“Polling is probably the most incorrect science we have in our country,” was Natasha Mazzone’s response to a question about opinion polls and the losses predicted for the Democratic Alliance (DA). The DA shadow minister for Public Enterprises, Mazzone, was speaking at an information sharing breakfast at the Graham Hotel on Friday morning where a group of about 70 people gathered to hear her views ahead of the May 8 elections. She says the party has its own internal polling and internal campaigning as well as the positive feedback from party events and they all show a different story to…
Author: Steven Lang
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Boreholes in the Makana area need to be monitored on a regular basis to find out how the current drought and associated additional groundwater use is affecting the sustainability of the aquifers. Several organisations and private individuals have commissioned boreholes on their properties over the last few months in an effort to cope with the current water shortages. While the boreholes might ameliorate the problem in the short term, there is uncertainty about their longer term sustainability. Dr Jane Tanner, Head of Hydrology at the Institute for Water Research (IWR), says that many of these boreholes should be monitored on…
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is hoping to increase its representation in the Eastern Cape Legislature from 10 to 13 seats. It is also prepared to consider a coalition government in the province to oust the current majority party, the African National Congress (ANC) This is the view of Jane Cowley, a member of the Eastern Cape provincial legislature in Bhisho and also leader of the party’s Frontier Constituency which includes Makhanda and Port Alfred. She was speaking to Grocott’s Mail at the Bathurst Agricultural Show where the DA usually has a stall to keep contact with the rural and farming…
The Good Party has come to Makana in the person of Stanley April. Like the party, he comes from Cape Town where he was boarded as a policeman and since then he has been happily living off his pension in Makhanda with his wife Imelda. The Good Party has no offices in the town just yet so he runs the local presence from their house on Trotter Street. April has no experience in politics but said he wanted to do something useful, something Good for the community he lives in. He contacted the provincial leadership of the party in Jeffreys…
Wildly popular singer and songwriter, Zahara was the headline attraction at Saturday’s launch of the Department of Women’s Sanitary Dignity Programme. The close to 800-strong crowd of mainly schoolgirls and women roared their approval as the East London singer playing her guitar did various numbers on stage. Fans then verged on the delirious as Zahara left the platform and danced among crowds of adoring supporters, inviting a few lucky girls from local schools to sing along. The Department of Women, in partnership with the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, hosted the Provincial Launch of the Sanitary Dignity Programme at the Indoor…
Rhodes University Biochemistry and Microbiology departments had a combined graduation function on Friday following the morning graduation session. Steven Lang was there to capture the pride and the joy.
Gone are the heady days of 2016 and 2017 when sales at game auctions were burgeoning all over the country and the annual events at Kwandwe topped R56 and R61 million respectively. This year a far more sedate affair netted a relatively meagre R22 641 000. The 2019 Wildswinkel game auction, hosted by Kwandwe, took place on Saturday in a more modest sized marquee than previous years, but there were still plenty of high-end bakkies and SUVs filling the parking field. The obvious belt-tightening did not however dampen the festive atmosphere and the rowdy bidding. There were 73 lots of…
There is something about the lines of a classic car that just makes you want to stop and stare in delighted admiration. Okay, not everybody has this problem – but classic and vintage car enthusiasts had plenty to grab and hold their attention at the Bathurst Show last weekend. The Albany Vintage and Classic Motor Club (AVCMC) of Port Alfred had a beautiful collection of their most treasured gems on display at the Show. It has a museum and a clubroom where members meet once per week in Port Alfred. Most of the club’s 50 active members live either in…
Bathurst was the place to be last weekend if the fleets of bakkies and cars parked outside the agricultural grounds were anything to go by. Thousands of people from Lower Albany and further afield converged on the 111th Bathurst Agricultural Show for fun, food and farming. The main focus of the Show is agricultural and there was no shortage of farming equipment including tractors, ploughs, pumps, milking machines, stock handling devices, pasture planters, balers and much more. There was plenty of livestock tucked away in the enclosures and pens of the stock section where judging took place for various classes…
The South African Communist Party has urged young people to vote for the ANC in the upcoming general elections. SACP Deputy General Secretary, Solly Mapaila, made this appeal at a rally held in Noluthando Hall on Saturday, saying that, “if you don’t vote, you have voted for someone (…else)” which is in effect a vote of no confidence. Most of the supporters at the rally were clearly not first-time voters – underlining Mapaila’s concern about motivating the younger citizens. He pointed out that many ANC initiatives that have benefited young people “… millions of them at higher institutions of learning. We’ve…