By MICHELLE BANDA The Gift of the Givers have stepped in and responded to the plight of 35 children at Luzuko preschool in Fingo Village by installing three new and full functional toilets. In the 23 October edition of Grocott’s Direct, we featured school principal Ayakholwa Sam’s plea for assistance to fix school toilets vandalised during the lockdown. Around 35 children were stuck at home, once the lockdown lifted enough for Early Childhood Development Centres to re-open, because there was no safe toilet for them. “Seeing the conditions at the school shattered our hearts,” said Corene Conradie, Gift of the Givers coordinator…
Author: Student Reporter
By MICHELLE BANDA and TUSANI MNYANDU Transformation of South Africa depends on the transformation of local government. This was emphasised by civil society organisations working in the local government sector during a joint virtual press briefing to present their collective reflections and recommendations to the Auditor-General’s 2018/2019 Report. The coalition of about 35 civil society organisations and individuals have identified actions to be taken to deal with crisis state in municipal governance around the country. This call is a response to the Auditor General’s Report on Municipalities for the 2018/19 financial year, released in July. Coalition members signed a statement…
By TUSANI MNYANDU The festive season is upon us, and with it come scammers and chancers who will be preying on unsuspecting people. One such scammer is a 35-year-old man, from Pretoria in Gauteng who was arrested a week ago for being in possession of counterfeit bank notes with a value of R2 million. Grocott’s Mail, in partnership with Rhodes Music Radio, caught up with The South African Reserve bank to learn more about our money – both coins and bank notes. Our reporter Tusani Mnyandu, had a conversation with Vuyokazi Dlamba, Product Specialist in the South African Reserve Bank’s Currency Management Department,…
By NASI HAKO and LILLIAN ROBERTS Gender-based Violence (GBV) costs the South African economy between R28.4 billion and R42.2bn a year. This startling figure is from a 2014 Tambo Foundation research report which underpinned an online seminar hosted by the organisation. The seminar was one in a series organised by the Foundation as part of Tambo Month focusing on socio-economic and political issues that affect the country. On 14 October 2020, The Tambo Foundation hosted a webinar about a facet of gender-based violence which is often overlooked: the economic cost of GBV. Panellists in the webinar titled The Cost of GBV…
By CHESLEY DANIELS and SINAZO NOVUKELA “I last saw my child on Friday and I did not know it was the last time that I would see her.” Alicedale resident Ida Sias is the heartbroken mother of 24-year-old Tamia Bruintjies, who died in Settlers Hospital on Saturday 24 October. Community members allege Bruintjies was assaulted by someone she knew well and her death brought hundreds of angry and emotional residents and community members from every part of the small town onto the streets last Thursday in a peaceful protest against gender based violence (GBV). Local community leaders said they were sickened…
By USISIPHO BATYI “Child protection should be a daily calling for all.” This will be the driving force behind the vision of the newly appointed director for Child Welfare Grahamstown Martha Thompson. She and the organisation’s new social work manager, Nasiphi Matshaya, stepped into the organisation on Monday 2 November 2020. Woineshet Bischoff has retired from her position as director after 18 years of service at Child Welfare Grahamstown and Kim Wright is also departing from Child Welfare after 13 years of service as a senior social worker and social work manager. They both leave having made great contributions to…
By TUSANI MNYANDU Members of the National Council of Provinces (NCoP) visited Makana Local Municipality on Wednesday 28 October, to hear about the challenges facing the municipality and to inspect some of the infrastructural projects undertaken by the council. The previous day, the delegation had visited Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The NCoP is this week travelling the length and breadth of the country, visiting different municipalities in what is called the NCoP 2020 Provincial week. The NCOP conducts Provincial Visits twice a year. The delegation to the Eastern Cape consisted of four members – Zukiswa Ncitha, Mlindi Nhanha, Zolani Mkiva…
By DYLAN COETZEE You can pick up a free book any Saturday morning from the SPCA Charity store. The store, on the corner of Cawood and High Street, was launched in January to help fund the local SPCA. Thousands of books get donated to the store, some of which are never sold or are not in the condition to be sold. The SPCA store offers a tableful of them, free of charge, for anyone to take home. For SPCA chairperson, Dr Amy Jackson-Moss, the aim is to encourage people to read more: “Hopefully, it will spark an interest in some…
By WENDY NZAMA Rhodes University newly elected Student Representative Council (SRC) President Leboghang Nkambule plans to continue working with the Makhanda community through the University’s engagement office. Nkambule was inaugurated together with her 15 SRC executive members in a ceremony conducted entirely online, due to Covid-19 precautions. This year, a total number of 2 920 students voted in the election of the campus leaders. Of the 16 elected SRC members, 14 are women. As the SRC’s community engagement councillor this year, Nkambule worked in various partnerships through Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE). One of them involved mentoring high school learners. “As the SRC,…
By MICHELLE BANDA “We are the stars above the African light – we look to the stars to see what possibilities are out there,” said Sivuyile Manxoyi. The South African Astronomical Observatory’s education and communication officer was speaking at the magical opening of Scifest Africa 2020 on 8 October – the beginning of six months of virtual education and inspiration about science under the theme, ‘Take root…nurture!’ Scifest Africa 2020, due to take place in March, was postponed because of Covid-19. Because of continuing uncertainty about Covid-19 risks, and the disruption of the school year, the organisers decided instead to hold…