By PHILIP MACHANICK This is no time for supine opposition in the Makana Council. Things are rapidly getting worse, not better: It is not normal to have rapidly escalating unemployment, as much as 70%.It is not normal to have frequent water outages and pipe bursts.It is not normal for most streets to be riddled with potholes.It is not normal for sewers to flow like rivers.It is not normal for large parts of a city to look like a trash heap.It is not normal for road upgrades to grind to a halt as soon as the pressure is off the government…
Author: Rod Amner
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By STAFF REPORTER The Makhanda high court last week ordered taxi umbrella body the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Co-operative (ECTCC) to return R35-million misappropriated from the Covid-19 temporary employee/employers relief scheme (TERS) to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). The TERS funds were intended as a special benefit under the UIF to employees who lost income due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The court upheld the UIF’s assertion that the ECTCC’s applications for Covid-19 TERS funds were fraudulent because the intended recipients were not eligible for the benefits and amounted to unlawful activities, according to the UIF communication director Makhosonke Buthelezi. One…
The Friends of the Library lecture series for 2022 continues on Monday, 20 June 2022, with a talk by Dr Laura Alfers entitled, “Women working in the urban informal economy – a global struggle for rights and recognition”. The lecture will focus on women’s urban informal employment. Drawing on global and South African examples, Dr Alfers will provide an overview of some of the main challenges women informal workers face in building more secure livelihoods for themselves and their families, in addition to showing how they are successfully organizing and struggling for rights and recognition as workers and economic contributors. When: Monday 20 June 2022 Where: Amazwi South…
By CHESLEY DANIELS The much anticipated Derby between Old Collegians (OC) and Swallows lived up to its expectations on Saturday, as OC had to dig deep to beat their archrivals 23-13 at the Oval. OC led 13-6 at halftime. A decent crowd came in their numbers to witness some exciting and entertaining rugby. The game was played in a good spirit between the two old rivals. The win put OC in fourth position on the Overall Log as it was indeed hard for them to secure that vital and all important bonus point, which is needed in the second round.…
By CHESLEY DANIELS A dream came true for the multi-talented sports girl from Victoria Primary School when she heard of her inclusion in the Eastern Province (EP) Under 13 Netball Team. Lisa-Jane Evans,13, will represent EP at the National School Sports Championships in Boksburg, Gauteng, from 22-29 June 2022. The quietly spoken Grade 7 girl received hundreds of congratulatory messages on social media. Evans is a fantastic natural talent and a playmaker for her school’s U/13 side as a Goal Attack (GA). She started playing netball in Grade 1 and is also actively involved in numerous sports codes at school,…
By CHESLEY DANIELS Trying Stars opened their second round of the EPRU Grand Challenge Competition with a dominant 49-17 bonus-point win over KWARU in Gheberha on Saturday. The Alex side was also 20-3 in front at halftime. The Group C encounter was vital – Stars needed to register that all-important bonus point going into the second round of the competition. Park are the log leaders, and it is now a matter of accumulating bonus point wins for the chasing pack to topple Park at the top of the log. The Alexandria outfit came out the hungrier side and meant business…
By CHESLEY DANIELS Kowie United 1st XV threw the first punch in the first of two rounds in the EPRU SEDRU Regional League Competition Ndlambe Derby with a bonus point 27-10 win over Ndlambe Tigers at the Station Hill Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon. The first half saw Kowie lead 15-5 at the break. Kowie United drew first blood in this much anticipated Ndlambe/Port Alfred Derby and the bragging rights. Kowie also beat Tigers twice in their preseason friendly fixtures before the season.United moved to second on the overall log standings with the win behind Klipfontein. Saturday afternoon saw thousands…
By LUKAS NOWICKI and ROD AMNER Makana Citizen Front’s (MCF) Lungile Mxube has accused Makana Municipal Manager Moppo Mene of covering up corruption by failing to suspend Water and Sanitation manager Gubevu Maduna, who is facing charges of procurement fraud for his alleged involvement in a R25-million toilet tender at Setsoto Municipality in the Free State. Maduna’s trial, initially set for 6 June 2022, has been postponed until 14 November, according to Free State NPA spokesperson Phaladi Shuping. Makana Water and Sanitation manager, Gubevu Maduna. In a recent statement, Mxube asked: “How can a municipality fail to do a basic…
A staff member and two students from Rhodes University’s International Library of African Music (ILAM) will be the stars of their own shows during the National Arts Festival (NAF) from 23 June to 3 July. Two of the ILAM shows will form part of the Curated Programme. Thandeka Mfinyongo, a PhD student in Ethnomusicology, will be performing “Ingoduko”. With her band and a guest appearance by jazz musician Dumza Maswana, Mfinyongo will be performing vocals and uhadi and umrhubhe. “Ingoduko aims to afford people access to information and skills centred around singing and playing indigenous instruments. Furthermore, it aims to document and archive…
Millions of South African retirees are likely to run out of money before they run out of time. If you are approaching retirement, it is essential to determine the amount of money you will need to make ends meet. You will also need to estimate what your expenses will be once you stop working. If you do not grasp what your income and expenditure needs will be, you run the risk of depleting your capital during your retirement years. The first step in the process is to determine your income level once you retire. A rule of thumb is that…