By Sinazo Alungile Novukela Two fires have left the Mbunge family home in Joza Phumlani, Extension 3, in ruins. In 2016 half of it burnt down. In 2018, a second fire destroyed what remained of the structure. Melikhaya Mbunge was inside when it happened, and was lucky to survive – although scarred by burn wounds. The family says it was never established what caused the fires. Melikhaya’s sister, Ntombizanele Mbunge, lost everything in the fire, including all her important documents. She reapplied for her children’s birth certificates and is still without an identity document. She sought temporary shelter for herself…
Author: Student Reporter
Read More
By NASI HAKO Thirteen women and five men are set to appear in the Magistrate’s Court in Makhanda on 26 October. Arrested on 24 July in Joza, the 18 Makhanda residents were charged in terms of the Disaster Management Act. Papers served on them indicate they should pay a R100 admission of guilt fine. “If paid [this] will have the effect of a conviction and will go against their names as a previous conviction in terms of Act 51 of 1977,” said Naran Dullabh, the attorney set to represent the group in court. The matter has since been postponed to…
By LILLIAN ROBERTS In dealing with gender-based violence, it’s vital to support women’s independence and education, says former manager of the SADC Gender Programme Nomkhitha Gysman. Grocott’s Mail student reporter Lillian Roberts interviewed her as the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation marked the anniversary of Uyinene’s death with the question, “What has changed?” August 24 marked a year since Uyinene Mrwetyana was murdered at the Clareinch Post Office in Cape Town. Her death sparked nationwide protests. The Uyinene Foundation said 2018/2019 crime statistics showed a woman was murdered every three hours in South Africa. In many cases rape was unreported, and the number of…
By TUSANI MNYANDU Rhodes University has apologised after its virtual graduation ceremony, a video posted on its YouTube channel, was shared prematurely, sparking a backlash from students and parents. The video was published so it could be accessed by clicking on a link in an emailed invitation to graduates from the Vice-Chancellor. However, before the email was sent, the link to the video was picked up and widely shared. In a statement, the University said, “The video was uploaded on YouTube in the evening of 7 September for testing and to create a hypertext link for the Vice-Chancellor’s letter to…
By TUSANI MNYANDU “Yes definitely. our groceries have increased by roughly R1500 since the lockdown started.” B.Com Honours Accounting student *Nomzamo Novukela, who lives in Extension 7, was answering the question, “Have you noticed any price increases in groceries and if so by how much?” The Household Affordability Index (HAI) for August 2020, released on Wednesday last week indicates that that the cost of the Household Food Basket increased by a staggering 13.2% (R403.46) compared to August last year, and increased by 1.7% (R57.85) since July. The report goes on to show that, in August 2020, families like that of…
By WENDY NZAMA The national justice ministry has put in extra capacity to manage maintenance payments through magistrates’ courts in the Eastern Cape. This comes amid outrage as 36 Makhanda women face their sixth month without maintenance payments to support children in their care. As Grocott’s Mail previously reported, these women are supposed to receive money deducted from the salaries of parents employed by various government departments. These funds are paid by entities such as the departments of Defence and Education, and Makana Municipality, through the maintenance court at the regional courts complex in High Street. The payment glitch was…
Crime Statistics for Makhanda 2019/2020 By LILLIAN ROBERTS Less driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, more shoplifting and an average of two burglaries a day are some of the changes since the last crime statistics reported for Makhanda. The South African Police Service, along with Stats SA recently released crime statistics from April 2019 to March 2020. These statistics include 21 crime categories. Four of these categories are crime detected as a result of police activity and the remainder are crimes reported by the public. Makhanda has two police stations – Grahamstown and Joza. For this report, Grocott’s…
By TUSANI MNYANDU A local tax practitioner says taxpayers shouldn’t be lulled into leaving their assessments in the hands of SARS. This comes as the tax and customs collecting agency announced during a media briefing on 30 July 2020 addressed by Commissioner Edward Kieswetter. Kieswetter was delighted at being able to open the tax season a month early. The tax season for individuals was originally gazetted to start on 1 September 2020. The tax-collecting agency recently announced it would start a month earlier, in August. More than 62 300 tax returns have already been filed, of which 12% have been flagged…
By Tusani Mnyandu “Die lewe is nie pap en vleis nie,” the saying goes. But Ntobeko Songcata under the capable mentorship of businessperson Ron Weissenberg is proving this saying wrong and is braaing his way to the top. Just a year ago, Ntobeko founded Prolen Braai on the Move, a pop-up braai concept to respond to a need by Rhodes University students for getting a meal with less hassle. Prolen Braain on the move went on to win the Provincial EDHE (Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education) Intervarsity competition, in the “existing businesses” category, beating all the Universities in the Eastern Cape…
On Monday 13 July, The South African Students Congress (Sasco) will begin an online campaign against gender-based violence, says Kamva-lethu Goje, Media and Publicity Secretary of Sasco’s Rhodes University branch. Sasco’s GBV campaign, spearheaded by BEC Gender officer, Nkateko Mbhele and Goje, will be carried out in two phases – first online and then, when conditions allow, physical activism. For the online component, Goje says they have appealed to artists, in the spirit of the National Arts Festival, to create content that raises awareness of gender-based violence. The page is under construction, and will be a platform ‘declaring support for survivors…