By STAFF REPORTER Low-cost, SAHPRA-approved COVID-19 rapid antigen tests are now available next to Spar in African Street and at the Bantu Stephen Biko Building on the Rhodes University campus. The community testing station Any member of the public can get test results in 15 minutes in a tent behind the Spar in African Street. The tests will be conducted by a nurse or trained healthcare professional. Antigen tests are R350, and antibody tests are R199. The site is open from 7 am-5 pm, seven days a week. The Rhodes testing station The Rhodes testing site will support the return to…
Author: Rod Amner
Deur JOUBERT RETIEF, skoolhoof, Hoërskool PJ Olivier In 2021 het een-en-veertig Graad 12-leerlinge hul eindeksamen by Hoërskool PJ Olivier afgelê. 18 leerders voldoen aan die vereistes om vir ‘n Baccalaureus-graad te studeer, 12 vir ‘n Diploma, 5 vir ‘n sertifikaat en 6 leerders kan die hereksamen in Junie 2022 skryf. Ons toppresteerder van 2021 is Shirley Retief wat uitblink met ‘n gemiddeld van 88,6% en 7 Vak A’s. Sy is een van die ontvangers van die Jakes Gerwel Fellowship-beurs en gaan hierdie jaar aan die Universiteit van Kaapstad ‘n BA-graad in tale studeer met die oog op onderwys in die…
By CHESLEY DANIELS Jaden Keulder is Victoria Girls High School’s Dux Scholar for 2021. She achieved an A aggregate with six distinctions, narrowly missing a seventh. In a tribute on Facebook, Jaden’s mom, Penny, said that Jaden was “a voracious reader with an insatiable, curious mind” from a young age. “In primary school, she already displayed discipline and dedication, always pushing herself to excel in all areas. In high school, she would diligently revisit the day’s work, identifying a weakness and would work on it, set goals, aim higher – always challenging herself.” “Days on end she locked herself in…
By ROD AMNER Makana Municipality (MM) missed a 31 December Eskom payment deadline, in breach of the Grahamstown Business Forum (GBF) & Others vs Makana Court Order of June 2019. The 2019 court order obliged the MM to commit to a three-year debt repayment plan servicing old and current debt. The municipality made those payments until December 2021, when it defaulted on a R7.5-million payment to Eskom. Eskom spokesperson Athi Titus said the MM had responded to a breach letter and had promised to make arrangements to pay. It has subsequently emerged in a MM Council meeting on Thursday 27 January…
By ROD AMNER The Azanian Peoples’ Organisation (Azapo) in Makhanda is protesting the Department of Education’s failure to deliver textbooks, stationery and other learner support materials to local public schools. Azapo national deputy president Siphosethu Manyati said school principals have started asking parents to buy their textbooks to begin teaching. “This is completely unaffordable and again would let the Eastern Cape provincial government, which receives a budget from public funds for books, off the hook,” Manyati said. “Don’t play with the future of our children. Deliver books now! Black Children Matter!” she said. Meanwhile, local retailers of school stationery, including…
By ASHLEY WESTAWAY, Gadra Education manager Gadra Education is delighted to announce the 2021 results of the Gadra Matric School (GMS). In 2021, GMS enrolled 211 students. Of these, 156 (74%) obtained Bachelor level passes, 50 Diploma passes, and four Higher Certificate passes. Only one student from the Class of 2021 failed to obtain a National Senior Certificate. This constitutes a 99,5% pass rate. GMS has specifically focused on enabling its students to obtain good quality results for the past few years. It is thus very pleasing that GMS has again assisted over 140 of its students to get a…
By ASHLEY WESTAWAY By now, the basic statistics of Makhanda’s 2021 matric performance are well known by the readers of Grocott’s Mail. In this analysis piece, I will briefly restate these and then try to analyse and understand them at a deeper level. To develop a complete statistical picture of matric results, one must consider both percentages and numbers. Too often in South Africa, there is an overemphasis on percentages; very little attention is paid to numbers. Percentages are useful because they indicate the proportion of those candidates under consideration that have succeeded. Numbers are equally crucial because these speak…
By ROD AMNER Wow! Just wow! Under lockdown?! How?! Makhanda’s public high schools have together produced a record number of Bachelor passes – 313 – eclipsing, by a country mile, the 238 in 2018. And, with a pass rate of 83%, Makhanda has consolidated is position as the top-performing education centre in the Eastern Cape. A Bachelor’s pass makes a candidate eligible for a degree at a university, university of technology, TVET college, or any accredited Higher Learning Institution. The most improved school is Khutliso Daniels, which produced no Bachelor passes in 2017, just one in 2019, but then leapt to 10…
The Sphinx in ancient mythology was supposed to have propounded a riddle, ‘What animal goes on four legs in the morning, on two at noonday, and three in the evening?’ The riddle remained unsolved till Oedipus appeared and gave the right answer – “Man!” In infancy, the human babe goes on all fours; during life’s course, he walks upright on two legs; and he leans on a staff in the eventide of life. Moses contemplated the brevity of life in Psalm 90:10. The length of our days is seventy years or eighty; if we have the strength, he prayed: “Teach…
It is that time of the year when savvy investors ensure that they have contributed as much as they can to their tax-free investment and retirement annuities. They know that every taxpayer is entitled to structure their financial affairs in such a way as to limit the amount of tax payable to the South African Government. They recognise that, by not investing in a retirement annuity or tax-free investment, they may end up paying unnecessary tax. Every South African can invest up to R 3,000 per month (R 36,000 per annum) in a tax-free investment, with a lifetime contribution limit…