Author: Sue Maclennan

Senior official suspended * MM appointment stalled * Electricity agreement a game-changer Extraordinary political developments leading up to and during the Council meeting on Wednesday 25 July overshadowed even a game-changing collaboration between green energy trader Power X and Makana Municipality. Makana Executive Mayor Nomhle Gaga survived a motion of no confidence in a full council meeting and a stand-in was named for the Infrastructure director, who has been suspended for the duration of an independent investigation into allegations of financial misconduct. And today, a full week after the Council approved a candidate for the urgent appointment of a permanent…

Keep boiling water, DWS and Makana advise There was good news, confusing news and a surprising idea to deal with Makana’s imminent water supply crisis as a top political mission, along with senior officials from the Department of Water and Sanitation and Amatola Water, descended on Grahamstown (Makhanda) yesterday. There was a definite twist in the fact that when they arrived to inspect the emThonjeni spring on the Port Alfred road, the person at the front of the queue filling bottles was a member of Makana’s Water and Sanitation staff, in full uniform. The VIP visit to the spring by…

Makana has pulled down the shutters on intense battles raging inside the Council and in municipal offices. The only public item in yesterday’s special council meeting was the appointment of a Disciplinary Board. The structure is a statutory one in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act. The item is relevant because according to the Act it is this body which is required to deal with allegations of financial misconduct. Such allegations were made against Infrastructure Director Dali Mlenzana. Five allegations of misconduct are contained in a document seen by Grocott’s Mail. Four relate to alleged supply chain irregularities and…

Acting municipal manager Ted Pillay has confirmed receipt of a Notice of Motion of No Confidence in Makana Municipality’s Executive Mayor Nomhle Gaga. **The motion was submitted by Makana Municipality’s DA caucus leader Mlindi Nhanha. Commenting to Grocott’s Mail, Nhanha claimed Gaga had failed in her duties as the municipality’s political head to exercise effective oversight and provide leadership to the embattled municipality. Pillay this week confirmed he had received the Notice of Motion and said he had brought it to the attention of the Mayor and the Speaker. **Nhanha said the motion had been submitted ahead of the statutory…

The Grahamstown Kwantu Choir will celebrate their success at the World Choir Games in Tshwane with two homecoming concerts next weekend. Not only did the community choir led by Kutlwana ‘Kepa’ Kepadisa manage to raise the funds to get to the Games in Pretoria last week, but they thoroughly impressed the judges of the international competition, narrowly missing a gold medal by fewer than two points. They were awarded Silver in the Open Mixed Chamber Choir category, placing fifth overall out of the 13 choirs competing in that category. Kepadisa said from the moment he heard in 2016 that the…

Four Grahamstown (Makhanda) men were handed life sentences for what the Judge described as “one of the worst murders one can imagine” in the high court in Grahamstown this week. Thembani Onceya and his cousins Akhona and Simamkele Onceya, along with Mzwanele Maki, appeared before Judge Thembekile Malusi for sentencing on Wednesday 18 July. The Judge said Thembani had played a leadership role in directing his three co-accused in the brutal torture and murder of Thembelani Qwakanisa, suspected of stealing Thembani’s laptop. The 30-year-old’s severely mutilated body was found floating in Zion Dam in Extension 6, wrapped in a blanket…

Grocott’s Mail conducted some research among experts about how to choose flooring for your home – and how to maintain it. Floors are something most homeowners think about the least – yet it’s part of a house you live with the longest. “We re-paint and re-curtain every couple of years, and replace bedding and other soft furnishing at a whim – but a floor stays with you a good 10-15 years: you only replace it once or twice in a lifetime,” says Derick Kleynhans, owner of Top Carpets in Grahamstown and Port Alfred.. “In the past, most houses had carpets.…

(From left) Jock McConnachie, Errol Moorcroft, David Hilton-Barber, Zongezile Matshoba and Dan Wylie at the launch at the Eastern Star Museum of three books published by Footprint Press, all with and Eastern Cape theme or focus. McConnachie spoke about Hilton-Barber’s Robert Hart, the first English speaking South African settler; Moorcroft introduced his collection of short stories, The Wool-classer, the Shearers and the Golden Fleece, and Dan Wylie reflected on the late Marion Baxter’s Bitter Aloes: Stories from the Eastern Cape. Matshoba, the Education and Public Programmes Manager of hosts the National English Literary Museum, welcomed guests and introduced the event…

At 9.30pm on Thursday 12 July, Makana’s Fire and Emergency Services Manager William Welkom and fire fighters were driving around areas of Grahamstown (Makhanda) where the veld was still smouldering after a day of fires that threatened homes, schools and the 6SAI army base. An all-out response by emergency services, backed up by local institutions and businesses, saved the city from a fire Thursday 12 July that in the tinder-dry conditions and hot, gusting winds could have been as devastating as the fires that destroyed more than 1000 homes on the Garden Route just over a year ago. The fire…

Infrastructure and technical services director Dali Mlenzana says he’s here to stay. “I will be at Makana for the next 30 years. I will retire here,” was his assurance when Grocott’s Mail asked him last week about reports that he might be planning to leave the municipality. “I am at work – I’m speaking to you from my office now.” Since then, it’s been confirmed that Mlenzana was given a week to respond to allegations of misconduct. Mlenzana’s continued presence at the infrastructure directorate was on Friday confirmed by portfolio committee chair Mabhuti Matyumza, who said, “He’s in the office…