Author: Sue Maclennan

Sue Maclennan @SusanMaclennan2 A tragedy was turned into positive action when the murder of a young man last month spurred a Grahamstown community to try and make their neighbourhood safer. Late on 29 April Sonwabo Venani, a respected soccer player and administrator at Santos FC, was found stabbed to death behind a popular drinking spot opposite CM Vellem and Samuel Ntlebi Primary Schools. Seven days later, the manager of the Makanaskop Tavern had brought in a front-end loader to clear the huge mound of rubbish that had accumulated there over several years, and a team was preparing holes and cement for…

By Chiara Brendel and Lukas Hüneke The awarenet programme, which runs IT classes with learners from several Grahamstown schools, each year receives two volunteers from Germany. They work full time for the programme an entire year. Below are their impressions after having spent eight months in Grahamstown. They say you can’t really get a feeling for a country until you’ve been there, until you speak to the people, see their land and breathe their air. They say you only know the country once you’ve lived there, been a part of it and built a life there. So that’s what we…

By CHRIS MBEKELA Good leadership and sound governance are intertwined, both contributing to the provision of services in a sustainable manner. The leadership of the governing party is centrestage in any country. In a formal democratic space, individuals are elevated to leadership positions through structured democratic processes. The privilege to govern is located within the context of the Constitution, which is designed to curb the abuse of power and authority by the state apparatus in particular. Checks and balances are in place against any attempt to govern outside the legislative framework. This means leaders must be conversant with the legislative terms of…

Is your expensive vehicle currently ‘homeless’ – left outside at night, exposed to the elements and possibly also the eyes of thieves? Does it have to live in the carport or on the driveway because your garage is too full of ‘stuff’ to park it there? The trouble with garages, notes Berry Everitt, CEO of the Chas Everitt International property group, is that they present such a handy – and cheap – place to put all our extra belongings when we decide to have a tidy-up indoors. “Instead of selling or donating any of those unused belongings, we tend to…

STAFF REPORTERS SPAR Oak Cottage in Grahamstown was a hub of excitement last weekend, with the SPAR Win a Car and Victoria Primary School Trolley Dash winners enjoying their prizes in a festive atmosphere. Friday evening saw Kim van Wyk emerge the winner, in an in-store draw where each of the 10 finalists had the chance to try out a key in a lock. Van Wyk’s success got her the keys to a bright-red VW Up – “Amazing, absolutely amazing. Over the moon!” said Van Wyk, who lives with her family on a farm in the Southwell area. Meanwhile, the Victoria Primary…

STAFF REPORTER  Pro Carmine choirmaster, Peter Breetzke, handed over nearly R5 500 to the Joza Reading Club on On Wednesday. The money will help buy new books and fund the translation of some existing ones into isiXhosa. The cash was raised at Pro Carmine’s joint concert with visiting UK choir, Moorland Voices, at the National English Literary Museum (NELM) last month, and is the highest total ever collected at a single Pro Carmine performance. The club, which runs out of the Joza Youth Hub, aims to get Foundation Phase children into reading.  Youngsters from local schools are taken to the…

The two vehicles that Police recovered on the N2 this week. Photo: Grahamstown SAPS.  King William’s Town police with the cluster’s K9 and Flying Squad recovered a grey Amarok bakkie reported stolen in Pretoria around 1pm Wednesday. Following up on information received, the vehicle was spotted driving towards Peddie. A chase ensued and the team intercepted it on the N2 just before Peddie. A 29-year-old man was arrested for possession of suspected stolen motor vehicle and detained at Peddie. He will appear in the Peddie Magistrates Court shortly. Meanwhile, Grahamstown police recovered two stolen vehicles on the N2 between Grahamstown and Port…

Sue Maclennan @SusanMaclennan Union representatives were this afternoon locked in wage negotiations with Rhodes University management after members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union yesterday opted to down tools. Industrial action saw around 200 Nehawu members toyi-toyi around the university campus this morning, emptying bins, before assembling in front of the main administration building around 9am. A negotiating forum comprising representatives from Nehawu, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and university management due to begin at 9.30am eventually got under way around 2.30pm. The university was critical of what it described as illegal and unprocedural protest action,…

STAFF REPORTER International ensemble the Brandenburg String Trio will perform in the NELM auditorium in Grahamstown on Tuesday 9 May. South African violinist and South African Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Avigail Bushakevitz, German violist Ernst-Martin Schmidt and Spanish cellist Andrea Casarrubios will perform works by Purcell, Mozart and Schubert, as well as 20th century composers Jean Françaix and Gideon Klein. Grounded by Schubert’s unfinished String Trio in B flat major, D. 471 and Mozart’s Divertimento in E flat major, the programme opens with Purcell’s Fantasia in D minor. ​Founded in 2014, the Brandenburg String Trio’s members span the globe, with Bushakevitz and Schmidt living in…

Sue Maclennan @SusanMaclennan2 ((((((((pullquote)))))))))) While a secret ballot may appear in tune with the current political climate, an order requiring all motions of no confidence be done by secret ballot may have unintended and anti-democratic consequences in the future In joining a Constitutional Court application for a closed ballot in the motion of no confidence vote against the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, the Grahamstown-based Unemployed People’s Movement says it is making a statement against corruption. Grocott’s Mail spoke to the civil rights organisation and social movement this week, following the announcement that it would join the United Democratic…