Author: Lindani Donyeli

TRIBUTE TO MALUNGISA MATIKA Malungisa Matika worked in the kitchens at Kimberley Hall at Rhodes University from 2011, moving to Grounds and Gardens in 2013. In 2012, Matika was elected as a shop steward for the National Health, Education and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) campus branch. He became secretary under the leadership of Siphiwo Mpumlo and continued when Zakade Vena took over as chair. Matika was a member of the charitable organisation, Good Friends, which steps in wherever help is needed. He was one of the Good Friends, for example, who stepped in when Ethembeni Centre for the aged was…

Police are still trying to establish the identity of a man found dead in upper Raglan Road earlier this month, spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said. The body of the man, estimated to be in his 40s, was found in an open plot around 9.45am on Sunday 19 August with multiple stab wounds. “A rucksack and an okapi knife were found on the scene,” Govender said. Police were investigating a case of murder.

Grandma Nokhaya Mdoko from Extension 7 has been at the grinding stone for so long that she can’t even recall when she first planted vegetables. Together with a few other gogos, Mdoko was provided empty space by Mamu Nkwinti, to help the elderly to grow their own vegetables (spinach, peas, potatoes and carrots), to supplement their Social Grant. Mdoko said the gogos used to pool their money in order buy seeds, and they would take turns selling the vegetable to shop owners in town. This has died out, Mdoko said sadly. It’s partly blamed on rampant theft of their tools…

When sweets rained on the streets like manna from heaven this week, Vukani’s children couldn’t get enough of that religion. But it left a bad taste in the mouths of local shopkeepers, who accused the well-meaning pastor of doling out expired goods. The incident came during a week of xenophobic looting in Soweto, fanned by rumours that shops were selling food products past their expiry date. The pastor, whom we are not identifying because of heightened sensitivity around the issue, told Grocott’s Mail he had been given the sweets by a local retail chain. There was nothing wrong with them,…

Women led by drum majorettes carried babies on their backs on a fun walk hosted by the Department of Health’s Makana Subdistrict, Makana Municipality and Dlukulu Clinic from Maweti store in Joza to Noluthando Hall on Thursday 23 August. At Noluthando Hall, Phumla Hermans (Integrated Nutrition Programme Manager) opened a breastfeeding awareness workshop with prayer. Ward 2 councillor Rami Xonxa the ward councillor gave a welcome address. Health promoters sang songs such as ”Ubusi  lwamabele, sihamba nalo , sihlala nalo, ubisi lukamama.( Breast feeding, we are moving with it, the mother’s milk). It encourages women to give their newborn babies breast…

By LINDANI DONYELI AND SUE MACLENNAN Settlers from the newly established eNkanini informal settlement north of Mayfield have demanded water, electricity and sanitation from Makana Municipality. Chairperson of the Infrastructure and Engineering portfolio committee Mabhuti Matyumza confirmed a delegation had come to the City Hall this week, requesting services. In June 2017, people flocked to the veld adjacent to houses in Mayfield and Transit camp where a self appointed committee allocated them plots. Poles were put in and structures have mushroomed over the past year, with more than a thousand now scattered across the commonage. The area is known as eNkanini.…

Wimpy Makhanda (Grahamstown) laid out a sumptuous breakfast meal, food parcels and other items for 47 TataMkhulu and MaKhulu from Ethembeni Old Age Home on Monday 6 August. The group was welcomed by traditional dancers from Fikizolo Lower Primary School who were not dressed for the cold weather, but did not seem to mind, such was their energetic dance routines. Theresa Searle, manager at Wimpy in Grahamstown, said they wanted to give back to the older residents with the music and dance, as well as a full refund for the money they’d spent on breakfast. Ethembeni had paid for the…

Boyce Nelani started his garden in 1990 when Eluxolweni was still a squatter camp. He was a watchman at Adda Hall at Eluxolweni. He asked for and got permission to occupy the empty space behind Community Hall to plant his garden “chase away the hunger”, as he said. In his garden, Nelani provides vegetables to a creche at Archie Mbolekwa Higher primary School and the  Nompumelelo Creche in Joza. Nelani also assists the elderly by giving them some vegetables. He has always planted onions, beetroot, pumpkin, and spinach.

As people continue to parcel off municipal land adjacent to Vukani, officials say occupying empty land will not solve the city’s housing problems and that rather than breaking the law, the people engaged in land grabs should get their names on to Makana’s housing list. Grocott’s Mail reported last week that on Tuesday 31 July, scores of people took out measuring tools, shovels and pickaxes and began allocating themselves lots of land. The residents said they were sick of paying rent. With the tools, men and women  started setting up structures. Vukani resident Thenjiswa Ngqinzi lives on the edge of…

Sithembile Ngece is grandfather who has tended a garden for the past 26 years. He studied Agriculture and Planting at the Land Bouwer School Farmers Association near Fort Beaufort, and has since had enough confidence to grow spinach, mealies, pumpkins, beans, and nuts, among other veggies. Ngece keeps the garden going with organic manure. He would love to have a wire fence around his garden to keep vandals and stray animals away.