Author: Stephen Kisbey-Green

After their famous victory over the All Blacks on Saturday 17 November, Ireland have undoubtedly closed the gap on the best team in the world. In fact, some argue that they have overtaken New Zealand as the front-runners in world rugby, for a number of reasons. The men from the emerald isle have garnered a reputation over the past couple of years as the best team in the Northern Hemisphere, with a number of consistent victories over their European counterparts in the RBS 6 Nations tournament. The Irish have played 22 matches since the start of 2017, and have managed…

The culmination of a week focusing on health, safety and well-being in the community, the sixth annual Fabian Juries Community Fun Day will once again take place at the Oval on Saturday 24 November. A truly community-centred event, the fun day is designed to promote the health, safety and well-being of all communities, through the promotion of sport. The fun day will consist of a 10-a-side rugby tournament and a netball tournament, with teams from all of the different areas in Makhanda (Grahamstown) coming to compete. Each team will be competing for a charity or NGO of their choice, and…

Makana Municipality welcomed its employees and representatives from a range of different government departments on Wednesday 21 November for a fun day of activities and talks centred around health and well-being. A number of health-focused events took place at the City Hall, with the highlight of the day being the health talks hosted by guest speaker Dr Vuyisa Sholo. The events of the day were originally scheduled to kick off at the City Hall, from which the members would walk up to the 6 South African Infantry (6 SAI) Military Base, where the remainder of the activities and talks were…

The Albany Bowling Club’s Men’s Fours team were the deserving winners of the Eastern Areas Men’s Fours championship on Sunday 4 November, after defeating Kowie BC in the final round. The Albany’s Women’s team were unfortunate to lose out in their respective final; however, they earned their runners-up medals. Despite losing in the opening round of the tournament at the Kenton Bowling Club in late October, the Albany Men’s team bounced back to earn a further two victories back-to-back. Their section rivals, Kowie BC, had also won two matches; however the Albany team topped their section due to a more…

A large group of Nombulelo Secondary School athletes were excited to receive 50 new sports vests from Khulasande Sports’ Development Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) on Monday 12 November. Sigqibo Bongo, a coach with Khulasande, has been coming to the school four times a week to train the athletes, supported by teachers Lunigle Maqanda,  Manene Tebekana, Mluleni Naika, Dan Jela and Fezile Diko. These athletes have since competed in four meets in Port Elizabeth to date and have brought home multiple medals on each occasion. The new vests are a reward for the learners’ commitment over the programme. The year will culminate with…

The annual Fabian Juries Community Fun Day will once again be hosted at the Makhanda Oval, in celebration of community safety and well-being. The sixth annual Community Fun Day will host a number of different rugby and netball sides, from all of the different wards, on Saturday 24 November at the Oval Sports Ground. The Fun Day started as a 10-a-side rugby fun day in 2013, with five areas of the community being represented in the inaugural event. These areas, namely Ghost Town, Currie Park, Hoogenoeg, Scott’s Farm and Vergenoeg, competed for pride and a trophy, but most importantly, all…

The Springboks slumped to a negative win-loss record under head coach Rassie Erasmus on Saturday 3 November, after a controversial call from referee Angus Gardner at the end of the match allowed England to take home a 12-11 victory in Twickenham. South Africa had dominated all aspects of the match against their hosts in the first half of the game, however failed to convert opportunities into points on multiple occasions. A number of handling errors after solid attacking phases, as well as a poor performance at lineout time from Malcolm Marx, prevented the Springboks from drawing away on the scoreboard.…

The annual St Andrew’s Highland Gathering and Highland Games took place at St Andrew’s College in Makhanda (Grahamstown) on Sunday 23 September. The Day was a celebration of the school’s heritage, which included Scottish games, a performance from the school’s pipe band, as well as traditional highland dancing.

The annual New Year’s Cup soccer tournament will once again be hosted in Makhanda (Grahamstown) from mid-December 2018 to early January 2019, with preparations already under way. This will be the third successive year that Makhanda will host the national tournament. Voting lines are currently open for the participating teams. Currently, 90 teams have registered for voting, which needs to be reduced to 32 to compete in the prestigious tournament. Voting for the participating teams will close on Saturday 3 November, with the final teams to be announced shortly afterwards. Supporters can still cast their votes for their team by…

Johan Botha recently came back to Makhanda (Grahamstown) having placed in the prestigious Mr World Bodybuilding competition in Taranto, Italy, 13-16 October. Botha came fourth in the Masters division of the Mr Universe competition, after months of training and preparation. An experienced bodybuilder of 25 years, Botha has won a number of accolades throughout his career, including: first place at the SA Champion Masters division in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017; SA Police Champion 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 and second place in the 2018 SA police championships. Botha has also represented SA at the World Championships in 2014 (Italy, sixth…