Joza residents have to take a taxi to access the world via the internet. But if Vuyolwethu Nekile’s dream comes true this will soon change. He hopes to open an internet café in Nompondo Street opposite Noluthando Hall this month.
Author: Busisiwe Hoho
Grahamstown has the largest known deposits of good quality kaolin in South Africa. But the abundance of this useful white clay isn’t benefitting the community. If processing plants can be opened in Grahamstown, kaolin mining could help alleviate unemployment.
Grahamstown may be closer to the addition of the long awaited food department at Woolworths. Promises and rumours have been circulating since it was first announced in Grocott’s Mail on 27 November 2009.
Strike action in South Africa has evolved over the past five years. While official statistics show an annual decline in industrial action since 2005, the level of violence and national disorder is on the rise. Protests that were once taken on a regional scale, or were industry specific, have now become far more co-ordinated and are orchestrated on a national scale with larger bodies such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) co-opting smaller affiliate unions into solidarity protests.
Members of the Grocott’s Mail Upstart programme were recently treated to a film at Roxbury Cinema. The Upstart editorial team took the upstarts to the movies last Wednesday as a way of consolation for having no school as a result of the strike.
The 1820 Settlers Monument played host to the Student Nationals for Ballroom and Latin Dancing last Sunday. The event had all the glitz, glamour and anticipation of a Strictly Come Dancing final with skilled spirals danced out on polished wood floors, backed by friendly and energetic chanting from each of the universities’ support squads.
Rhodes Music postgraduate student Kingsley Buitendag was awarded the second prize of R40 000 in the jazz/popular music category of the Samro 2010 Overseas Scholarships competition for composers. To qualify, Buitendag had to submit three pieces, one arranged for a quartet in a traditional South African style, one for an 18-piece big band in a traditional swing style, and one for a solo instrument in a Latin style.
Politically potent lyrics have been the domain of hip-hop stars since long before Malema re-discovered Kill the Boer. Haitian star Wyclef Jean made headlines lately when he tried to create hip-hop’s biggest political hit running for president of his country.
Sexy new kid on the block, Mario Ogle, is reaching new heights in the South African music industry. Having just returned from a whirlwind concert tour, opening for international superstar Jay Sean in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, Mario Ogle will be heading to the Eastern Cape for his first tour here of 23 perfomances in the province.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Grahamstown secretary Sizakele Makabe, South Africa Democratic Teachers' Union's (Sadtu) Grahamstown secretary Likhaya Mfecane and chairperson of the Joint Management Committee (JMC) Thembile Matiwane visited Grocott’s Mail on Wednesday afternoon to give a press briefing on the national strike.