Author: Sue Maclennan

The Mayor is abandoning a statutory Advisory Council established earlier this year in favour of “citizen-driven initiatives”. Makana’s Executive Mayor Mzukisi Mpahlwa announced this during his address at the start of the first full Council meeting since the National Arts Festival. The Internal Audit and Risk Committee started the business of the meeting on a relatively positive note, saying in their presentation that there had been significant improvement in both financial and performance information reporting. Compliance with the Act that is supposed to keep municipal finances on the straight and narrow – the MFMA – had also improved. The first…

The Rhini Debating League (RDL) Schools Junior team are officially the best in the Eastern Cape after winning their final in the Provincial Debating Championships hosted by Kingswood College in Makhanda (Grahamstown) on 19-21 July. The Rhini Senior team were close runners-up in the Senior finals. Both Juniors and Seniors were up against 25 schools from five regional debating leagues across the Eastern Cape. Every other league was represented by its dominant school, but the Rhini organisers broke with that practice, selecting the best individual speakers across local schools in the League, resulting in a diverse and formidable squad. Learners…

The Benedictine monks at the Maria Umama weThemba Monastery speak to Grocott’s Mail as they prepare to hand over an oasis of contemplation and action that’s won its way into the hearts of the community. “People think prayer is telling God stuff: what you need, what’s troubling you,” says Brother Roger. “Actually, it’s far more about listening,” The Benedictine Brothers remaining at the Maria Umama weThemba Monastery will be moving to a new monastery, St Benedict’s Priory, at Volmoed near Hermanus in the Western Cape at the end of next month. They represent an extraordinary legacy to Makhanda that is…

The Diocesan School for Girls will take over the Maria Umama weThemba Monastery on the Highlands Road outside Makhanda (Grahamstown) at the end of next month, to establish a cross-curricular outdoor education centre. A recently signed lease gives the independent school free use of the 70 hectares of the land and buildings that since 1997 have been occupied by the Monastic Community of the Order of the Holy Cross. The latter includes the Hillandale Guest House, but not Holy Cross School, which is supported by two charities. All three parties are delighted with the arrangement. The Order has announced the…

Twenty-four members of the Makana Dance Sport club will compete in the Sarah Baartman District Championships in the Makana City Hall on Saturday 10 August. The 12 dance couples will be dancing for championship trophies, as well as points to take them to the next competitive dance level. The club practises every day in the Recreation Hall in Albany Road from 5pm to 7pm and welcomes beginners of all ages. Currently the competitive couples are receiving special coaching from Ron Weissenberg. Weissenberg competed as a ballroom dancer from 1984 to 2002, representing his club at provincial and national championships. A…

By SUE MACLENNAN AND GEMMA RITCHIE Makana fire fighters supported by two teams from the Diocesan School for girls, Rhodes University Campus Protection Unit and students halted a runaway veld fire on three fronts in Makhanda (Grahamstown) last night, preventing catastrophe. Students were evacuated from residences adjacent to the western commonage and all emergency services were on high alert as an electrical short on a powerline sparked a fire that strong winds quickly blew towards the Rhodes campus and residential areas on the city’s edge.  In search of the source of the smoke coming across the western commonage shortly after…

Forty Makhanda debaters in a formidable Makana and Ndlambe schools squad are among around 600 pupils from across the Eastern Cape who have since Friday been locked in debate – literally. The 2019 Eastern Cape Schools Provincial Debating Championship, hosted by Kingswood College, will have its finals Sunday afternoon 21 July. Debaters will know early Sunday morning whether they’ve made it through tonight’s hotly fought quarter-finals to Sunday’s semis. Four debating leagues are taking part alongside the Rhini (Makhanda/ Port Alfred) league. They are Port Elizabeth-Uitenhage, Border, Mthatha and Lukhanji. The Juniors (Grades 8-10) will be seeking to unseat last…

The Makhanda community has come to the assistance of two families left destitute after a fire destroyed their adjoining shacks and all their contents yesterday morning in the Mission area of Fingo Village. The fire started shortly before 11.30am on Friday 19 July. Neighbours said a young child had brought a burning brazier inside the Orsmond Terrace home and it had set fire to a bed. The fire quickly spread, the neighbour told Grocott’s Mail, razing not only the Mpolweni family’s home, but also the adjoining shack of Esther Tom and Sithembele Masinda. Neighbours said two young children had been…

You could not have invented the thrill and amazement on the faces of 18 boys in Makhanda (Grahamstown) on Sunday morning as a herd of thumping metal roared on to their doorstep. Old-school tourers like the 1400GTR, sporty cbr 1000s and everything in between brought a posse of 30 leather-clad motorcyclists from East London, King William’s Town, Mdantsane, Alice, Port Alfred, Port Elizabeth and of course Makhanda to the Eluxolweni Child and Youth Care Centre on Sunday 13 July. To be honest, the decision to miss church just this once was a no-brainer as the group – most of them…

It took fire fighters less than 30 minutes to extinguish a blaze when an electrical transformer at the Makana substation in the Industrial Area caught fire shortly before 8.30pm tonight. Most of west Makhanda, served by the transformer which is adjacent to the old Power Station, was without power for around 45 minutes. Here’s what happened – Senior Firefighter Nontisikelelo Nonqotya speaks: “When we got here it was huge,” said Senior Firefighter Nontisikelelo Nonqotya. The power lines were shooting everywhere.” Fire Fighters Nonqotya, Booi, Njoko and Nombulelo Mkele contained the blaze quickly, using foam. However, emergency personnel on the scene afterwards…