Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors

By Maggy Clarke Five new choristers were robed and formally inducted into the Choir of the Cathedral on Sunday 3 September. Ambesa Cagwe, a Grade 6 pupil at Graeme College, Sixolile Mafani and Alizwa Tom, both Grade 10 at Victoria Girls High School, and Khazimla Gedze and Siyolisa Sandi (Grade 5 at Victoria Primary School) have all served as Probationers in the choir during the earlier part of this year. At the end of this period they were re-auditioned, and accepted as full members of the choir. They were inducted by the Dean of Grahamstown, Andrew Hunter during a Sung…

Makana Municipality has its challenges when it comes to subsidising Eskom. Warnings of electricity cuts have been received. Makana Municipality is in arrears due to expenditure being more than the Municipality’s revenue. Grahamstown residents and business owners add to the strain by not paying their electricity invoices. PowerX could be a solution to many challenges faced and be beneficial to Makana Municipality and residents. PowerX stimulates the production and consumption of renewable and clean power in South Africa by acting as a channel between willing electricity buyers and sellers. PowerX buys power from independent power producers (IPPs) and sells the clean…

The Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has, in the past couple of weeks, been made aware of social media messages that have been circulating about construction jobs that are allegedly being sold by people/persons in or outside the employ of the CDC purporting to be representing the CDC. The CDC views these allegations in a serious light and would like to categorically distance itself from such and to urge all those with information about this matter to contact the CDC’s Tip-off Anonymous line, which is accessible via the following channels: Toll free Tip off-anonymous line: 080 0007035 Email: fraud@kpmg.co.za Website: https://www.thornhill.co.za/kpmgethicslinereport/questionnaire/main Furthermore, the…

Nana Abebreseh of Victoria Primary School finished first in the Grahamstown District Mental Maths Quiz. She will be representing the Eastern Cape in the Provincial Mental Mathematics Quiz later this term. Photo: Supplied

By Anne Loeffler Last week, a group of over 70 people composed of residents from Joza together with Raphael Centre, Tim Bull from Grahamstown Residence Association (GRA), Bopha Cleaning Services, Community Workers Project (CWP) and Learner Support Agents (LSAs’s) from Nombulelo, Kutliso Daniels, Nathaniel Nyaluza High Schools and CM Vellem Primary School set first tones in turning the tide of illegal dumping in Mayfield (Joza). For about two days, the group started cleaning small parts of the area and met at Assumption Development Centre wih Ntuthu Blow from GRA to think about next steps to sustainable cleaning and recovering this…

15 SEPTEMBER IN HISTORY 1795: Britain seizes the Dutch Cape Colony. 1812: Napoleon’s army reaches the Kremlin in Moscow. 1835: The HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. 1916: Tanks are used for the first time in war, during the Battle of the Somme. 1935: The Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany are passed, depriving Jews of German citizenship. 1952: The UN cedes Eritrea to Ethiopia. Born: 1245: Marco Polo, Italo-Croatian explorer. 1830: Porfirio Diaz, 29th President of Mexico. 1890: Agatha Christie, British crime novelist, known as the inventor of Hercule Poirot. 1946: Tommy Lee Jones, American…

The Bridges Went Down Two by Two: Grahamstown Floods It’s hard to imagine now, in the middle of a drought, but on Saturday 13 September 1879, 13cm of rain fell on Grahamstown in just over five hours. That is nearly 25% of the town’s annual rainfall, all in the space of one afternoon. The day had started out drizzly, wet and cold enough to make most people decide against taking the excursion train to Highlands. Around lunchtime, it began to come down in buckets; the “incessant torrent” continued until 6pm. After that, it abated, and by 8pm the rain had…

Esteri Msindo On 27 June, the Grocotts Mail published an article “Concern over Grahamstown land grabs”. In the article, a self-appointed committee was allocating land on a vacant plot opposite the Mayfield Extension 10 Housing Development. The councilor for ward 3 said he was not aware of the ongoing land grabs, until he saw about 300 people queuing for land in Extension 10. He said that people who had their own agenda misled these people. However, the councilor noted that if the mayor does not address the people, they would not stop. There is shortage of housing for the needy…

I would like to say a special thanks to Grahamstown Police Station Commander Colonel Cassim. In most cases, officers of his position are unreachable to commoners like me. When I had a problem I asked to see him personally after having visited the police station several times without any success. He gave me hope the first time I saw him. It was hardly a week after seeing him and my problem was resolved. I would like to tell other Grahamstown citizens that there is still hope in the Grahamstown Police Station. From a Grahamstown Ciziten

Aspirant and new script writers in Port Elizabeth and surrounds are being given the opportunity to hone their skills. One Blood Sounds will host a Script Writing workshop on 30 September at Gallery Noko in Russel Road Central under the auspices of the National Film Video Foundation Programme. Hosting the first Port Elizabeth workshop will be Johannesburg script editor Mokopi Shale. “Her workshop will help anyone who has a story to tell to transform their ideas and vision into a bankable script,” says Nomakhomazi Dewavrin of One Blood Sounds who added that the objective is to craft story ideas into working…