Author: Sue Maclennan

More than 100 loads of dumped waste were removed from Aiken Street during three weeks in 2019 and 15 loads were removed from outside JD Dlepu stadium in Joza from 29-31 October. From October through December of that year, skips and containers across the town were emptied 71 times. This information is contained in the Council’s Social Development portfolio minutes of 28 January 2020. It forms part of Makana Municipality’s response to an October 2020 court application. Makana’s municipal manager Moppo Mene puts the blame squarely on residents for the piles of rubbish lining Makhanda’s streets. Members of the public…

Makhanda generates around 2.1kg of waste per person every day. Going by the last official population count that makes a staggering 172 326 kilograms a day, or 5 200 tons a month… close on 63 000 tons a year. For years and years, most of that has ended up in the Cradock Road landfill – the hellhole that has come close to seeing Makana Municipality’s chief accounting officer and political head behind bars. The municipal dump will never be heaven, but the good news for the town (and perhaps Makana’s Mayor and Municipal Manager) is that in just a few weeks, according to…

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.grocotts.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SETTLERS-AND-HOWISONS-COMPARISON.pdf” title=”SETTLERS AND HOWISONS COMPARISON”] With Settlers Dam, west Makhanda’s main water supply reservoir down to 5%  of its capacity and the much smaller Howison’s Poort Dam at around 25%, the rains of the past few weeks have done nothing to ease the town’s water concerns. And farmers face a bleak winter unless they get rain substantial enough for veld growth within the next few weeks. Makana’s water manager Gubevu Maduna confirmed that Settlers Dam is at its lowest yet, currently holding only 5% of its 5 300 megalitre capacity. It has not been possible to pump water from…

“Most landfills separate their waste,” says Victoria Warner, CEO of Separation at Source (S@S), the company subcontracted by Mphele Engineers to manage the recycling operations at the Makhanda landfill during the next three years. “A proper waste management system separates commercial, hazardous, green, general and household waste,” Warner explains. “In Makhanda, it’s all one combined nightmare.” Coming soon from S@S will be more information about their plan to boost local recycling, turn waste into a more viable living for the reclaimers community, and in the process, reduce the amount of waste filling up the landfill. Meanwhile, we’ve compiled the guide…

The team of attorneys from the Rhodes University Law Clinic behind a campaign to educate Makhanda residents about their rights as consumers. A monthly series in GMDirect starts this week with an explanation of the laws that give you rights as a consumer and how they are applied in daily life. From left to right (standing) are Ndumiso Khumalo, Shaun Bergover, Ryan McDonald (all three are legal practitioners), Mbulelo Dause (candidate legal practitioner); (seated): Siziphiwe Yuze (legal practitioner), Shoalin Rademeyer, Inga Zenzile (both are candidate legal practitioners) and Jonathan Campbell (legal practitioner). Public information and rights education is one aspect of the work…

Mphele Engineers and Separation at Source (SAS), have three years to make Makhanda’s waste management practices more sustainable, decommission the Cradock Road landfill and establish a new rubbish dump. This comes with the announcement on Monday that a tender advertised in September has been awarded to Mphele. The engineering company has partnered with SAS – a working relationship that began in March 2020, around the time the Makana Unity League put the heat on the Mayor and Municipal Manager over the landfill. The MUL succeeded in a contempt of court case against Mayor Mzukisi Mpahlwa and Municipal Manager Moppo Mene,…

The Covid-19 vaccination programme will be launched in Makhanda on Wednesday 10 February. Hospital staff are the first in line, with other high-risk health workers to follow. Meanwhile, dozens of private and public health workers from the Department of Health’s Makana District (which includes Ndlambe) this week attended training sessions in Makhanda on administering the AstraZeneca Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine. One million Covid-19 vaccines from the Serum Institute of India arrived in South Africa on Monday, with a further 500 000 due to arrive later this month. Department of Health sources told GMDirect that vaccination could begin in Makhanda as soon…

The government’s move to consult stakeholders about professionalising the public service is welcome, but comes at a very difficult time, the Public Service Accountability Monitor says. The PSAM was responding to the announcement by Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Senzo Mchunu, of a two-week public consultation process next month on this topic. In December the draft National Implementation Framework towards the Professionalisation of the Public Service was published for comments. The Framework recommends that the public service be merit-based and insulated from party politics. Among the elements it proposes are critical to professionalising the service are pre-entry recruitment and selection…

The danger of having your first impressions of the world formed in Makhanda is that it might come as a shock when you move towns and discover that few others have the depth and breadth of expertise in so many areas, or the willingness to share it. For a start scientists – lots of scientists – the best scientists. Then there’s the most profound artists and poets, diligent historians, and editors… lots of editors. Put that all together and you have what it takes to make a book that you’ll want to give all your friends and family for their…

Rhodes University has backed down after rental agents, property owners and students expressed alarm at stringent accreditation requirements for accommodation for NSFAS-funded students. Agents say it will be impossible for landlords to comply by the time students arrive for the start of the first term. Students say the strict rules would close off options for affordable accommodation. The University says the criteria are necessary to ensure a safe environment for its students that is conducive to learning. Rhodes University has adjusted its requirements for off-campus student accommodation paid for by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). In a media…