By MATTHEW JENNINGS The second-oldest Rugby Football Club in the Makhanda (Grahamstown) area, Lily Whites RFC, are proud to celebrate their 125th anniversary as an integral part of the local rugby scene. Very few words can describe the immense pride, honour and excitement many who are part of the Lily White Club have felt over the past period of time, having been around since 1894. The club was started by a number of black staff members, mainly waiters, at St Andrew’s College who used to watch the first teams play rugby and decided that they too wanted to take up…
Author: Grocott's Mail Reporters
Read More
By: MATTHEW JENNINGS The Lily Whites have been jubilant in their celebrations of their milestone in 125 years of existence. The Club hosted an Easter Tournament over 20-22 April, with two groups and eight teams in contestation from the surrounding areas. Group A included the Brumbies, Old Collegians, Eastern Grahamstown and Zwide, while Group B saw the hosts, Lily Whites feature in the Group, as well as Winter Rose, Eastern Port Elizabeth and The Wanderers go head-to-head for ultimate glory. Wide, however, failed to show up for the tournament, meaning that they would forfeit their matches throughout the weekend by…
Miki Yili Stadium in Extension 5 was the safest and most festive place to be on Saturday 27 April – but not if you were carrying placards, or wearing a red-and-green beret or T-shirt. The Grocott’s Mail team reports. Inside the cool 10 000-seater double marquee, South Africa’s 25th National Freedom Day revellers and VIPs sang, danced and podium-spoke through a programme that featured the pride of Makhanda’s (Grahamstown’s) artistic talent. For locals and visitors, a highlight of the day was the performance for the President by Kwantu Community Choir led by Kutlwano ‘Kepa’ Kepadisa, which had the President up on…
By KATHRYN CLEARY, SUE MACLENNAN and STEPHEN KISBEY-GREEN The President is coming to town: the roads are being fixed, the grass cut, walls re-built and rubbish picked clean from the sides of streets. Is Makhanda (Grahamstown) ready for the President? Perhaps a better question might be, is the President ready for Makhanda? PREPARING FOR THE PRESIDENT How to turn a broken sports field into a VIP venue in three days As Makhanda prepared to welcome President Cyril Ramaphosa for tomorrow’s national Freedom Day celebration, our reporters tracked the progress of preparations this week. Despite the rain, wind and chilly weather…
NguCHRIS TOTOBELA Imozulu ebiqhaqhazelisa amazinyo ngeCawa ayithintelanga abathandi bebhola elikhulu ukuba bangayi ukuya kuxhasa amaqela abo. Kumdlalo wokuqala obuvutha amadangatye, iJacaranda Aces iphinde yabuyisa isidima sayo ngethuba ibetha iNewseekers ngenqaku elinye eqandeni, amva kokuba idlale ngenqwaba yamathuba ewafumeneyo. IJoza Callies nayo ibuyise esayo isidima ngethuba ibetha iCameroon ngamanqaku amabini kwelinye. IAttackers ibethe iRiebeck City ngamanqaku amabini kwelinye, logama nayo iYoung Killers itywatyushe iNewtown City ngamanqaku amabini kwelinye. ILove and Peace ibhaxabule iFuture Stars ngamanqaku asixhenxe kwelinye. IMakana Pillars esathe ngcu enkcochoyini yeMakana LFA Premier League, ibanjwe ngobhongwana yafuthaniselwa yiSophia Stars, kodwa ke ikwazile ukulwa nanjengoko kuphele bebambene ngeqanda macala. Kule…
As the Easter Bunny prepares to hop its way into Makhanda, the question remained “who makes the best Easter Egg?”. Grocott’s Mail endeavoured to find out, and so a group of Easter Egg aficionados was gathered to taste all of the available marshmallow eggs in the area, including Beacon, Cadbury, Eggs Galore (Checker’s brand), Pick n Pay, Spar, and even Woolworth’s. While price played no factor in the outcome of the taste test, after looking at the range of price options from different retailers it was discovered that the cheapest egg was Spar’s brand, while Cadbury snuck ahead of Woolworth’s for most expensive…
By: CHRIS TOTOBELA On Saturday 13 April, all roads led to JD Dlepu stadium where local football lovers were treated to a feast of good football. First up were the Makana LFA’s first division games with some interesting encounters. In the first game, Fingo United defeated Mighty chiefs by four goals to two. Sakhulutsha and Golden Brothers game did not take place as both teams failed to take the pitch. In the top of the table clash, Young Neighbours beat Grahamstown United by two goals to one in a very closely contested game which produced some fireworks. In the main…
By Mogau Matloga The grounds around the St Phillips church in Fingo Village looked pristine after they received a much needed clean up on Saturday 6 April organised by students from St Andrew’s, DSG and community member Graeme Holmes. St Phillips was built in 1860, but the church’s surrounding grounds have become an “informal dump” according to Holmes, even after a first clean-up in December of 2017. “It’s almost exactly [the same] as it was,” said Holmes. “It’s all about bringing the community together to keep this place clean”. Holmes emphasised that the church is a tourist attraction and needs to…
By: SOVASH CHETTY Rhodes University’s third year involved in the FNB Varsity Shield has yet again seen them finish at the bottom of the log after all of the regular season matches have been played. Rhodes Rugby’s apparent lack of improvement in the past three years has caused a number of supporters to question the importance of the team and the competition to the university. However the team’s only victory of the season, coming in the dying minutes of their clash against the University of Fort Hare, raised the moral of every Rhodes supporter, and gathered a massive number of…
NguChris Totobela Imozulu ebizole nasebukhweni bezinja yange mpelaveki edlulileyo, ivumele abathandi bebhola elikhulu ukuba babelukrozo ukuya kwibala las JD Dlepu. NgoMgqibelo kwimidlalo yabo bangaphantsi kweminyaka elishumi elinesixhenxe iYoung killers izenzele kwiLakhenathi ngamanqaku amathathu kwelinye, logama yona iGrahamstown United ihluthe intlaka emlonyeni weCameroon ngamanqaku amathathu kwamabini. ILove and Peace ayigalelekanga kumdlalo wayo neFingo United. Kwimidlalo yoompondo zihlanjiwe iRiebeck City iqengqele iNewtown City. Kumdlalo obuvutha amadangatye nobunika umdla kubalandeli, iJacaranda Aces eqale kakuhle kulamidlalo yokuqala phambi kokuba iphuncukelwe ngamavili kwinqwelo yayo, ibuyise isidima sayo ngethuba ibetha iAttackers kabuhlungu ngamanqaku amathathu kwamabini. Omabini lamaqela bezijaca kulomdlalo esithi maxhalanga ndidleni ngoba sendonakele kakade, nto…