Author: Sue Maclennan

Eleven trucks filled with bottled water and JoJo tanks were due to leave Cape Town for Makhanda (Grahamstown) an hour ago. ABSA and Engen have sponsored 360 000 litres of  bottled water and 150 JoJo tanks that should arrive in the next few days in Gift of the Givers trucks along with six trucks sponsored by DHL. This comes as efforts to restore the city’s water supply have been hampered by the ongoing strike in Makana Municipality. Residents served by the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works have reported that the supply returned intermittently during the weekend, and Makana’s Communications division says…

Three men facing the charge of attempted murder will make their second appearance in the Magistrate’s Court in Makhanda (Grahamstown) on 4 March. The charge is in connection with a shooting incident that, according to a source, took place on Saturday 23 February outside the Joza Police Station. Sources later that day told Grocott’s Mail that the man who was shot was recovering in hospital, having been airlifted for emergency surgery. On Saturday, following the incident, police and private security intervened when a large group of supporters of the hospitalised man confronted a family member of the alleged shooter. They…

A student’s case against two men alleged to have kidnapped and robbed him and forced him to use drugs on a night early last year is expected to be finalised in the Regional Court in Makhanda (Grahamstown) this week. Jamie de Jager and Andre du Plessis have pleaded not guilty to the charges of Kidnapping and Robbery with Aggravating Circumstances with respect to an incident on 11 April 2018. Prosecuting for the State is Lawrence Merrick. Defending De Jager and Du Plessis is attorney Katja Offerman. De Jager and Du Plessis on Monday 25 February pleaded not guilty and at…

Court papers were today served on Makana Municipality, calling for the Provincial Executive to urgently implement Section 139 (1) (c) of the Constitution and dissolve the local Council. The Mayor, Municipal Manager and Makana Council, the Eastern Cape Premier, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Co-operative Governance, as well as the President of South Africa are among 15 respondents named in a High Court application. The application is brought by the Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) to force a local election and to have a “competent and experienced” administrator appointed to run local government. The documents cite multiple crises in…

A group of around 50 people protested this morning outside the Magistrate’s Court in Makhanda (Grahamstown), opposing bail for a man appearing in connection with an alleged shooting. Grocott’s Mail understands that the incident took place on Saturday 23 February outside the Joza Police Station, where, according to a source, one of the men was about to lay a charge against the other. The man who was shot is reportedly recovering in hospital, having been airlifted for emergency surgery. On Saturday, following the incident, police and private security intervened when a large group of supporters of the hospitalised man confronted…

For the second time in less than a month, residents in parts of Somerset Heights yesterday experienced power surges after an electrical substation was broken into and vandalised. Residents in areas surrounding Gowie Dam reported power surges shortly after 7am on Thursday 21 February. Makana electricians who arrived soon after discovered that the Wincanton Road substation had been broken into and the neutral cable from the transformer room stolen. In a statement, Makana Municpality said electricians had replaced the vandalised parts and a case of theft and damage to property had been opened. Residents reported power returning around 6.30pm. Damage…

The Ndlovu rhino-poaching trial will resume in the High Court in Makhanda (Grahamstown) on Monday 11 March, for argument and possible judgment. Jabulani Ndlovu, Forget Ndlovu and Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu were arrested at Makana Resort outside Makhanda in June 2016. They are charged with counts of theft, contravening environmental laws and the Medicines Control Act, and contravening the Firearms Control Act in connection with 13 poaching incidents near Makhanda, Jansenville, Graaff-Reinet, Cradock and Alexandria. Senior Counsel for the defence, Terry Price, informed Judge Jeremy Pickering that his clients had run out of funds and that on the basis he had been…

Grocott’s Mail is aware of a letter that on Tuesday 19 February ‘went viral’ on social media referring to a “circular relating to the toxicity of the present Makana Municipality water” – and attributing Grocott’s Mail as the source. Grocott’s Mail dissociates itself from the letter emailed to local schools. Subsequent ‘damage control’ correspondence to parents and other stakeholders has suggested Grocott’s Mail had erred. This is not the case. The article said there was e.coli in the water according to tests done in November and December. The email implied that the tests applied to current water quality. This is incorrect. We…

As private citizens continue to collect rubbish piling up on the city’s streets during the municipal strike, Makana Municipality is looking into the process of reviving the IWARS recycling programme. Last month’s protest by Ghost Town residents against illegal dumping on Sugarloaf Hill was an ironic reminder of a stalled project that should by now have massively reduced the amount of rubbish lying around Makhanda (Grahamstown), by making collecting waste more lucrative than dumping it. Sugarloaf Hill is the site of one of three waste recycling buyback centres placed at high-traffic former dumpsites in Makhanda (Grahamstown). The units were delivered to…

Bacterial counts in the tap water from testing sites in Makhanda (Grahamstown) have returned to safe levels; however, in Riebeeck East, the water remains unsafe to drink, according to laboratory results. Testing on drinking water sampled from nine sites across Makana Municipality on 6 February show that bacteria in the tap water at all sites except Riebeeck East had returned to acceptable levels, according to Director of Community Safety and Social Services Kelello Makgoka. The Director today 19 February telephonically shared with Grocott’s Mail some of the latest test results, printed at the National Health Laboratory Service’s Port Elizabeth laboratory…