kota and the UPM…
By AIDEN DARIES The final day of the Rhodes University Internal Res League kicked off on Saturday, 17 September, with three of the sixteen competing teams vying to get their hands on the title. No set favourites were heading into the league season, as Covid-19 had cancelled the league last season. Heading into the final game of the 2022 season, Ingulube FC sat top of the league standings with 29 points. Enoch Sontonga FC (29 points) and Chris Hani FC (28 points) were second and third. Ingulube’s goal difference was significantly superior to Enoch’s, and a draw would be enough…
By CHESLEY DANIELS SPAR 2nd XI batsman Kelvano King recorded the highest individual score hitting an unofficial undefeated 333* against Kenton on Saturday. This was the Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) 2nd League record. There were also notable performances during the past weekend from the batting and bowling departmentS. Centuries came from Kelvano King (333), R Labuschagne (203 – Salem 2nd vs Port Alfred High School), Chris Fredericks (170 – Southwell 2nd vs Cuylerville), Gregg Timm (114 – Kenton vs SPAR), Luke Thompson (137 – Shrews vs Manleys), Chris Lock (108 – Manleys 2nd vs Shrews). Five wicket hauls came from…
By ONKE NGCUKA The Cape Parrot Project is restoring forests one seed and community at a time, and in doing so, conserving the endemic and endangered Cape parrot. With a Cape parrot population of fewer than 2,000, will the project’s efforts bear fruit before it’s too late? A partnership project is making solid efforts to conserve the critically endangered Cape parrot, increasing the means to sustain the birds and their natural habitat while empowering the surrounding community. The partnership between the Cape Parrot Project, the Wild Bird Trust and Fairtree has embarked on an initiative to restore yellowwood trees, the…
Dear Editor, Rhodes is the only university, and possibly the only institution in the country, where unvaccinated people are, to date, not allowed to enter. Rhodes has held three council meetings this year, and the council was warned at each meeting that Rhodes was way out of line with the rest of the country regarding its vaccine mandate policy. However, prominent voices in the council, such as Vice-Chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Peter Clayton, Chair of Council Judge Gerald Bloem, and Susan Smailes, remain adamant that Rhodes should remain closed to unvaccinated students, staff, and members of the…
Dear Editor The DA’s Ward 4 Councillor, Geoff Embling, is to be congratulated on his article, “A 3-pronged approach to the restoring Makana Municipality” (GM Direct 30.9.22). We don’t hear enough from our Councillors, who are mostly anonymous and prefer to keep it that way because they are not answerable or accountable for the glaring failures of the municipality. In researching for a recent talk on the history of local government in Grahamstown/Makana to the Makana Friends of the Library, one of the most vital points that emerged was that in the past, councillors, officials and employees of the municipality…
By LUCAS NOWICKI Several state agencies are being drawn into an investigation of the chronically delayed upgrades at the James Kleyhans Water Treatment Works. Fikile Xasa, chair of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), which recently conducted an oversight visit at the Makana Municipality, said COGTA was “engaging” the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the anti-corruption Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on the matter. Xasa said the portfolio committee also hopes to convene a meeting with the implementing agent, Amathole Water, and the Makana Municipality on 20 October to determine what needs to be done. …
Jim Cambray reports that a 29 September thunderstorm on Park Road delivered fireworks and “a nice 13mm”, which is the total for the week of 29 September to 5 October. Paul Maylam recorded 9mm for the same period. Temperatures ranged from 12-26.5C for the week. The thunderstorm added nicely to the September monthly rainfall, 61.5mm, exceeding the long-term average of 49.4mm and well above the median of 36mm. The range for the month was 1.2mm in 2013 and an excellent 162.7mm in 1993. “All the best for October, which should be a good month for rainfall,” Cambray said. Despite the spring rains, dam…
A big shout-out to MEW for these listings. REPEAT EVENTS/ FESTIVALS Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 October – Chess Competition: Eastern Cape Players Individual Championship. Presented by SEMCCYA, Slum Knights, Mighty Chess Hackers, Chess Vikings, Knights, Eastern Cape Department of Sports and Recreation, & Youth Chess Academy. @ Amazwi, 25a Worcester Street. https://forms.gle/MjGcKs15wruSJtEz5 09:00 (Arrive early) Saturday 15 October – Music Festival: Déjà Vu. 2 DJs from PE, 1 DJ & 3 performers from JHB, Pride Week: Ball & Fashion Show, music on three stages: Amapiano, Deep House, Techno, Acid House, Flips, Disco House, Breakbeat, Trance, Hip Hop, Trap…Vendors: Famous Barista Sisa’s,…