By STAFF REPORTER The Bathurst Book Fair is back with a bang after two years of Covid cancellations. Sunday 1 May of the long weekend from 9 am to 5 pm will see book lovers flock to the quaint village hunting down bargains and rare specials from local and visiting book dealers, and enjoying a lively speaker programme with local authors and poets. Several Makhanda authors and poets feature on the speaker programme, providing inspiration and food for thought: Dan Wylie, author, poet and English professor, and fellow Eastern Cape authors, unpacks why local stories are so lekker in “Written…
Author: Rod Amner
Dear Editor Astonishment and disbelief barely cover my reaction to the news that legitimately elected councillors can be so easily ousted with no legal process. Social media hardly qualifies as a ‘legal process’. For decades I have faithfully paid my rates and taxes to the Makana Municipality on the understanding that our representatives were OUR representatives, legally elected to a public body constituted in law. This is apparently no longer the case. Rather than pay to support an illegal organisation, I feel obliged to withhold payment of my rates and redirect them into a holding account until the legally elected…
By STAFF REPORTER Makana Tourism, together with the Belmont Golf Club and its caddies, will treat 25 Riebeek East children to a golf outing during the two-day Golf Classic Tournament at the club on May 7 and 8. The initiative follows last year’s inaugural event, which raised funds for life-changing caddie opportunities for the Belmont Golf Club and the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club’s respective Caddie Academies. Makana Tourism acting director, Prudence Mini, said the Riebeeck East Combined School children also participate in an afternoon programme called the Hands on Project, coordinated by a local, Yolande Delport, a mosaic artist…
By SALLY PRICE-SMITH, chairperson, Makana Residents’ Association This week’s papers have reported some chillingly disturbing events at Makana Municipality, demonstrating that it has been completely captured and the rule book ripped up. Firstly, the statement issued by the Speaker regarding several motions raised by the DA but not put to Council. With apologies for stating the obvious, but the primary role of councillors is oversight of the administration. In this context, the definition of a “motion” is a request made by a councillor for an issue to be discussed at a council meeting and for a decision to be made.…
By STAFF REPORTER A wide range of live entertainment will add to the festivities at the Karoo Food Festival in Cradock on the weekend. Lisa Ker, part of the organising committee, said they were excited to include variety in the three-day programme, which starts on April 30. The objective of the occasion is to give festivalgoers a chance to taste traditional Karoo fare, but Ker said it extended beyond that as they used all the resources of the local community to provide a weekend to remember. Besides sampling Karoo delicacies, there will be a trail run, cooking demonstrations, potjiekos competition…
By KEVIN MILEHAM MP, Democratic Alliance (DA) constituency leader, Makana They say that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In politics, the things one needs to learn are the rules of the game. Any party (or organisation, front, movement, congress) contesting elections in South Africa needs to know a few basics. Like how to register with the IEC, create an effective and competent operational structure, work with other political parties, and what your own internal rules (typically a constitution) provide. The recent upheaval in one political party in Makana is a stark reminder of the…
By PHILIP MACHANICK MCF supporters are reacting with outrage as they learn of the corrupt shenanigans by a small cabal that has conspired with the ANC to remove the lawfully and legitimately elected MCF PR councillors. This action is a coup, an undermining of the democratic will of the people. Social media reports claim that your PR councillors, Lungile Mxube, Philip Machanick, Jane Bradshaw, Kungeka Mashiane and Jonathan Walton, have been removed and replaced by a renegade faction. We guess this is authentic because the official Makana municipal page reports this. That’s right: we have apparently been removed through social…
By ROD AMNER and OVAYO MILISA NOVUKELA The face of the Makana Citizens Front (MCF) in Council changed dramatically on Thursday morning when Makana speaker Mthuthuzeli Matyumza swore in five new proportional representation councillors at an extraordinary inauguration ceremony in City Hall. One of the five councillors expelled from the MCF and the Council, Lungile Mxube, has vowed to take the matter to the courts. In an April 12 letter widely circulated on social media, the Independent Electoral Commission ruled on replacing the sitting five councillors with five new names submitted by Unemployed People’s Movement leader and MCF secretary Ayanda…
Friday 22 April Live Music with Shan@ The Pothole & Donkey, 123 High Street19:00 – 21:00 Beats n StuffDJ von Dirty@ SSS,19b New Street20:00R20 Saturday 23 April Parkrun@ The Bot Gardens, Lucas AvenueRegister online: https://www.parkrun.co.za/register/ Snare Clean Up@ Goodwin’s, Industrial Area.Meeting point: Jenner Street (near Ryan Ferguson’s workshop)14:00 (weather permitting)Join the snare Clean-up Crew Makhanda Facebook group for more info Sunday 24 April Makhanda Wild Hikers CrewMeet @ The Drostdy Arch, High Street09:00 (weather permitting)Mzi: +27812494979 Spiritual Realm presents Imbewu: An African Musical Experience@ SSS,19b New Street17:30R40/ R30 presold RSVP: 0639158342/ 0842201131 Monday 25 April Friends of the Library. What’s…
Jim Cambray reported 5.2mm of rain in Park Road for the week 14-20 April. Paul Maylam recorded just 4.2 mm in Cathcart Street. Temperatures ranged from a cool 8 degrees Celcius to 26C. “If forecasters are correct, we are in for some good rains on Friday and Saturday, but that will be the next reporting period,” Jim said. Ever-optimistic Norwegian weather forecasting service Yr.no forecasted over 40 mm for the coming week.