By CHRIS TOTOBELA Makhanda’s greatest football queen Nwabisa ‘Lhasie’ Tyelbooi, has finally hung up her glittering boots. Nwabisa joined African Connection Women FC in 1997 as a 16-year-old and immediately made her mark. She quickly became one of the most feared strikers alongside Thembakazi ‘Blueline’ Cunge and Qhayisa ‘Lovers’ Kepe. She proved to be a lethal striker as she finished as a top goal scorer for Amakonokono for more than three seasons. Her dedication and discipline on and off the field were rewarded when she was given the captaincy. She led the team to many memorable victories, including four consecutive…
Author: Rod Amner
By NYX MCLEAN Anxiously I paced. I can normally show up for my usual check-up at my GP, sit down and lose time in a book or marking an essay. But this week, I could not do that; I was at my GP because I had potentially been in contact with someone with COVID-19 – after weeks and months of dodging the invisible glitter-like virus. I was not coping, pacing up and down outside the practice, wondering if it was my turn. I have a grumpy set of lungs that hospitalised me in November 2019, just before COVID-19 made itself…
By ANELE MJEKULA Work on a much-needed makeover of the 53-kilometre R67 route from Makhanda to Port Alfred will get under way next week. This was announced by Eastern Cape Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana on Thursday, 9 September, during a meeting with councillors and stakeholders at the Makana Municipality Council Chambers. The R167-million project is expected to get underway from next week and is due to be completed in 16 months, at the beginning of 2023. The MEC introduced the Consultant, Gilgal Development Consulting Engineers, and the Contactor, Tau Pele Construction. Makana Municipality Executive Mayor Cllr Mzukisi Mpahlwaand the Acting…
By ANELE MJEKULA Makana’s Municipality recently-purchased ‘cherry picker’ will help resolve recurring power outages in the city. This was the message from Municipal Manager Moppo Mene at a short ceremony in front of the City Hall on Thursday. Mene said the municipality was in the process of reinforcing its fleet to enable essential services employees to respond timeously to call-outs. Mene said the Council felt it was important that the municipality had the necessary equipment to deliver services to the community. “There was an auction that Council sanctioned, and out of that auction, we received a substantial amount of money…
The current by-laws and waste management system in Makhanda have been declared unconstitutional, and Makana Municipality must eradicate seven specific illegal dumpsites within 14 days. This historic ruling was made in a court order upheld by the high court in Makhanda on Thursday 9 September on behalf of the Ezihagwini Street Committee and Mary Waters High School, who took the Makana Municipality to court for its failure to remove refuse and to put an end to illegal dumpsites in parts of the town. The municipality agreed to the court order, which requires it to clean up the seven illegal dumpsites…
By VUKOSI MALULEKE The start of spring has seen the sprouting of a safe space to bring regrowth and healing to Makhanda. The name says it all. The Healing Hearts Centre is a psychosocial initiative whose purpose is to provide free counselling and prayer to those who need it. The centre is the brainchild of local businesswoman Ronél Mostert, who, along with her friend Gwen Johnson, embarked on a journey to create a space where Makhanda residents, particularly women, can receive free counselling and prayer. Mostert, who’s had an encounter with Covid-19, says this period has given her time to…
By NYX MCLEAN There is still no effective preventative drug treatment for COVID-19. Some people have been using Ivermectin as a preventative, but its effectiveness is up for debate. This week, George Coetzee, a physician, wrote an opinion piece in Business Day advocating for the use of Ivermectin, which was shared as a comment on the Grocott’s Mail’s Facebook page. Coetzee said, “I’ve treated dozens of Covid-19 patients daily. I’ve prescribed and administered ivermectin to hundreds of people and tracked more than 50 patients who were moderately to severely ill, including several with severely compromised immune systems. I’ve seen Ivermectin make a…
Jim Cambray reported 9.8mm from his Park Road weather station for the week 2-8 September, including one good downpour and some heavy dew. Temperatures ranged from a cool 3C to a warm 26C. Paul Maylam reported 9mm from Cathcart Street and commented: “Spring rains are desperately needed.” After many years of drought, many Makhandans have become more than a little obsessed with poring over long-range rainfall forecasts on popular mobile weather apps. Sadly, joyful optimism often melts into bitter disappointment as the rumours of rain dry up and dissipate in the ether. At the risk of adding to this spiral…
The Puku Children’s Literature Foundation celebrated International Literacy Day on Wednesday 8 September by winning the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize for 2021. Puku, which has regularly held successful festivals in Makhanda, won for its work on “Using digital technologies to promote children’s literature in South Africa’s indigenous languages”. Puku aims to ensure that all children have access to quality, culturally relevant literature in the languages they understand. Puku does this by working to create systemic change in the reading and book development ecosystem through digital platforms that provide a structured and organised system for selecting, reviewing and sharing…
By MAKANA VETERINARY CLINIC We recently visited Sun City, an area in Makhanda that desperately needs assistance with dog sterilisations. So many dogs here are on heat, pregnant or lactating, and we feel we must do something to help. Pictured are just some of the dogs we saw that we are hoping to spay and neuter – two of which are currently nursing small puppies. After Dr Amy Jackson-Moss’s Facebook post about euthanasing healthy dogs in animal shelters (which has received 18 000 likes, 8 500 comments and 31 000 shares), we have decided to use Back A Buddy (South…