By CHRIS TOTOBELA Sophia Young Stars finished in the top four in the Eastern Cape at the Engen U18 knockout football tournament in Gqeberha last weekend. They had to dig deep in the first game to bounce back from a goal down to level matters and eventually won 5-4 on penalties. Glenville were their next opponents in the quarter-finals. Sophia scored the game’s only goal in the second half to book their place in the last four. On Sunday, they came unstuck against a powerful Real Buffaloes side in the semi-final. They produced an outstanding performance, but unfortunately, it was…
Author: Rod Amner
By NYX MCLEAN, Grocott’s Mail engagement editor During our online sessions with students, we go over the week’s stories, discuss stories they are working on, explore new story ideas, and go over our social media posts. My favourite part of those sessions has been showing the students how the community responds to their stories. As we have been doing this for almost a month, something else is taking over as my favourite thing: seeing how our students respond to the community’s feedback and engagement with their stories. There is something immensely satisfying in finding your work out there, the story…
To revive and preserve indigenous African languages, Rhodes University has joined a consortium of universities to collaborate in a project funded by the European Union called BAQONDE. The name stands for Boosting the use of African languages in education: A Qualified Organized National DEvelopment strategy for South Africa. Other universities involved in the project are: North-West University, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of the Western Cape from South Africa and three European institutions of higher learning: Salamanca University, Trinity College Dublin & University of Groningen. The word “baqonde” means “(let them) understand” in the Nguni languages. Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Chief Director of University…
A client recently contacted our office to thank us for the “pensioner card” he received in the mail. He had just retired from a retirement annuity and taken out a living annuity. While this client had not formally retired from his place of work, he was nevertheless still entitled to receive a pensioner card from the service provider. The first thing he wanted to know was which businesses or institutions in town provide pensioners with discounts. It emerged that a wide variety of businesses offer incentives in various formats to pensioners. For example, certain retail chains provide pensioners with cashback…
By MAKWENA MANAKA If you’re guilty of binging fast food and tucking into blankets in response to plummeting temperatures, you are probably thinking about making some lifestyle changes. Be it for weight loss, better nutrition or general wellness, a lifestyle change will leave your body feeling energetic as Spring fast approaches. Covid-19 regulations have resulted in periodic closures and reopenings of gyms, fitness centres, and parks. Many outdoor enthusiasts have been forced to find alternative ways of keeping fit, like exercising from home and connecting with sports clubs, personal fitness trainers, and friends online. The rise in the cost of…
I’m sure we have all heard stories of heartache and tragedy. In fact, I’m quite sure we all have our own stories to tell of struggle and hurt. Crisis moments are inevitable since we live in an unpredictable world, a world full of uncertainty. So where do we turn, to whom do we turn to find peace of mind? When we are in the midst of a real crisis – when the storm is intense – we usually go anywhere we can escape the danger. Someone has said, “All we know is what we’re running from, even if we’re not…
By JESSICA FELDTMAN Play-based learning has many benefits which many people might not know about. This year, the Centre for Social Development (CSD) has spread awareness in Makhanda around the value of play-based learning using the Takalani ‘Play to Learn’ programme. The programme started through the partnership between the LEGO Foundation and Sesame Workshop, producers of the well-loved Takalani Sesame television programme. Building on their initiative ‘Play Every Day’, ‘Play to Learn’ is a part of the two foundations’ five-year plan to strengthen the power of play through learning in the classroom and at home. The CSD aimed to pilot…
Earlier this year, 175 first-year Journalism students at Rhodes were asked to make personal digital stories – short first-person narratives that document meaningful life experiences, ideas, or feelings through the use of multimedia elements. To mark Women’s Month, we asked two of these students to share their stories with Makhanda. The first is a moving tribute by Chulumanco Kuhlane to the grandmother who raised him – his “knight in shining armour”, his “goddess in human form”. The story traces her battle with dementia but celebrates her ongoing loving presence in family life. The second is by Mihle Mdashe, who wanted to…
By STEVEN LANG Close to a hundred people dressed in black converged on Church Square on Tuesday evening for a candlelight vigil to honour the memory of Nosicelo Mtebeni. The Fort Hare law student was brutally murdered and butchered in Quigney, East London, last Thursday. Most of those at the vigil were either students or staff of the Eastcape Midlands College (EMC). Reverend Lithemba Busakwe, the student liaison officer of the EMC, coordinated the vigil with support from both taxi organisations in Makhanda, UNCEDO and BATA. Part of the reason the taxi organisations were chosen to participate is that they…
By ARDEN MASEKO and ROBYN JOHNSON Monday. The first day over-18s are allowed to vaccinate on Rhodes University campus – and the response is overwhelming as Rhodents make the trek up to the Gavin Relly Postgrad Village site. The waiting room is vibrating with anticipatory nerves and excitement, but it is quiet. Every two minutes, a nurse calls out “Next!” and the line shifts. Each person sits in their own world but is seemingly content to be here. With every next person vaccinated, the energy builds. Tiffany Pillay, a lecturer in the Botany Department, sits near the front of the line…