Author: Sue Maclennan

Local journalism

The Grocott’s Mail Christmas Cheer Fund 2019 is as always dedicated to Child Welfare, which will put the money to good use at Ikhaya Losizo Cluster Foster Home in Joza. The centre is home to around 20 vulnerable and orphaned children, and provides daytime care for around another 60. We’re aiming to raise R20 000 and fill our Cheer Bear Barometer (below) up to his ears. A highlight of the fundraising drive – and of the festive season buildup in Makhanda  – is the Pro Carmine Choir’s annual Christmas Cheer Concert at Christ Church. This year’s concert date is Wednesday…

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The movers behind a local skateboard park have asked for the public to be on the lookout for two large sections of the ramp that have gone missing. Liam Harwood, of student-led organisation Skate Ubuntu, said two red quarter pipes, each 1.5 metres wide by 2m long, were on Thursday 31 October discovered to be missing from the Power Station skatepark. The city’s old power plant, which last operated as such in the 1970s, is now a National Arts Festival venue and home to the Black Power Station music, art and literature creative project. It was chosen as a site…

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Four of five men accused in the December 2018 poaching of a black rhino in the Great Fish River Reserve have a provisional date in the High Court in Makhanda for 1 November 2019. One of the accused, Hilario Carlos Fumo, has died. The five men were arrested in a roadblock in Ventersburg, 150km north of Bloemfontein, on the morning of 30 December 2018. Microchips in the horns linked them to a black rhino in the Great Fish River reserve whose carcass was found there the next day. The 1 November 2019 date is provisional, for setting the trial date, which…

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Wigs, tutus and bathing suits, alongside some serious leg power (some of it in tutus…) took to the road on Thursday 24 October in the Rapportryers 5km Fun Run. The annual event, a partnership between the local Rapportryers Club and PJ Olivier, is a favourite among local schools, who use it as an opportunity for their new school leadership teams to bond, and for fellowship among the town’s schools. Lots of wagging tails joined the fun, as many brought their dogs for a super-sociable walk. Lubabalo Bokuva sped through the course in 21 minutes, with Simakele Rooi (21:40) and Malibongwe…

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Bail for the Ndlovu rhino-poaching trio was denied in the High Court in Port Elizabeth on Thursday 31 October. Jabulani Ndlovu, Forget Ndlovu and Sibusiso Ndlovu were in April this year sentenced to 25 years imprisonment each for 10 rhino poaching incidents around Makhanda, as well as in Jansenville, Graaff Reinet and Cradock. In July the Supreme Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their convictions and sentences. Their appeal against their convictions related to the admissibility of certain items found in their possession. Their appeal against their sentences was on the basis that a Full Bench “may…

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Climate change is a reality, says Lindiwe Sisulu, and citizens need to act urgently to save water. In fact, South Africans need to use 600 million litres a day less for the country’s supply to remain sustainable. That’s the equivalent of 240 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day – a reduction of 12%. Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Sisulu addressed a media briefing at Rand Water in Glenvista, Joburg, on Monday 28 October, where she called on all South Africans to take collective action to save water. South Africa was one of the countries feeling the effects of climate change, Sisulu said…

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COURTS AND CRIME WRAP Poaching trial date The appearance in the Grahamstown Regional Court of a Makhanda paramedic and four other men facing rhino-poaching charges was postponed to 29 July. This will be for the setting of a High Court trial date. The local man was granted bail of R50 000 under stringent conditions in the Magistrate’s Court on Friday 8 February. His four co-accused, who are all foreign nationals, remain in custody. The men were arrested on 30 December in possession of two rhino horns. Microchips in the horns linked them to a black rhino in the Great Fish…

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One of five men accused in the December 2018 poaching of a black rhino in the Great Fish River Reserve has died. Hilario Carlos Fumo was due to appear on 15 October but was admitted to hospital due to ill health on 30 September. Documents from Correctional Services in Makhanda seen by Grocott’s Mail indicate that Fumo died in Livingstone Hospital, Port Elizabeth, in the early hours of 11 October. Fumo was among four men for whom a Tsonga translator was brought to the courtroom during their bail hearing in February. The four were remanded in custody with the fifth…

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Grahamstown Police have warned residents to be on the lookout for three men knocking on the doors of Makhanda (Grahamstown) homes claiming to be carrying out work for Makana Municipality. This follows reports from residents in Sunnyside who were suspicious when the men approached them earlier today. Police spokesperson Captain Khaya Tonjeni said the Grahamstown Police Station had received reports of a black Tata Indigo with three men knocking on doors and claiming that they are doing an infrastructure audit for Makana Municipality. “This is completely false,” Tonjeni said. “We would like to warn the public to take extra caution…

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“It’s our dream come true,” the Yendallia Communal Property Association’s Mluleki Mtshizana told Grocott’s Mail after he received the title deeds to the land where his and 29 other households have been struggling to farm productively. Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane visited Makana Municipality last week to hand over farming equipment and title deeds to emerging farmers and farm occupiers on three local farms bought by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Hindering many emerging farmer communities has been that the government remained owner of the land they’d been allocated and so couldn’t provide the security Eskom required…

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