An unusual situation developed in the Grocott’s Mail newsroom yesterday soon after we heard a group of protesters coming down High Street.

There are a lot of really angry people around town these days. School pupils, their parents and teachers are livid with the government’s high-handed attitude in mismanaging the country’s education system generally - and the schools in Grahamstown in particular.

It’s quite ghoulish the manner in which journalists have been tricking their way into the Milpark Hospital, cramming bridges over Barry Hertzog Avenue and hustling around the hospital premises in the hope of getting… getting what?

In the last week or so we have had extensive discussions in the newsroom about who should be the Makana Newsmaker of the Year.