Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors

Graeme College were proud  to host Gill College on Saturday 6 April, which is one of their oldest rugby derby weekends. Matches were played from U9 upwards, which means it is a very special fixture. With the First Team participating in the Kingswood College Rugby Festival, Graeme’s Second Team took on the challenge to play the Gill First Team on the day. It was an exciting encounter which ended in a 17-17 draw. The Graeme Thirds also had a nail biter against the Gill Second Team, and snuck home wining by one point. Graeme seemed to dominate the rest of the fixtures ending…

After their stellar performances for the Makana Netball teams, locals Jessica Pautz (Kingswood grade 10) and Erin Powers (DSG grade 9) have been selected for the Sarah Baartman U16 and U15 netball teams, respectively. Powers and Pautz were selected for the Makana Netball U15 and U16 teams at the trials held in the middle of March, which earned them the opportunity to attend the Sarah Baartman trials in Humansdorp on Saturday, 6 April. Hundreds of netball players, in the age groups U12 to U18, attended the trials on the Saturday. The girls were placed in teams using various combinations, in…

The Mayor and other distinguished guests were entertained with dance and music from Future Stars at the launch of the Princess Zila Lobengula Museum in Fingo VIllage recently. According to founder and owner Sizwe Mda, the Museum is intended to help the township acquire information and literature written in indigenous languages. “The Museum would not only attract locals to its premises but tourists as well in this poor and neglected neighbourhood,” Mda said. “Tourism in Makhanda had previously sidelined the tangible heritage that is abundant in Fingo Village.” Mda said the Museum forms part of the envisaged development plan of a…

A look at the Auditor General’s annual audit of the Makana municipality over the past few years reveals numerous defects. Ratepayers can be justifiably incensed by the misuse of the Municipal Infrastructure grant and the deflection of payments for electricity to pay accounts other than Eskom’s. Local unemployment is tragically high and in South Africa as a whole some nine million people lack paid work. Seen in this context, a municipality like ours, unionised workers included, is a salaried elite stealing from ratepayers and from the poor. From the first of April, the Public Audit Amendment Act 5 of 2018 becomes operational. This permits the Auditor General…

Dear Residents We are very happy to announce that refuse collection has finally resumed from this week going forward. In the beginning of February 2019 municipal workers embarked on a go-slow demanding protective clothing and tools of trade. The go-slow affected a number of municipal services, including refuse removal, resulting in the temporary suspension of refuse collection for about eight weeks. We understand the negative impact this regrettable situation has had on the town and its residents. On 29 March 2019 all municipal staff members received their protective clothing, which included overalls, boots, gloves and masks. This means employees can…

As the winter sports season is now in full swing, the Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) hockey sides began their season with some good showings. The DSG U16 A hockey team started the 2019 season with a bang, as they played in the Woodridge College Co-Ed U16 Hockey Festival over the weekend of 29-31 March in Thornhill. The DSG team played five matches over the course of the festival and recorded victories in all of the matches as they put together some outstanding passages of play and showed a ruthless streak in front of goal. They they went on to…

By ROSS MARRINER Grahamstown (Makhanda) is in the midst of a terrible water crisis which experts believe could have been avoided had the authorities planned properly. Our individual financial future is no different. Many individuals do not have a financial plan and as a result could run out of money when they retire or not have enough funds available should an unforeseen event occur. Having a personal financial plan will help you take stock of where you are now in your life, where you would like to be and what you need to do to get there. It may include…

By RYAN MCDONALD The act of divorce can have important proprietary consequences. In other words, there could be implications for your immovable property (e.g. a house), movables (e.g. a car) and incorporeal property (e.g. savings). The Divorce Act empowers a court granting a divorce to make an order with regard to the division of the property of the parties. In the majority of cases, the parties to a divorce are able to agree upon the division of their assets in a way that suits them. Where agreement can be reached, this agreement will be formalised in writing and incorporated into…

Thank you to the wonderful people of Grahamstown who donated to our street collection a few weeks ago.  We collected an amazing amount of R2 292 which will go towards refurbishing our St Michaels Frail Care centre. We will be holding our annual Fete on Saturday 8 June and we are looking for cracked crockery (for an exciting kiddies competition) and old umbrellas which can be turned into lovely shopping bags. All items can be dropped off at Brookshaw or give me a ring and I can collect. Once again, thank you for your continued support. Roslyn Parker Administrator : Brookshaw…

Over the weekend of 15-18 March, St Andrew’s College cricket represented the Warriors at the Cricket South Africa T20 Schools Tournament in Pretoria. In their first match on Friday the St Andrew’s College side made a good attempt in chasing the Dolphins’ representative St Charles College’s impressive 170. St Andrew’s finished on 153/8 (Callum Francis top scoring with 45 off 29 balls). In the afternoon St Andrew’s College only managed 111/7 in their 20 overs vs the Inland Focus School from Gauteng, Queens High School. Matthew Schaefer top scored for St Andrew’s College with 42 off 29 balls. It was…