Author: Sue Maclennan

The site of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana’s violent death, Clareinch Post Office in Cape Town, is set to be transformed into a wellness centre. Speaking at the launch of the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation in Makhanda this week, Nomangwane Mrwetyana said this was one way they would honour her daughter’s legacy and celebrate everything she stood for. Uyinene was raped and murdered there three months ago. A former post office worker pleaded guilty and on 15 November was handed three life sentences. In Makhanda, on Friday 29 November, a 400-strong march through the city centre started and ended at Kingswood College,…

Makana Municipal Manager Moppo Mene has withdrawn his resignation. This follows a week of protests in Makhanda. Meanwhile, alliance partners the SACP and the ANC have denied tensions among their local leadership as provincial government and regional leadership stepped in. A protest march last Friday by SAMWU and IMATU affiliated municipal workers was at least partly about who has jurisdiction over certain labour decisions in local government. It was sparked by allegations of political interference in administrative matters. The South African Municipal Workers Union said it was over such interference that Mene resigned. Mene handed in his resignation days after…

Makana Municipality has rejected an application for a 25-metre-high cellphone tower to be erected in the heart of Makhanda’s (Grahamstown’s) heritage conservation area. The surrounding infrastructure could expand to roughly 13m x 13m – half the width of the church as you face it – according to the plans. Sunnyside residents were earlier this year shocked to find out about the structure proposed for midway between the Dutch Reformed Church and St Bartholomew’s in Market Street. They expressed a range of concerns including health worries over electro-magnetic radiation, aesthetics, disturbance to garden wildlife and the effect on property values. The main…

Nine days after a horrific hate-crime attack in Makhanda (Grahamstown), with no arrests, and witnesses receiving threatening messages, the survivor and his friends remain in hiding, fearing for their lives. Meanwhile, police have confirmed that a counter-charge has been laid.  Makhanda woke up to the shocking news on Sunday 3 November of a vicious attack on well known performer Sisonke Yafele that had all the signs of a hate crime. The attack left the UBOM! actor badly bruised, with a deep gash in his thigh (they’d tried to chop off his leg with an axe) and severely traumatised. In a…

Makana’s Municipal Manager resigned this week, reportedly in protest against political interference. Yesterday’s protest by municipal workers was at least partly about who has jurisdiction over certain labour decisions in local government: the politicians (councillors), the administration (municipal manager) or local government’s national central bargaining council. Beneath that are simmering tensions at a local level between alliance partners the ANC and the SACP.  Sue Maclennan reports Provincial government officials received a petition from municipal unions outside the Makhanda City Hall on Friday 8 November. Among the demands were  an end to political interference in administrative matters; a full forensic audit…

Inside the city hall, there is unhappiness over how a proposal to resolve wage discrepancies was handled; outside, the community of Inkanini say they want electricity by Christmas. The municipal leadership has its hands full this week, writes Sue Maclennan Two meetings with the city’s leadership failed to appease  residents of Inkanini informal settlement this week, as they took to Makhanda’s streets in protest. Makana Mayor Mzukisi Mpahlwa says there is no plan by the municipality to destroy the shacks that have spread across the veld. Meanwhile a massive march planned by municipal workers for Friday 8 November is likely…

The Post Office has warned the public about a parcel delivery scam. “Members of the public receive SMS messages informing them that a parcel could not be delivered to them because VAT needs to be paid on the parcel.  A link on the SMS leads them to a web page where they are requested to deposit money into a bank account,” it said. The SA Post Office does not require customers to make any bank deposit before parcels are released. VAT or any other fee is paid at the time when the parcel is delivered or collected.  The customer will…

The current hot temperatures in major parts of the country have plunged three provinces to stress levels as their dam levels dropped to below half in the past two weeks. According to the Department of Water and Sanitation report, the dam levels in Limpopo, Eastern Cape and North West have plummeted to below 50% in two weeks, amid fears that the situation may deteriorate unless rain comes soon. The Eastern Cape and North West provinces’ dam levels have dropped to below 50%, a few days after Limpopo dropped to 49.8%. The Joe Gqabi district, with eight towns under its jurisdiction,…

Around 300 protesters marched through mist and drizzle late Wednesday night 6 November from eNkanini to the busy Makana Way/ R67 intersection in east Makhanda. The informal settlement residents were likely to repeat the action this morning from around 6am, a spokesperson said. In June 2017, thousands of hopeful people queued over several days, hoping to be allocated plots on the empty land north of Extension 10, Extension 9 and Transit Camp. The allocation of the 18m x 23m plots was done by a committee of individuals led by Asanda Bobo. The move took Makana Municipality by surprise and even…

The police have strongly condemned what has all the signs of a hate attack on well known Makhanda actor Sisonke Yafele last weekend and say they will do everything possible to ensure the perpetrators are brought to book. The South African Police Service is investigating a case of Assault GBH (grievous bodily harm) following a vicious assault on Yafele in Tantyi, Makhanda (Grahamstown), in the early hours of Sunday 3 November. The police did not identify Yafele in their statement; however, Yafele has explicitly requested that Grocott’s Mail name him. “I can’t keep quiet about this,” Yafele said from where…