The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says many R350-grant applications have been declined because they didn’t meet the criteria. In a statement, SASSA said they had received numerous grievances about declined R350 grant applications. “For one to qualify for the Covid-19 grant they must be either unemployed without any kind of income, or not receiving any kind of government assistance such as UIF and NSFAS, or social grants or any other financial support and must be above the age of 18,” said SASSA CEO Totsie Memela. The majority of declined applicationsweare from people already on the UIF database or qualifying to…
Author: Staff Reporter
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Child Welfare SA Grahamstown never takes for granted how well we are supported by our local community and with the money raised by Grocott’s Mail Christmas Cheer Fund in December 2019, it will be put to use to support the children at Ikhaya Losizo Foster Home. We realise how fortunate we are to have such support from the community of Grahamstown/Makhanda. We would like to say a very big heartfelt thank you to Grocott’s Mail for giving us the opportunity to benefit from The Christmas Cheer Fund– such a worthy project with a big impact. Thank you to all the…
The Gift of the Givers donated food parcels to families associated with the Grahamstown Brumbies Rugby Club. The Club works with young people in underprivileged areas, drawing them into sport and club activities. Most of the players are young and have found themselves unemployed during the Covid-19 lockdown. Several working members have been retrenched. The Brumbies’ plans to celebrate the club’s 20th anniversary have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Brumbies President Tyron Goliath said their only plan during this difficult time was on helping the community. “This pandemic couldnt have come at a better time,” Goliath said. “Although our…
The Eastern Cape Provincial Coronavirus Command Council welcomed the decision by the Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to procure properties for Covid-19 quarantine, isolation, and infrastructure upgrade services from the province’s small businesses. Premier Oscar Mabuyane, who heads the Council, said this after receiving a report from Public Works. As part of its role in the implementation of the Province’s Covid19 containment and mitigation strategy, the Public Works and Infrastructure Department provides infrastructure upgrades of public health facilities and procures private properties for the quarantine and isolation of people under investigation for Covid-19 and those who need isolation…
A funeral home data capturer charged with defrauding her own family has been released on R1000 bail. She allegedly submitted funeral claims when relatives died and cited various reasons to unsuspecting family members why their policies could not be paid out. The 33-year-old Bathurst woman appeared in the Port Alfred Magistrate’s Court recently and will reappear on 27 August 2020 in the same court. In one incident, a family member died. A relative who had taken out a funeral policy for the deceased went to submit a claim at the funeral home – the one where she’d signed for the policy and where…
Police at Port Elizabeth airport seized drugs worth more than R80 000 while conducting their day to day operations at one of the courier companies there. Provincial police spokesperson COlonel SIbongile Soci said two members were profiling and searching parcels at the courier company when they came across a suspicious parcel. “Custom officials were immediately called to conduct a drug test and it was confirmed that the parcel contained drugs,” Soci said. A total of 30 heroin tablets, 121g of dagga and 13 dagga seeds were confiscated. No arrests were made and investigation continues. Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe…
Na twee maande van strawwe inperking is die ontwikkeling van ‘n studentedorp met 2 047 beddens verlede week by die Universiteit van Fort Hare (UFH) hervat. Covid-19 het ‘n ernstige uitwerking gehad op die konstruksiebedryf in Suid-Afrika, insluitend ‘n tekort aan boumateriaal, verlies van inkomste, en die vertraging van sleutelinfrastruktuurprojekte, soos studentebehuising. Onder vlak 3 van inperking kon hierdie sektor hul bedrywighede voortsit, en die werk kan nou voortgaan met die oog op ekonomiese herstel. “Dit is die grootste studentebehuisingsontwikkeling wat nog ooit in Suid-Afrika onderneem is. Die voltooiing daarvan is noodsaaklik om die behuisingskrisis by die Universiteit van Fort…
The Eastern Cape is still on track for cold weather and snow on the mountains later this week, says the South African Weather Service’s Garth Sampson. Strong winds and bergwind conditions mean fire is a threat. UPDATES ON 10 JUNE A cold front is expected to sweep over the Western Cape today. Ahead of it, strong bergwinds are expected over the interior, reaching gale force in places . This is why there are warnings issued for High Fire Danger conditions The front is expected to pass over the Eastern Cape later today. This will lead to light snowfall over the Drakensberg [Lesotho-EC border]…
The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) has warned of a scam inviting members of the public to tender on its contracts. Sanral says the invitation to tender is fraudulent and did not legitimately emanate from its officials. “The invitations to tender are made in the name of a Ms Constance Masedi, supposedly an employee of our supply chain management department. Our internal employee database confirms that we do not have Ms Masedi on our payroll,” said Vusi Mona, Sanral general manager of communications. The telephone and fax numbers, as well as the email address used were also incorrect,…
The Eastern Cape Coronavirus Command Council has welcomed a decline in the province’s crime rate in the province by 4452 cases during levels 5 and 4 of the national lockdown, attributing this to the work of the multi-agency safety and security workstream. The safety and security workstream is made up of South African Police Service, South African Defence Force, Traffic Management Services of the Provincial Department of Transport, Traffic Officers and municipal Officers of Municipalities and the State Security Agency. The Council said during the Covid-19 national lockdown, contact crimes had declined by 2270 compared to the same period last…