Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors

Tribute to Matthew Lester: 2 August 1961 – 12 March 2018 By Simon and Jilly Lester Our brother Matthew died suddenly and unexpectedly on Monday 12 March. As recently as 4 days prior he had delivered one of his inimitable post-Budget lectures to a standing room only audience in Johannesburg. As usual his charisma and larger-than- life presence were on unbridled display, belying grave ill health. His death leaves us all bereft as Matthew was undoubtedly an irreplaceable font of color in our lives. It was Matthew’s unequivocal wish that no fuss should be made upon his death. He gave very clear…

By MAKANA COMMUNICATIONS Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane encouraged farmers in Makana to be innovative and exploit local markets to sustain their farming activities. Emerging farmers in Makana took full advantage of an opportunity meant for them to interact directly with Qoboshiyane during a visit meant specifically for Grahamstown emerging farmers on Tuesday. The MEC was in Grahamstown on Tuesday, 19 March to listen to their concerns. During the visit the MEC was flanked by top departmental officials who were there to answer questions that were posed by the farmers. Some of the challenges raised by the…

There was exciting news for Southern Kings fans earlier today when the franchise announced the big-name signing of former Cheetahs and Waratahs scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius. The experienced Pretorius, who has also made three appearances for the Emerging Springboks, joins the Kings from GuinnessPro14 rivals, the Newport Gwent Dragons, on a two-year deal effective 1 July 2018. “We are extremely pleased to have secured the services of a player of Sarel’s abilities and have no doubt he will prove to be a great success at the Kings. He is exactly the kind of player we need to add to our young squad.…

St Andrew’s College First XV opened their 2018 season over the weekend, with an away trip to Höerskool Framesby in Port Elizabeth. The away fixture was always going to be a challenge for the new look SAC side. The nerves showed from both sides early on and the game was riddled with basic early season errors. An infringement by SAC allowed Framesby to convert a penalty to take a 3-0 lead. After quick hands by the visitors’ backs, Ryan Ford broke through in the midfield, finishing off to score under the poles on debut. The try was converted by Murray Wilson and SAC…

The Kingswood College 1st XV started the season on a high note this weekend with a good win over Muir College in very difficult conditions. The Kingswood College side travelled to Muir on Saturday 17 March to face the challenge of strong winds and an away crowd. Kingswood did very well to score 26 points playing into the very strong wind. The visitors ran out eventual winners by a massive 67-3 margin over the home side. The biggest positives from the game, according to the Kingswood coach, was the introduction of new players to the team who wore the 1st XV jersey for…

The Kingswood College 1st girls hockey team, which lost a final in the Kingswood’s Annual Hockey Festival last year, went one better last weekend. Kingswood started the tournament in the opening game against Cradock a little tentatively, struggling to find rhythm for five minutes but once they started working as a group, they scored two great goals. Kingswood then moved on to play Gill and played a good passing and defensive pressure game. They scored three goals to give the group confidence. Their next match was against Brandwag, who were the second strongest side in the tournament. Kingswood moved on from the momentum…

The Diocesan School for Girls in Grahamstown got their 2018 winter sports programme underway this past weekend when their hockey club travelled to Graaff-Reinet for matches against both Union High and Volkskool, while the netball club was in Port Elizabeth at Framesby. The DSG 2nd hockey team remained in Grahamstown and played in the SPAR Hockey Festival which was hosted by Kingswood College. DSG won all the three matches played against Volkskool on Friday afternoon, with notable results achieved by the 1st team which secured a 6-0 victory over their Volkskool rivals. On Saturday, DSG played Union High in eight matches across the age groups from…

This month, Someleze Mgcuwa talks about Ummemezi (Cassipourea flanaganii) Brief history of imbola (ochre) According to the history of cosmetic spans at least 6000 years and in almost every society on Earth. Archaeologist evidence of cosmetics certainly dates from ancient Egypt and Greece. In Africa engraved ochre (imbola) pieces from c. 75,000 years old levels were discovered at Blombos Cave in the Western Cape. Imbola is used as a sacred ointment by amaXhosa, amaHlubi, amaNdebele, Basotho, Maasai, Himba and many other Africans to this day. Xhosa people used iimbola (plural) for beauty, health, wellbeing and as well as social status. Traditional…

Name: Tecomaria capensis (Thunb.) Spach. Family: Bignoniaceae (Bignonia family) Common names: English Cape Honeysuckle Afrikaans Kaapse Kanferfoelie, Trompetters Xhosa Icakatha, Umsilingi Popular garden and hedging plant, deciduous in cold areas. Description Scrambling shrub or small tree up to 6 m. Leaves opposite, compound, 2-4 pairs of leaflets; margins blunt toothed. Flowers in terminal inflorescences, trumpet-shaped, upper petal lobe, orange-red, pale orange (throughout year). Fruit slander and flattened. There are several colour varieties, including a lighter orange and a pale yellow form which is slower growing. Conservation status According to the SANBI (South African National Biodiversity Institute) Red list of South African Plants, Tecomaria…

BOOK REVIEW: Rights to Land: A Guide to Tenure Upgrading and Restitution in South Africa by William Beinart, Peter Delius and Michelle Hay (2017). PUBLISHER: Fanele (an imprint of Jacana Media): Johannesburg. REVIEWER: CHRIS DE WET This book seeks to take stock of the South African government’s post 1994 land reform initiatives, by asking to what extent they have actually improved the rights to land of those previously deprived of land by apartheid. It does so through a focus on two of the three aspects of the overall land reform programme (i.e. land tenure reform and land restitution), considering principally whether…