Author: Sue Maclennan

Grocott’s Mail visited Makhanda’s (Grahamstown’s) James Kleynhans water treatment works after the town had been without water for days. Queues of residents lined with buckets up along streets, with trucks being deployed to manually distribute water to residents – particularly those in high-lying areas. At the plant serving east Grahamstown, the clarifier ponds were thick with sludge, with at most 5cm of clear water sitting on top. The sludge had to be pumped out before the treatment and supply of water to residents could be resumed. That was on Christmas Eve in 2013. 24 DECEMBER 2013 THE PROBLEM THE SOLUTION…

A Makhanda (Grahamstown) paramedic and four other men will appear in the Regional Court in Makhanda (Grahamstown) on 1 March on rhino-poaching charges. The local man was granted bail of R50 000 under stringent conditions in the Magistrate’s Court on Friday 8 February. His four co-accused, who are all foreign nationals, remain in custody. The men were arrested on 30 December in possession of two rhino horns. Microchips in the horns linked them to a black rhino in the Great Fish River reserve whose carcass was found there the next day. On Thursday 7 February, in their fourth appearance, the…

After 18 years at the heart and helm of Somerset Place retirement home, Ben and Norma Bezuidenhout are themselves finally retiring. Stepping into their shoes are Judy and Bill Harvey. Ben and Normal have been the management team at Somerset Place for 18 years and since the early 90s they have been core to developing the complex into a thriving community. Together with an active committee, they have raised R496 000 for the Somerset Care Society through Ben’s extraordinary long-distance running exploits, as well as shows and concerts. “The organisation receives subscriptions,” he said, “but there’s always extra money needed.” With…

Eastcape Midlands College’s Student Support Services officer Nomonde Magxaka and SRC President Siya Majali visited the Makhanda (Grahamstown) campus Thursday 14 February, a week after students at the local campus began protests over a range of grievances. The students’ demands, as listed in a document dated 4 February, include registration anomalies, a lack of transport for late classes, queries about NSFAS funding, the status of the SRC, alleged shortages of textbooks, lecturers, toilets, toilet paper, computers and internet. They demanded that management meet them to hear their grievances and protests continued through Friday and the following Monday. On Friday, they…

Staff at Makhanda’s (Grahamstown’s) Eastcape Midlands College who are signed up to the National Health and Allied Workers Union will join Nehawu members across South Africa in today’s ‘Total Shut-Down’ of TVET and CET colleges, Regional Secretary of the union’s Max Madlingozi Region, KK Kaleka, confirmed to Grocott’s Mail. The strike follows student unrest on the campus in the past six days, a SA Municipal Workers Union strike in its third week and coincides with today’s National Day of Action by Cosatu. According to Nehawu’s website, the certified national strike is a dispute arising from the 2009 splitting of the…

Students at Eastcape Midlands College protested outside the main gate of the Makhanda (Grahamstown) campus for a fourth day today. They denied that agreement had been reached to return to classes and said they were waiting for senior management from the College’s headquarters in Uitenhage, along with the SRC, to meet with them. The students began protesting on Thursday 7 February over a list of demands that includes registration anomalies, a lack of transport for late classes, queries about NSFAS funding, the status of the SRC, alleged shortages of textbooks, lecturers, toilets, toilet paper, computers and internet. Facilitated by Makana…

By the time disaster relief organisation Gift of the Givers reaches Makhanda (Grahamstown) on Tuesday 12 February with truckloads of bottled water, large parts of the city will have had dry taps for eight days. Residents queued for hours Sunday 10 February as trucks organised by a municipality-led crisis committee struggled to service thousands of households. Civic group Makana Revive, who spent the week picking up refuse across the city during a strike, have turned their attention to boosting water deliveries to desperate families. The dry taps in east Makhanda are due to excessive turbidity in the Orange/Fish supply to…

Rhodes University says it is happy with what has been achieved to improve security on and off campus since the 2018 arrest of two men in connection with the drug-linked alleged abduction of a Rhodes University student. The men, who have remained in custody since their arrest, are due to appear in court later this month for plea and trial. Following the 13 April 2018 arrest of the men (Grocott’s Mail won’t name them until they have pleaded), the police revealed alarming details of the modus operandi of the drug-related alleged kidnappings. Three such incidents had been reported in the…

The bail application of a Makhanda (Grahamstown) paramedic and four other men arrested in the Free State on rhino-poaching charges will continue on Friday 8 February in the Magistrate’s Court in Makhanda. The men were arrested on 30 December in possession of two rhino horns. Microchips in the horns linked them to a black rhino in the Great Fish River reserve whose carcass was found there the next day. On Thursday 7 February the men began their bail application. It was their fourth appearance. Counsel for the local man is *Declan Williamson. Charles Stamper, from Legal Aid, is representing the…

Vandalism at sewage pump stations and poor design of the waste water reticulation in Makhanda’s (Grahamstown’s) Extension 6 are the main reasons rivers of sewage flooded homes in the area early on Monday 4 February, Municipal Manager Moppo Mene told Grocott’s Mail Tuesday 5 February. With Water and Sanitation staff on Friday 1 February joining a strike by workers in Makana’s Parks, Cleansing and Electricity departments, a private company was on Monday sent to investigate for blockages and breaks in the pipes in the area. Meanwhile, the Mayor says the possibility of deploying Community Work Project members to clean the…