On Sunday evening, 7 November, at 5 pm in the Cathedral, there will be a special service for All Souls’ Day, at which the Cathedral Consort will sing excerpts from Mozart’s Requiem. The preacher will be Dean Mzi Dyantyi. At this service of Holy Communion, names will be remembered of those who have gone before us. If you would like the name of a loved one to be read out, please send an email to the Cathedral office: admin@grahamstowncathedral.org or ring 046 622 2445. This service will also be live-streamed on the Cathedral Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/grahamstown.cathedral/ . Mrs M J…
Author: Rod Amner
By ROD AMNER By 2 pm Tuesday, the African National Congress (ANC) had 55% of the overall vote in Makana, with the MCF trailing on 20% and Democratic Alliance (DA) on 15%. Writing for his @Political Bent Twitter account, former Grocott’s Mail editor Steven Lang predicts that the Makana Citizens Front (MCF) will not see any of its ward candidates elected to Council, “but could have three PR Councillors”. However, in the two seats the ANC had won in Makana by 2 pm Tuesday, its majority had declined. In Ward 7, the ANC vote dropped from 86% in 2016 to 67% in…
By ROD AMNER The African National Congress (ANC) share of the vote in one of the two voting stations in Ward 7 has dropped from 83.89% in 2016 to 65.84% in 2021. The Makana Citizens Front (MCF), contesting the election for the first time, achieved 17.21%. Voter turnout at the Tantyi Hall voting station was 39% in both 2016 and 2021. 2021 result for Tantyi Hall in Ward 7 ANC 65.84% Makana Citizens Front 17.21% EFF 9.03% DA 3.41% ATM 1.96% AZAPO 1.45% MIND 1.02% PA 0.09% Total registered voters 1 525 Voter turnout %: 39.21% Voter turnout: 598 2016…
By ROD AMNER The Democratic Alliance (DA) looks set to retain its ‘safe’ seat in Ward 4, but with a drastically reduced majority. Results have been announced for Graeme College, one of two voting stations in the DA’s Ward 4 stronghold. The Makana Citizens Front (MCF), contesting the election for the first time, has made substantial inroads into the DA’s majority but looks to be falling short of the finish line. 2021 results for Graeme College voting station (Ward 4): DA 54.55% Makana Citizens Front 35.64% ANC 3.97% VF Plus 2.72% MIND 2.41% EFF 0.31% PA 0.31% AZAPO 0.08% Total registered…
By MAKWENA MANAKA On election day afternoon, Grocott’s Mail chatted to voters and party agents at the Ward 4 Recreational Hall voting station. Heiron Potgieter, 64, said he was voting to “get things better – at the moment, Grahamstown (Makhanda) is very bad. Scott’s Farm resident Rew Andrews, 62, said, “We don’t have electricity. We don’t have water. We have sick people. The drains at our homes are leaking. My cousin has TB, and there’s sewage in her yard. It’s been years.” “We want things to change for the better for everyone and not just individuals. We don’t want to vote, but we…
By ROD AMNER The IEC reported that by 5 pm this evening, just 8 million of the registered 26.2 million voters had cast their ballots, around 30.5%. Voting stations closed at 9 pm, but anyone still in a voting queue was allowed to vote. On top of the low turn-out in 2021, over 13 million eligible adults failed to register for this election. By contrast, voter turn-out in the 2016 municipal elections was relatively high. Below is a breakdown of the voter turn-out and party performance in each ward in the 2016 elections in Makana. We will compare the data…
By ROD AMNER After a brisk start to voting today, voting stations were quiet this afternoon. And the streets were even more tranquil. There was a trickle of voters at the Recreation Hall in Albany Road (Ward 4), a handful at Nombulelo High School (Ward 9), and a short queue at the voting station at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of South Africa, Extension 6 (Ward 11). Just 300 votes had been registered at the Steve Biko Building at Rhodes University by 2 pm. This matches the national pattern, where voter turn-out has been low. By 4.30 pm this afternoon, the…
By MAKWENA MANAKA Voting has been brisk and relatively smooth at Makana voting stations. African Transformation Movement (ATM) party agent Xolisa Magabuko said the Ward 8 voting station at the Public Library had been packed. Voting was initially a little slow at the Library due to a technical glitch with the scanner, and some voters were disappointed to discover they had not been registered in Ward 8. However, Makana Citizens Front (MCF) party agent Snow Harris said once that glitch was sorted out, “things were moving well. The procedure has been flawless. The check and balances are good.” Voting has been smooth,…
Willows and Makana Sona recorded their first wins of the season in the Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) 1st League over the weekend against Rhodes, while Salem and Cuylerville still unbeaten and the teams to beat. Eldrich George (115 – Willows), Chris Gleaves (100* – Cuylerville), Peter Frans (114 – Swallows), Renato Visagie (101 – Swallows), Franklin Jacobs (129 – Station Hill), Sipho Saki (128 – Station Hill), Jeremy Machlahlan (121 – Sidbury 2nd) all scored centuries for their respective clubs over the past weekend. Jamie Renton (6/37 – Cuylerville), Marco Loutz (6/12 – Swallows), Louis Oosthuizen (6/17 – Port Alfred…
By ROD AMNER, Grocott’s Mail editor There are 103 candidate names on Makana’s 14 ward ballots this year. Our hotly contested local election, involving an unprecedented number of independent and grassroots candidates, has captured the imagination of the national and even international press. This week, Jane Flanagan, a journalist for London’s The Times, referred to Makana’s election as the most significant grassroots challenge South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, has ever faced. Regardless of the election’s outcome, there is no doubt that seismic shifts in Makana’s political landscape are reverberating outwards. Citizens and their organisations have for years picked up…