Last round of winners of Old Mutual National Choir Festival announced The Forte Hare Alice Choir was recently announced the Eastern Cape winner of the Large Choir category of the Old Mutual National Choir Festival (NCF). Bursting with bright colours and brilliant sounds, the choirs competing in the annual event have been thrilling audiences across Southern Africa over the past few months. This year’s festival attracted more than 106 choirs, and touched the hearts and souls of many thousands of supporters. Following regional competitions hosted from July to October in most of South Africa’s provinces as well as Zimbabwe and Eswatini,…
Author: Staff Reporter
The National Arts Festival this week announced the appointment of Monica Newton as the organisation’s new CEO. Newton steps into the position on 1 January 2020 and will be relocating to Makhanda to fulfil her role. Newton was previously Head of the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation and before that was Deputy Director-General: Arts and Culture Promotion and Development at the national Department of Arts and Culture. Prior to this, she was CEO of the National Arts Council, a statutory body reporting to the Department of Arts and Culture and established to support and develop the arts…
Recycling is not only the right thing to do – it’s also cool and fashionable, students from Walter Sisulu University are proving. Walter Sisulu University’s (WSU) fashion department will once again marvel East London’s fashionistas at their annual flaunt to be held at Hemmingways Mall on Saturday evening, 7 December. The fashion show will see 79 WSU student designers showcasing their skills using eco-friendly garments by first and second-year students made from recycled materials to entice the crowds before an elegant flaunt by final-year designer students. WSU fashion department technician, Sibusisiwe Nodada says fashion enthusiasts should expect nothing less than…
Makhanda swimmer Toni Rafferty made her mark on the regional record books last weekend, setting a new record for 100m freestyle and taking home four trophies. She was one of 10 local swimmers who participated in the Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics (NMBA) Championships and brought back no fewer than 28 medals between them including 19 golds. Toni Rafferty (Diocesan School for Girls), Martin Wolmarans, Oliva Lange, Ethan John, John and Joss Hempel (St Andrew’s College), Joshua Pamphilon (Graeme College), Chase Repinz (St Andrew’s Prep); Catherine Williamson and Michaela Wilmot (Kingswood) all qualified to participate in last weekend’s championship gala in Port…
Provided you know the hazards and have the right support, it’s possible to keep young children safe. But what about older children, who are more independent and not constantly under adult supervision? Anne Loeffler shares ideas from the Raphael Centre, based on their groundbreaking work with young people. Summer holidays have started and while children and youth enjoy time away from the classrooms, many parents are confronted with the same daunting question: how to keep the ‘busy-ness’ of their youngsters restricted to safe spaces. For youth, it’s the best time of the year, when they have the freedom to socialise…
An engineering innovation that will soon be commercialised could revolutionise the way diifferent power sources are used in homes in rural and unserviced communities. The Personal Consumer grid innovation, developed by the WITS School of Electrical and Information Engineering, integrates renewable energy sources along with batteries and appliances, for the electrification of households in Africa. This home electrical grid solution is expandable, which means that as a household is able to afford more solar panels/wind generators, batteries or 12V appliances, these components are easily added to the system, with no need for a trained person to make these changes. In…
Tribute to Jane Dalton A union cannot be experienced without a separation. Our deepest condolences to the loving family and friends of Jane Dalton. May her dear soul rest in peace. May St Francis, who is the patron saint of all our animals, lovingly take Jane’s hand and lead her to the house of our Lord for a well deserved eternal rest. Jane has done more than her full shift to serve those who cannot speak. Jane talked to the animals and they talked to her in a way only God’s gifted will understand. We worked with Jane over four…
The school library is now the most comfortable and inviting place at Samuel Ntsiko Primary, thanks to a group of Standard Bank staff who recently set up a colourful, welcoming reading corner there. The Bank’s corporate social investment division – making use of its Employee Volunteer Programme as well as an external service provider – RAK Events, has been setting up school libraries in Primary Schools across the country for the past three years. The aim is to cultivate a love of reading among the learners in the Foundation Phase – with the aim of improving literacy levels among learners in…
The Makana Water Forum and the Institute for Water Research recently hosted a Makhanda water tour for a delegation of German, Ethiopian and South African researchers visiting Rhodes. The group is exploring ways of designing and measuring the impact of, transformative research (research that aims to positively transform complex societal and environmental problems). Makhanda’s water system and its management during the current water crisis were used as a real example of a complex and problematic situation. The tour visited the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works, Mayfield Waste Water Treatment Works and Ntsika Secondary School. At each site, a municipal worker…
“This is the work of the whole Ubunye team,” said Lumka Nkanyana, senior manager for monitoring and evaluation after the announcement of a R100 000 award for the Makhanda based NPO. The Ubunye Foundation Trust has been awarded R100 000 in MTN Awards for Social Change. This was one of four awards totalling R1 million, awarded this week in Johannesburg to encourage good monitoring and evaluation in the non-profit sector. The MTN Awards for Social Change were launched by the MTN Foundation, in partnership with CSI and sustainability consultancy, Trialogue. Ubunye Foundation Trust received the prestigious award for its Savings and Livelihoods Programme.…