The Mayor was in high spirits on Tuesday night 28 January – and with good reason. Here are three good news story to start off your year in Makana in a positive light.
The Mayor was in high spirits on Tuesday night 28 January – and with good reason. Here are three good news story to start off your year in Makana in a positive light.
First, there was positive affirmation that Makana Municipality is doing something very right in supporting the National Arts Festival (NAF). An extensive socio-economic impact study has shown that the Festival contributed around R90 million to the city's GDP last year.
Most of this benefit comes to the city through the hospitality and related industries, the study shows.
Then there was the announcement of a 470 000 Euro (R7.2 million) boost to the Makana-based Creative City Project.
This exciting initiative includes plans to redevelop the run-down Fiddler's Green area as a creative hub. And a "virtual academy" will provide training in various arts disciplines.
The project aims to create sustainable employment in arts and crafts all year-round – not just during festival.
On Tuesday night, the Mayor spoke of developing a local economy that "reflects the needs and aspirations of local people".
Reg Rumney crunches the numbers on page 13 of this edition, estimating that the NAF accounts for roughly 5% of Makana's economy.
The Festival's leadership have shown remarkable entrepreneurship in raising the funds.
We urge the Municipality and all of Makana's citizens to get creative and to make the most of this AMAZING opportunity.
Then there was the announcement of a 470 000 Euro (R7.2 million) boost to the Makana-based Creative City Project.
This exciting initiative includes plans to redevelop the run-down Fiddler's Green area as a creative hub. And a "virtual academy" will provide training in various arts disciplines.
The project aims to create sustainable employment in arts and crafts all year-round – not just during festival.
On Tuesday night, the Mayor spoke of developing a local economy that "reflects the needs and aspirations of local people".
Reg Rumney crunches the numbers on page 13 of this edition, estimating that the NAF accounts for roughly 5% of Makana's economy.
The Festival's leadership have shown remarkable entrepreneurship in raising the funds.
We urge the Municipality and all of Makana's citizens to get creative and to make the most of this AMAZING opportunity.
And in good news of a different kind, the Grahamstown High Court has scuttled Dr Pravine Naidoo's dodgy out-of court settlement and confirmed his suspension as municipal manager.
While there's a long way to go in cleaning up the municipal mess, hopefully this is a significant turning point.
We're all tired of the secret deals, confidential agendas and dirty politics. And our citizens are crying for a local government that really cares about improving our lives.
While there's a long way to go in cleaning up the municipal mess, hopefully this is a significant turning point.
We're all tired of the secret deals, confidential agendas and dirty politics. And our citizens are crying for a local government that really cares about improving our lives.
The inexorable forces of urbanisation have for a long time lured rural people away from rural districts into townships and towns. But this is now leading to the closure or merging of farm schools.
Grocott's Mail's senior reporter Avuyile Mngxitama-Diko started her educational trajectory at a farm school near her village.
A runner up in the 2013 MDDA Sanlam awards for best journalist of the year, she is surely testament to the value of small schools.
There's a twist in the tale, though.
"Numbers dropped drastically because our parents felt that the teachers were lazy," she related. "We moved to schools in town, which I admit was the best thing ever for our education."
On the other hand, some farm schools like Wilson's Party, featured on pages 14 and 15 of this edition, offer a relatively safe, nurturing and picturesque environment for their learners.
And it is schools like these that are now under threat of closing down.
According to Amos Fetsha, the Grahamstown district director, some farm schools have been merged. It's partly because of declining numbers and government's rationalisation of scarce human and physical resources. But it's also because, like Avuyile's parents, families are prepared to make radical changes to their lives, if it means they have access to what they believe is the best for their children. What parent wouldn't?
