By BUHLE NTUSI Theatre and arts enthusiasts eagerly await the National Arts Festival to come back in full swing. Rewarding us for holding on through lockdown is the Japanese artist collective, Orangcosong. They are bringing a piece of Japan to Makhanda for the Festival with their performative adventure book, Engeki Quest. According to its website, this quest is a flaneur-style walking project to explore a city. The participants wander the city alone, relying on written instructions. Hailing from the Land of the Rising Sun, performers Minori Sumiyoshiyama and Chikara Fujiwara have always been enthralled with creating performance art pieces that…
Author: Rod Amner
By ROD AMNER Twenty-five of SA’s 257 municipalities received a disclaimer audit opinion, Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke said at a media briefing on Wednesday, 15 June. Makana Municipality is one of the 25, receiving its disclaimer for the third year running. A disclaimer is the worst result a municipality can receive from the AG, indicating that its financial statements have no value. “If you are unable to do the very basic thing of showing what you have done with public funds, it demonstrates that you have no commitment to living up to your moral obligation to serve as a steward,” Maluleke said.…
By ROD AMNER Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors Geoff Embling and Brian Jackson have lodged a formal objection to a nine per cent increase in property and water rates recommended in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) budget adopted by a Special Council Meeting on 31 May. The property and water rate increase is significantly higher than South Africa’s average inflation rate of 5.7% for 2022. The councillors said residents objected to the proposed increase at a Ward 8 IDP Budget Roadshow in the City Hall on 25 May. Executive Mayor Yandiswa Vara, also the chair of the Budget Steering Committee, told…
By PHILIP MACHANICK This is no time for supine opposition in the Makana Council. Things are rapidly getting worse, not better: It is not normal to have rapidly escalating unemployment, as much as 70%.It is not normal to have frequent water outages and pipe bursts.It is not normal for most streets to be riddled with potholes.It is not normal for sewers to flow like rivers.It is not normal for large parts of a city to look like a trash heap.It is not normal for road upgrades to grind to a halt as soon as the pressure is off the government…
By STAFF REPORTER The Makhanda high court last week ordered taxi umbrella body the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Co-operative (ECTCC) to return R35-million misappropriated from the Covid-19 temporary employee/employers relief scheme (TERS) to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). The TERS funds were intended as a special benefit under the UIF to employees who lost income due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The court upheld the UIF’s assertion that the ECTCC’s applications for Covid-19 TERS funds were fraudulent because the intended recipients were not eligible for the benefits and amounted to unlawful activities, according to the UIF communication director Makhosonke Buthelezi. One…
The Friends of the Library lecture series for 2022 continues on Monday, 20 June 2022, with a talk by Dr Laura Alfers entitled, “Women working in the urban informal economy – a global struggle for rights and recognition”. The lecture will focus on women’s urban informal employment. Drawing on global and South African examples, Dr Alfers will provide an overview of some of the main challenges women informal workers face in building more secure livelihoods for themselves and their families, in addition to showing how they are successfully organizing and struggling for rights and recognition as workers and economic contributors. When: Monday 20 June 2022 Where: Amazwi South…
By CHESLEY DANIELS The much anticipated Derby between Old Collegians (OC) and Swallows lived up to its expectations on Saturday, as OC had to dig deep to beat their archrivals 23-13 at the Oval. OC led 13-6 at halftime. A decent crowd came in their numbers to witness some exciting and entertaining rugby. The game was played in a good spirit between the two old rivals. The win put OC in fourth position on the Overall Log as it was indeed hard for them to secure that vital and all important bonus point, which is needed in the second round.…
By CHESLEY DANIELS A dream came true for the multi-talented sports girl from Victoria Primary School when she heard of her inclusion in the Eastern Province (EP) Under 13 Netball Team. Lisa-Jane Evans,13, will represent EP at the National School Sports Championships in Boksburg, Gauteng, from 22-29 June 2022. The quietly spoken Grade 7 girl received hundreds of congratulatory messages on social media. Evans is a fantastic natural talent and a playmaker for her school’s U/13 side as a Goal Attack (GA). She started playing netball in Grade 1 and is also actively involved in numerous sports codes at school,…
By CHESLEY DANIELS Trying Stars opened their second round of the EPRU Grand Challenge Competition with a dominant 49-17 bonus-point win over KWARU in Gheberha on Saturday. The Alex side was also 20-3 in front at halftime. The Group C encounter was vital – Stars needed to register that all-important bonus point going into the second round of the competition. Park are the log leaders, and it is now a matter of accumulating bonus point wins for the chasing pack to topple Park at the top of the log. The Alexandria outfit came out the hungrier side and meant business…
By CHESLEY DANIELS Kowie United 1st XV threw the first punch in the first of two rounds in the EPRU SEDRU Regional League Competition Ndlambe Derby with a bonus point 27-10 win over Ndlambe Tigers at the Station Hill Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon. The first half saw Kowie lead 15-5 at the break. Kowie United drew first blood in this much anticipated Ndlambe/Port Alfred Derby and the bragging rights. Kowie also beat Tigers twice in their preseason friendly fixtures before the season.United moved to second on the overall log standings with the win behind Klipfontein. Saturday afternoon saw thousands…