Author: Grocott's Mail Reporters

Written by: JESSICA FELDTMAN The loud cheers of the St. Andrews College supporters could be heard throughout the neighborhood from 23-25 February as the school hosted their annual Shield Water Polo tournament. Eight talented boys’ schools from across South Africa travelled to Grahamstown to compete for ‘ultimate bragging rights’. Despite the gloomy weather, the tournament started off with grueling matches between the eight schools. Grey College, SAC and Pearson dominated the first day, winning all their games. Bishops, Selborne, and Kingswood competed fiercely to qualify for the next round. In the last game of the day, Sterling won 9-8 leaving…

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By CHRIS TOTOBELA On Saturday 24 February, Sakhulutsha hosted XI Attackers in the SAB regional league encounter. The scorching hot conditions complemented the hot action ahead. Both teams started cautiously, keeping things nice and tight. Midway through the first half, however, Sakhulutsha started putting more pressure on their opponents forcing them to defend deep in their half. Sakhulutsha created a lot of scoring chances but failed to make them count. Attackers barely troubled their opponents’ defence, but with only three minutes from halftime, a Sakhulutsha defender handled the ball inside the box. The Sakhulutsha goalkeeper came up with a brilliant…

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By SUE MACLENNAN and KATHRYN CLEARY The gazetting of a decision to change Grahamstown’s name could be a matter of months away. This follows confirmation that the South African Geographical Names Council intends to recommend to the Minister of Arts and Culture that the city’s name be changed, on historical grounds. The move comes after a heated meeting on Thursday 15 February at the Albany Museum, where objectors to a proposed name change had been invited to have their say. Among those hearing arguments were members of the SAGNC from across the country. The Council is made up of 15-25…

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By CHANEEZ SIAS Despite the miserablr weather 19 February, Rhodes University students came out in numbers to “back their boitjies” at the first Varsity Shield Rugby match of the season against the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). The Rhodes 1st XV team faced TUT at Rhodes Great Field, but despite the buoyant mood, they were no match to the well-oiled Pretoria side. TUT won 26-7. TUT showed exceptional attacking skills within the first 12 minutes, with Matthew Mpufo from securing the first five points. Abraham Groenewald successfully converted the try, taking the visitors to eight points. Rhodes were awarded a penalty kick…

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By Ogone Mokobe Ashia Nkontsa from the Tag A Child organisation collected donations of sanitary pads for local schools with underprivileged pupils. With the school year just starting, initiatives like TAC have got the 2018 academic year off to a healthy start for local young women. Nkontsa is originally from eRhini. Her passion for youth drove her to begin the Tag A Child (TAC) organisation. This organisation was founded in 2016 with the aim of helping underprivileged pupils in eRhini and surrounding areas. Although TAC is not yet a registered non-profit organisation, their work has had a significant impact on…

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By Chris Totobela The Makana LFA saw some more intense action on Saturday 3 February, when the Sophia Stars locked horns with Love and Peace in a Premier League clash. The game started very slow, with the first 15 minutes of the game seeing little action as both teams did not create much. The pace started picking up and both teams started to show some urgency in their build ups but still struggled to put up three to four passes together. Although they did not create a lot of scoring chances, they did not make use of the few they…

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By Chaneez Sias The Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) hosted Kingswood College in a hotly contested basketball game  on  February, an encounter the visitors eventually 9-5. The rivalry between these two teams ensured an exciting game, although the low scores belie the game’s competitive nature. Half-time was 7-5 to Kingswood, with fans at the edge of their seats. The teams returned from the break with more energy and made every run, pass and defensive assignment an affair of attrition. The DSG girls were unfortunate not score again, with Kingswood getting another point before the final whistle.

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Although Cue in its traditional daily newspaper format is not being printed at this year’s National Arts Festival (but look out for its mini version, the daily b&w double-sided A4 CuePicks tipsheet), the silver lining is that Cue and Grocott’s Mail have collaborated to produce a FREE full-colour, 12-page A3 publication called CuePicks EXTRA (published on Tuesday 4 July), which is filled to its inky brim with National Arts Festival goodness, with the look and feel of the Cue newspaper you know and love. We have printed 5 000 copies so if you’re at Festival make sure you grab one…

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In many ways, Southern Kings team-mates Tyler Paul and Ross Geldenhuys are polar opposites. The former is an academy-produced utility forward – comfortable at lock and flanker – who is just making his Super Rugby breakthrough. The latter, meanwhile, is a prop nearing his 34th birthday with a Super Rugby title to his name already. In our interviews, Paul seemed relatively reserved, while Geldenhuys appeared totally at ease. However, the two share more than just the shirt they wear on Super Rugby weekends. Both are Old Andreans from Upper House. Geldenhuys matriculated in 2002, while Paul finished in 2013, but there…

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There is new hope for tuberculosis patients with the introduction of Wisepill’s “smart pill box” aimed for distribution in China, India and Africa. A South African company has been chosen by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to develop a smart pill box reminder for TB patients worldwide. The pill box is designed to record every time medication is taken. It can be used by caregivers and doctors to monitor and assist patients, to overcome TB by diligently taking their medication. According to Stats SA, TB is one of the worst killers in the country, taking as many as 33…

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