Author: Staff Reporter

“Fire, capable of both disaster and cleansing, has proved to be the oppressed people’s weapon of choice during protest and has become characteristic of the South African struggle,” writes Xolisa Ngubelanga about her award-winning work, Flamebook, which will be performed  in Grahamstown on 20 March. Ngubelanga is a Master’s Creative Writing student at Rhodes University. Flamebook premiered at the National Arts Festival and is a 2017 Standard Bank Ovation Award winning theatre production for excellence. It is written by Xolisa Ngubelanga and directed by Simphiwe Kaya. “A detained student leader uses fire to connect the trials of FeesMustFall with that of his…

Read More

 With the number in vehicle thefts and hijackings increasing across South Africa, an alarming new trend has emerged involving scams directed at the victims of recent vehicle thefts/hijackings. This according to Hugo van der Merwe, National Manager: Assessing at MUA Insurance Acceptances, who says that the company has already seen multiple instances where policyholders have been targeted by fraudsters following the theft or hijacking of their insured vehicle. “Shortly after reporting a stolen or hijacked vehicle to the South African Police Services, a number of policyholders stated that they were contacted by individuals posing as police officers. In each of…

Read More

Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane this week urged South Africans, investors and the international community to exercise patience and trust the capabilities of Parliament to handle the matter of expropriation of land without compensation. “The department is constitutionally enjoined to change the skewed land-ownership patterns while maintaining economic growth, food security, increased agricultural productions which are priorities for the Government and this Department,” the Department said in a statement on Tuesday. Nkoana-Mashabane said she had noted the media discussions and speculation concerning the recent motion passed by Parliament to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation…

Read More

The Electoral Commission of South Africa says it’s all systems go for 22 609 voting stations across the country to open on 10 and 11 March 2018 for the general registration and address ‘harvesting’ weekend. The IEC says doors will open at 8am on Saturday 10 March and Sunday 11 March 2018 for eligible voters to check and confirm their addresses on the voters’ roll, or to register as voters. This general registration weekend is an important stage of the preparations for the 2019 national and provincial elections, the IEC says. The IEC says: All 22 609 voting stations around…

Read More

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says doctors could not have detected the Listeriosis outbreak sooner. Speaking in the National Assembly in Parliament on Thursday, he said the Listeriosis outbreak started in June 2017 and doctors at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital picked it up the following month. “They could not have picked it up faster. The month of June, according to this analysis, is the month in which Listeria laboratories confirmed cases started differing substantially from the month-to-month figures of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 itself,” he said. The Minister at the weekend announced that the source…

Read More

  At 5000 copies (that’s a minimum of 12 500 readers), Grocott’s Mail is reaching more people than ever. Most are thrilled to be getting their own copy free – but some of our long-time readers are missing out on the copy they relied on being able to pick up at the shop on the Friday bread and milk run. So we’ve approached certain businesses and institutions to serve as collection points for their regular customers. They’ve agreed to keep lists of walk-in Grocott’s Mail “subscribers” who opt to collect their copies there. The good news for readers who used to…

Read More

Scifest 2018 opened yesterday in a blaze of lights – lasers to be precise! Grahamstown hosts the 22nd edition of the annual event through 13 March, with activity centred around the Monument and the Albany Science Museum. The LaserX laser shows daily in the Guy Butler Theatre are a dramatic combination of lasers, ice fog and live performers. The theme for Scifest 2018 is ‘Innovation 4.0’, referring to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which the World Economic Forum describes as a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.” Find the full Scifest programme…

Read More

Pet owners are urged to ensure their animals are vaccinated agains rabies following the report that five human cases of rabies have been confirmed in South Africa since December 2017. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said Wednesday the cases were recorded in patients from Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and two patients in KwaZulu-Natal. There was another possible case of rabies in the Free State, however, laboratory confirmation was not possible. The six suspected cases involved exposures to rabid domestic dogs in three of the cases and domestic cats in three of the cases. “Another probable case of rabies…

Read More

The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services is hosting a two-day workshop on the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, which seeks to lower the cost of communication. The workshop, which concluded Wednesday in Pretoria, is an opportunity for the department to interact with the 43 respondents to the bill, which include the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), Vodacom, Nokia, Cell C, MTN, SMMEs, industry associations, organised business, the government and individuals. The amendment bill forms part of government’s efforts to create an enabling environment for the digital industrial revolution and contribute to lowering the cost of communication. Key issues in…

Read More