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Givers bring hope

Gift of the Givers Chairperson Dr Imtiaz Sooliman reaches out to congratulate the team that struck water opposite the Waainek Water Treatment Works at 115 metres. From left are Edward Molithapelo, site manager Alfred Mahlambi, hydrologist Gideon Groenewald and Sooliman. Photo: Steven Lang

WATER CRISIS: HOW TO HELPHere is a list of organisations that are collecting and/ or distributing water in the town along with the contact people.GIFT OF THE GIVERSDr Imtiaz Sooliman 083 236 4029Gift of the Givers, Standard Bank, Pietermaritzburg, Account number 052137228, Branch Code 057525. Send deposit slip to donations@giftofthegivers.org for ac-knowledgement.PAM GOLDING PROPERTIESDaphne Timm 082 809 4283 or daphne.timm@pamgolding.co.zaAnyone wanting to deliver to PE/Kenton/Port Alfred and East London Pam Gold-ing Properties offices Daphne Timm will drive and collect. Anyone driving through Grahamstown at any time is welcome to drop off water at the Pam Golding offices as well.ROUND TABLE 11 (GRAHAMSTOWN)Ryno van Rooyen 072 141 4911 or r.vanrooyen@ru.ac.zaGreg Wilmot 072 264 1452 or greg@wilmotpsychology.co.zaRound Table are co-ordinating the transport of drinking water from Port Elizabeth and East London and its distribution to areas of most need.ROTARY CLUB OF GRAHAMSTOWN SUNSETIzak Smuts 046 6222 297.Rotary Club of Grahamstown Sunset, First National Bank Grahamstown, Bank Code 210 717, current account, Account name GBS Mutual Bank, account number 5232 2003 436, reference 028427190061.

Information about the water crisis can be found here: http://www.makana.gov.za/water-crisis/

2 NEWS Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019

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FRIDAY22FEBRUARYPartly cloudy. Moderate easterly wind.Temperature: Min 15°C Max 27°C Tides: low tides 11:49 23:57 high tides 05:41 17:57 SATURDAYPartly cloudy. Light SSW wind.Temperature: Min 16°C Max 29°C Tides:low tide 12:27 high tides 06:19 18:34

SUNDAYPartly cloudy. Light SSW wind.Temperature: Min 13°C Max 26°C Tides:low tides 00:32 13:04 high tides 06:57 19:10

MONDAYPartly cloudy. Light ENE wind.Temperature: Min 15°C Max 28°C Tides:low tides 01:06 13:43 high tides 07:37 19:50

TUESDAYPartly cloudy. Moderate SSW wind.Temperature: Min 15°C Max 30°C Tides:low tides 01:44 14:30 high tides 08:22 20:44

WEDNESDAYPartly cloudy. Moderate WSW wind.Temperature: Min 8°C Max 21°CTides:low tides 02:37 15:58 high tides 09:32 22:43

THURSDAYPartly cloudy. Light SW wind.Temperature: Min 13°C Max 23°CTides:low tides 04:47 18:42 high tide 11:38

FRIDAYSunny. Light southerly wind.Temperature: Min 12°C Max 29°CTides:low tides 07:02 19:49 high tides 00:59 13:15

Temperatures and tides were correct at the time of going to press

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Thick smoke fills the air as the municipal landfill site, adjacent to the Grahamstown Riding Club, burns on Thursday 21 February. Users said they had been unable to access the site for two days, with the smoke so thick at the entrance it was impossible to see where they were driving. Photo: Steven Lang

Rhino trial nears endBy SUE MACLENNANThe Ndlovu rhino-poaching trial will resume in the High Court in Makhan-da (Grahamstown) on Monday 11 March, for argument and possible judgment. Jabulani Ndlovu, Forget Ndlovu and Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu were arrested at Makana Resort out-side Makhanda in June 2016. They are charged with counts of theft, contravening environmental laws and the Medicines Control Act, and contravening the Firearms Control Act in connection with 13 poaching

incidents near Makhanda, Jansen-ville, Graaff-Reinet, Cradock and Al-exandria.

Senior Counsel for the defence, Terry Price, informed Judge Jeremy Pickering that his clients had run out of funds and that on the basis he had been on the case thus far, would see it through to its conclusion on a pro bono basis.

Judge Pickering said the case should be set down for argument and possibly judgment in the week start-ing 11 March.

Vandals hit substationBy SUE MACLENNANFor the second time in less than a month, residents in parts of Somer-set Heights yesterday experienced power surges after an electrical sub-station was broken into and vandal-ised. Residents in areas surrounding Gowie Dam reported power surges shortly after 7am on Thursday 21 February.

Makana electricians who arrived soon after discovered that the Win-canton Road substation had been broken into and the neutral cable from the transformer room stolen.

In a statement, Makana Municpal-ity said electricians had replaced the

vandalised parts and a case of theft and damage to property had been opened. Residents reported power returning around 6.30pm.

Damage estimated to come to mil-lions was caused by a power surge in Oatlands North and Somerset Heights on the night of Monday 28 January. Residents affected described the incident as “like a war” as ap-pliances exploded, burst into flames and thick, acrid smoke filled homes.

Grocott’s Mail understands that discussions are under way between residents, a private security company and the municipality about plans to properly secure the substation.

Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019 NEWS 3

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CallforextrawatercareGROCOTTS MAIL REPORTERS

Businesses and NGOs are using their national muscle to urgently col-

lect water for Makhanda (Grahamstown) as unexpect-ed technical problems at both east and west supplies mean the city must drastically and immediately reduce its water use during the next two days. This comes as humanitarian organisation Gift of the Giv-ers announced a successful borehole sunk near Waainek Water Treatment Works, and its teams intensify deliveries of bottled water to areas af-fected by outages and inter-rupted supply.

Damaged filters at James Kleynhans water treatment works mean the plant will be operating at half its capacity for the next two weeks and the Howieson’s Poort pump station will be out of opera-tion for two days after a leak-ing pump flooded the facility. James Kleynhans serves ar-eas mostly in east Makhanda and Howieson’s Poort feeds Waainek which supplies water to areas in the west of the city.

The Waainek supply was expected to be up and running by Monday, the municipal-ity told Grocott’s Mail, again producing 8 megalitres a day.

At half-capacity, James Kleyn-hans would continue to pro-duce 5ML a day. If residents used water sparingly - 25 li-tres a day per person (or 100 litres for a four-person house-hold) - Waainek could provide water for the two days that the Howieson’s Poort pump station is down, Urgent hunt for groundwaterIn a press briefing on Monday 18 February, Makana Execu-tive Mayor Mzukisi Mpahlwa and Gift of the Givers hydrolo-gist Dr Gideon Groenewald confirmed that the search for useable groundwater in Makhanda (Grahamstown) had begun. Groenewald said Gift of the Givers had begun the mapping and exploration process of Makhanda’s exist-ing boreholes that morning, and hoped to strike ‘liquid gold’ by that evening.

Mpahlwa said Makana had a comprehensive plan for the future. When Settlers Dam fell below the level it could be pumped, the west side of town would be switched to the Glen Melville system. He confirmed that James Kley-nhans was normally able to supply 10 megalitres a day drawn from the Glen Melville

Dam, but that the quality of the water was sub-standard due to ongoing upgrades.

The crisis plan has been that come Day Zero for Makhanda west, all of Makhanda would operate on the Kleynhans sys-tem and the supply to west and east would alternate, two days at a time. Mpahlwa said that water trucks would then be dispatched to areas with-out water for those two days.

Broken filters at James Kleynhans, however, mean this crisis plan is currently unworkable. The facility is currently operating at half its 10-megalitre capacity.

At Monday’s press briefing, Groenewald was hopeful, stat-ing that the plan was to find existing boreholes and “marry them with existing infrastruc-ture”.

Once water was sited, it would be tested for yield and chemistry to determine if it would be a sustainable and healthy source for Makhanda. If there was useable water from these boreholes but not connection available to main infrastructure, the borehole would serve as a spring for residents to collect from.

Groenewald emphasised that examining existing bore-holes in Makhanda (Graham-

stown) and cleaning them properly was a priority. “If you know what you’re doing, Gra-hamstown sits on some of the best aquifers in the country,” he said.

He said Gift of the Giv-ers could supply Makana with raw bulk water for the Waainek plant. The bulk water would come from boreholes located close to Waainek and would be processed through the plant. Groenwald said the drilling that yielded water at 115 metres at a site less than 500 metres from the treat-ment works is expected to yield 20 000 litres a day.

He emphasised grave con-cern for Makana’s drought should March see no sufficient rainfall. By 6.30pm the Gift of the Givers team had drilled a considerable depth into Wit-teberg Quartzite opposite the Waainek plant. Groenewald said they would continue drill-ing to a depth of 146 metres and would also explore other sites. This week, Groenewald and the drilling team contin-ued to explore and clean.

Help for people and animalsThe town has seen a lot of ac-tivity this week, with several local businesses and individu-

al residents hiring contractors to drill boreholes on private premises.

Wednesday 20 February saw Founder and Chairper-son of the Gift of the Givers, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman arrive in Makhanda. He said the or-ganisation had brought in 48 bails of fodder from Howick in KwaZulu-Natal, to distribute to emerging farmers in Ma-kana. “Thousands of animals are dying,” Sooliman said.

Following Wednesday’s press conference the fodder was carefully distributed to emerging farmers, Makana commonage areas and six Ma-kana farms.

Sooliman emphasised the organisation’s immediacy in their response to natural dis-

asters, and said while long-term planning was important, it was essential to act without delay in a crisis. “The question is, ‘What are you doing this afternoon?’, not what are you doing in three years time,” he said. Responding to criti-cism that bottled water was a short-term solution, Sooliman said, “Bottled water is not ideal, it is true, but under the circumstances, it is the only thing available instantly.”

As the organisation has remained in the area, they have continued to hear about issues facing rural Makana communities like Riebeeck East, as well as other Eastern Cape towns. In response to this, Dr Sooliman said he had Continued on Page 7

4 NEWS Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019

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ERRATUM

PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING CHANGE TO REFURBISHMENT OF GRAHAM-STOWN 11KV ELECTRICAL NETWORK PHASE 1 -TENDER NUMBER MLM/2018-19/INFRA/006

• The closing date has been moved to 1 March 2019

• The tender was advertised on the 8th of February 2019 and the initial closing date was 22 February 2019

For any question regarding the matter please do not hesitate to contact Ms Z.Gxowa (scm manager)

Issued by office of the Municipal Manager: Mr. M. Mene

M. MENE

Sibhiyozela ukutyeba kwesiXhosaUmnyhadala wePuku ubhiyozela uncwadi lwesiXhosa, uLindani Donyeli ubuza abafundi ngesaci/ qhalo okanye igama lesiXhosa abalithandayo.

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MunirollunderfireBy STEVEN LANG

“You will be inundat-ed with objections” warned a woman at

a municipal public participa-tion meeting held at the City Hall on Monday evening. She was one of more than a hun-dred angry ratepayers sharing their opinions on the latest property valuation roll with Makana’s new Chief Financial Officer, Gerard Goliath and professional valuer, Salwen Butler.

The meeting was held in terms of the Municipal Prop-erties Act of 2004 which re-quires the municipality to hold public meetings to explain the Certified General Valuation Roll. Goliath chaired the meet-ing and Butler represented Sizanane Consulting, the com-pany entrusted with valuating the more than 20 000 proper-ties in the Makana Municipal-ity.

Ratepayers expressed their dismay at the idiosyncratic way that the valuations were done without any apparent consistency. The Grahamstown Residents’ Association Secre-tary, Tim Bull, said there was widespread unhappiness about the valuations process while advocate Jock McConnachie said the roll, “… is riddled with inconsistencies and anoma-lies”. His demand that “this roll should be rejected out of hand” was met with vigorous applause.

Many bizarre titbits in the roll could have been amusing if they were not so serious, such as classifying the Settlers Monument as an industrial property or categorising sev-eral commercial enterprises in African Street as residences.

Residents shared dozens of accounts of similar sized prop-erties located in the same area but were assessed at vastly dif-ferent rates. This countered Butler’s claim that he used Geographic Information Sys-tems (GIS) data to calculate property size which was then rated at a consistent per square metre rate.

Most people present, how-ever, were upset because their valuations were increased sub-stantially even though the mar-ket value of their properties had dropped. To make matters

worse, most ratepayers blame the municipality for declining market prices.

They said that Makana Mu-nicipality’s inability to deliver basic services such as water, sanitation, garbage collection and road maintenance is hav-ing a detrimental effect on property values and on busi-nesses.

Chairperson of the Graham-stown Residents’ Association (GRA), Philip Machanick, com-mented outside the meeting that, “From residents’ perspec-tive, valuations should not be increased since by all accounts property values are not rising. It is up to the municipality to make the case that values should increase, not us.”

Ratepayers accused Butler of lying when he said that al-though he had not met with the local business sector, he had met with estate agents. He did not seem to reckon with almost all high-profile estate agents being present in the au-dience. They stated categori-cally that they had not met with anyone from Sizanane.

Butler specifically said he had consulted with the Remax agent – a statement that was denied by the representative in audience.

The draft roll uses an old trick to make increases in

property valuations seem not so bad. It is common practice to calculate a percentage in-crease based on the previous value. One of the ratepayers illustrated this ruse by asking: “If the value of a property was increased from R1 million to R2 million, how much is the percentage increase?”

Everyone shouted in unison that it was ‘one hundred per-cent’. However, according to the municipality’s system, the increase was only fifty percent because the percentage was calculated on the new valua-tion.

In a similar way, a 25% in-crease on the old valuation is calculated as only 20% on the new valuation.

Goliath acknowledged that the municipality was not hap-py with the efforts of Sizanane, but in trying to find something positive about the new roll he said, “Not all the property valu-ations are incorrect”.

Machanick reflected the views of the majority of resi-dents who believe that the municipality inflated rates as a means of adding to their depleted coffers. He said that “We understand there is a bal-ance between the municipality trying to increase revenue and valuations that reflect property values”.

Goliath countered this view stating adamantly that, “I don’t want to milk the ratepayer anymore.”

He explained that within the next week or two, residents will be receiving Section 49 let-ters advising them of the new rates and how to lodge objec-tions. He added that the new valuations have to be applied as from July 2019.

As an outcome of Mon-day’s meeting, a small group residents agreed to meet with the new CFO and with Butler to discuss a way of resolving the widespread dissatisfaction about the valuations roll.

Goliath encouraged resi-dents to write to the municipal-ity with queries and complaints saying that “no objection goes unanswered”.

NOW SEE HOW MUCH YOUR RATES INCREASED

CSS Geographical Information Specialists used data from

Makana Municipality’s rates spreadsheet to make two graphics that provide an

at-a-glance view of precentage increases across Makhanda (Grahamstown), as well as

comparative market values across the city. Find the maps

and the explanation at http://bit.ly/GrocRates

This graphic shows by what percentage the rates have increased. Graphic: CSS Geographical Information Specialists.

Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019 NEWS 5

PUBLIC NOTICE CALLING FOR INSPECTION OF THE GENERAL VALUATION ROLL AND LODGING OF OBJECTIONS.

Notice is hereby given in terms of section 49(1) (a)(i)(ii) read together with section 78 (2) of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act, 2004 (Act No.6 of 2004) , herein after referred to as the “Act”, that the General Valuation Roll effective for the financial years 2019 to 2024 is open for public inspection in the designated areas of the Municipality as mentioned hereunder. The Roll will be open from 20 February to 01 April 2019 and can be inspected during office hours between 08:00 to 16:00 from Monday to Thursday and 08:00 to 15:00 on Friday.

o Municipal Offices o Librarieso Municipal Website: www.makana.gov.za

An invitation is hereby made in terms of section 49(1) (a)(i)(ii) of the Act, that any owner of property or other person who so desires should lodge an objection with the Municipal Manager in the prescribed manner in respect of any matter reflected in or omitted from the Valuation Roll within the above-mentioned period.

Attention is specifically drawn to the fact that in terms of section 50(2) of the Act, an objec-tion must be in relation to a specific individual property and not against the Valuation Roll as such.

Forms for the lodging of an objection are available at the following address, Municipal Of-fices: 86 High Street, Makhanda / Grahamstown.

The complete prescribed objection forms must be returned to the same address as indicated above before 16:00 on the closing date of 01st April 2019, please note that objections lodged after the closing date will not be considered.

For further details and enquires please contact Ms Gcobisa Stuurman at 046 603 6009 / 6111 or email: GcobisaStuurman@makana.gov.za

MA MENEMUNICIPAL MANAGER

SunCityintheshadows

Sun City is an informal settlement located on a dump site; with one working tap to service up to 500 residents. The day our reporter visited, there was no water in the community. Photo: Kathryn Cleary

By KATHRYN CLEARY

In November 2018, follow-ing two weeks of heated sessions in the Makana

Council, the topic of Sun City remained up in the air. De-spite having been submitted correctly, a motion of question on the informal settlement was twice excluded from the agendas of council meetings, leading to a furious DA stag-ing successive walkouts and, in the backlash, the Speaker calling armed police into the Council chamber to remove senior DA councillors Mlindi Nhanha and Brian Fargher.

In September 2018 Gro-cott’s Mail reported that resi-dents of Sun City, which is located on top of a former landfill site, were facing ser-vice delivery issues affect-ing the community’s sanita-tion. Due to the settlement’s location, Makana is unable to install sewerage lines, so residents must use the bucket system. However, residents told our reporter that their buckets were seldom collect-ed and sanitised.

Makana was scheduled to collect the waste on a fort-nightly basis but could not do so due to mechanical issues with the sanitation truck, ac-cording to acting director of infrastructure at the time Kelello Makgoka. As a result, residents had taken to dump-ing waste in nearby bush.

Three months later, in Feb-

ruary 2019, Sun City resi-dents took to barricading the road, raising the red flag once again on the abhorrent sani-tation conditions the com-munity faces. The roads were blocked for days with burning rubbish, tyres and buckets filled with maggot-infested human waste. Residents told Grocott’s Mail that the buckets had not been collected since the beginning of January.

Dustin Davies lives in Sun City with a family of three children. Davies spoke to our reporters emphasising the horrifying sanitation condi-tions that residents had been living in for months at a time.

“Today I decided to repre-sent Sun City. We are doing this protest and as you can see it is peaceful, it’s not vio-lent,” said Davies last week.

“The bucket system is over-flowing here, that is why you see us here doing this protest-ing.”

Davies said that the com-munity met with the Ex-ecutive Mayor and other Directors at the end of Janu-ary. Makgoka, whose ap-pointed position is Director of Public Safety and Community Services, confirmed this, stat-ing that the meeting had ad-dressed water, sanitation and refuse in Sun City.

Residents stated that the last time their buckets were collected was early January, and that Makana told them

that the sanitation truck was broken. Makgoka confirmed this. On Wednesday 13 Feb-ruary, residents continued to protest, but their buckets had been emptied.

As a result of the South Afri-

can Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) strike, Makana had to find another service provid-er to collect the buckets, said Makgoka. “We are trying our best given the situation,” he said. Resident Freddie Smith

or “Bossy” as the community calls him, assured our report-ers that the protest was peace-ful, but said the community would not stop until Makana addressed their grievances.

“There are some other is-

sues in this protest [besides the buckets],” said Smith. “The taps and the lights, be-cause it’s very dark here.”

Continued on Pages 8 & 9

6 OPINION&ADVICE Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019

The source since 1870

CALL US - 046 603 7111/ 076 733 1770EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING AND ACCOUNTSAfrica Media Matrix building, Upper Prince Alfred StreetLetters: letters@grocotts.co.za What's On: community@grocotts.co.za.Online events: add yours at www.grocotts.co.za/event. ADVERTISINGGrocott’s Mail advertising: GrocottsMailAdvertising@ads.grocotts.co.za 046 603 7111

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Established 1870: South Africa's oldest independent newspaperVol. 149 No. 007

Printed by Times Media Printing Company - Tiso BlackstarGrocott’s Mail is published by the David Rabkin Project for Experiential Journalism, a company wholly owned by Rhodes University. The contents of this newspaper do not necessarily represent the views of either body.

Code of ConductGrocott’s Mail subscribes to the Press Council’s Code of Conduct, which obliges us to report the news truthfully, accurately and fairly (www.presscouncil.org.za). If you think we are not living up to this, your first step is to contact the Editor. If you are still dissatisfied, we encourage you to contact the Press Ombudsman at 011 484 3612/8 or pressombudsman@ombudsman.org.za

Best Independent Established Newspaper in SA (Media Development and Diversity Agency/Sanlam Award, 2012, 2013 and 2014)

Best independent established newspaper in SA

LETTERSto the Editor and COLUMNS

Grocott’s Mail is aware of a letter that on Tuesday 19 Febru-ary ‘went viral’ on social media referring to a “circular relat-ing to the toxicity of the present Makana Municipality water” – and attributing Grocott’s Mail as the source. Grocott’s Mail dissociates itself from the letter emailed to local schools.

Subsequent ‘damage control’ correspondence to parents and other stakeholders suggested Grocott’s Mail had erred. This is not the case. The article said there was e.coli in the water according to tests done in November and December. The email implied that the tests applied to current water quality. This is incorrect.

We believe that the intention of the email writer and the people who subsequently circulated it was well meaning, but the claims made about the water quality attributed to us in the letter do not match what we wrote and published. We pride ourselves on rigorously checking our information, and sources, and on imparting news with fairness and bal-ance. We are the first to admit any mistakes of fact and make any corrections if needed. However, this was not the case in terms of this reporting about water quality tests and about and slow reporting of results of water testing by the munici-pality.

As is clear from the first line of the original text, the article is about water tested late in 2018, and highlighted not just the poor results from those tests, but importantly, that this information was not shared with the public until last week. We heard about these results in the middle of last week and deliberately held the article back for a few days days because a) we’d been given a verbal assurance that the water supply in the municipality is currently safe and b) we wanted to make sure Makana had the opportunity to 100% confirm the information they published about the November and Decem-ber results last week, and let us know why the results were not made available much sooner.

We were also informed that current water testing results would be available Wednesday 20 February and anticipated updating the article to reflect current results. We would like to think that the publication of our article on Monday, and our focus on the non-disclosure of previous poor results, prompted an earlier release of these results for water drawn for testing in February this year – but unfortunately it was more likely the social media activity around the letter. When we were informed about the current results from the water samples tested early in February, we immediately updated the article.

Grocott’s Mail will continue to do the work of seeking out and sharing information about issues affecting the commu-nity that we’re a part of.

For more information, please read the full statement that was published online on 20 February.

– This week’s editorial is written by Sue Maclennan

Testing the truth

Phindiswa Deu (QueenP) of QueenP Entertainment and Events visited Ethembeni Old Age Home on Valentine’s Day (14 February) to share some love with the Senior Citizens and residents of Ethembeni. Photo: Supplied

Thank you from Child Welfare SA GrahamstownWe at the Child Welfare SA Grahamstown are absolutely delighted to acknowledge the receipt of fund of R14,000.00 from the Grocott’s Cheer Fund.

We would like to thank the many individuals who contributed to this worthwhile cause, as well as the bigger donors including GBS Mutual Bank and the Pro Carmine Choir, whose Christmas Cheer Concert audience gave generously.

Your financial support helps us continue in our mission and to assist the vulnerable children in our community.

The generous support of this incredible annual fund makes

it possible for our organization to exist and to make the community a better place to live. Thank you again for your support of our work at Child Welfare SA Grahamstown and for the caring commitment of all the people involved with the Grocott’s Cheer Fund.

We are very appreciative.

Woineshet BischoffDirector of Child Welfare SA Grahamstown

GOOD IDEA

Be disturbed – Be mercifulIt is common knowledge that we here in this town are fac-ing a crisis. The water short-age is impacting on us all. No one can walk by the heaps of rubbish and pretend that nothing is wrong.

Schools are struggling, with children being sent home be-cause there is no water for the toilets, to wash hands or to cook food. Many homes have been without water for days and days. We need rain. We need compassion from each one of us to help where we can. We need wisdom on the part of leaders to address the crisis.

Wisdom. Choosing the right path; deciding what is best. How to live wisely in the midst of our troubled world. The opposite of wisdom is foolishness, choosing the wrong path, a road that leads to destruction. Some of the books of the Old Testament are called “Wisdom Litera-ture” – the book of Proverbs, the Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes. They present us with choices between right and wrong, finding our way through life in difficult circumstances. They often contrast the wise per-son as one who follows God’s ways, who trusts in God, with the foolish person, who does not follow God and God’s ways.

However, in the “Sermon on the Plain” (Luke 6:17-26) Je-sus gives another perspective.

Instead of speaking words of comfort and assurance, he speaks words that are deeply unsettling and disturbing. He first speaks to those disciples who are poor, the hungry, the grieving, the excluded.

“You are blessed”, Jesus assures them, “because the kingdom of God is yours, you who are hungry will be satis-fied, you who are mourning will laugh, you who are in-sulted and hated will have a rich reward in heaven”. Then he speaks to those disciples who are rich, who are well fed, who are happy, who are popular.

“Woe to you”… “Alas for you”…” You have had your time of happiness; you will go hungry; you will mourn and weep. Your popularity is a sham because that is how the false prophets were treated. I am sorry for you.”

Imagine a stunned silence. Imagine uncomfortable glanc-es from some. What is he on about? This is not what we came to hear. And from oth-ers, the dawning realisation that perhaps things would change.

Perhaps there was hope. Perhaps God did see suffer-ing and hopelessness. Perhaps there was a future. Perhaps poverty and hunger and strug-gle were not to be a sign of God’s curse or condemna-tion after all. Perhaps wealth and riches, pleasant as they

were, were not necessarily a sign of God’s blessing, but of something else. The need for compassion. The call for mercy. The reminder to look to God. To trust not in one’s own strength and ability and achievements, but to trust in God. To delight not in arro-gance and power, but in hu-mility.

So let us be disturbed. All too often, people think that God’s blessings are seen in wealth, in comfort, in pros-perity. People are told, “Be faithful, and God will pour out riches upon you. Wealth is a sign of God’s blessing.” But Jesus says otherwise. He looks at those who are struggling, who are powerless, who are without water, without food, who are without opportuni-ties, and he pronounces bless-ing on them.

On you and me. He says that there is a future. That this is not the only reality. That things will turn. These words of Jesus resound in our time as words of change and hope. He challenges the complacen-cy of the rich, those who have all they need, those who are comfortable, those who do not know what it is to be anxious for tomorrow.

Let us be merciful. These words of blessings and woes, these uncomfortable words, are for us today, here in Makhanda, Grahamstown. To question. To disturb. To be dis-

turbed. To be unsettled. They give us a picture of a new com-munity, formed by the grace of God, where we look beyond ourselves to those around us, brothers and sisters in Christ, people in need. Desperate. And they call us to especially to show mercy. To be changed and transformed. To share.

If we have water, and we choose to take a 20 minute shower, knowing that our town is on the brink of no water – is that mercy? If we have food and shelter, if we are happy and content, and we know that others have none, or if we have doors of opportunity open for us, but we see that those doors are closed for others, and we do nothing – is that mercy? So let us do what we can. Let us al-low ourselves to be disturbed, shaken, uncomfortable, unset-tled, have sleepless nights. Be-cause in this uncertain space of discomfort, God is speaking to us.

Let us be hopeful. You and I are invited to trust, believe, have faith, commit our ways to God, to seek God’s will in all things. To know that in our hunger and poverty, in our struggles, God sees and loves and embraces and promises a future, new life, a way for-ward.

The Very Reverend Andrew Hunter

Dean of Makhanda (Grahamstown) Cathedral

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Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019 NEWS 7

INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS DIVISION

INVITATION TO TENDER

Rhodes University, Infrastructure and Operations Division invites all suitably qualified service providers to respond to the invitation for the tender below:

CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE FOR RHODES UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS : PHASE 3

The project will take place at the premises of Rhodes University in Grahamstown and requires a contractor well established close to Grahamstown. The project involves inspecting and testing of the electrical installation for Rhodes University Buildings for compliance with SANS 10142-1 : wiring of premises, latest edition. Upon completion of testing, the electrical contractor must produce a list of remedial work required to achieve compliance and produce a COC per distribution board per building upon completion of remedial work.

Tender documentation will be available on the Rhodes University eProcurement website on payment of a R500 non-refundable deposit. Tender documents will only be released after proof of payment has been received. Proof of payment must be emailed to w.lombard@ru.ac.za.

Payment must be made to the following bank account:o Account name: Rhodes Universityo Bank: First National Banko Branch: 210717o Account number: 621 4550 3076o Reference: 12500 798 183

Information about registering on the website as a Bidder can be obtained from the Procurement Department as per the details below:

• Contact person: Mrs W Lombard; Email: w.lombard@ru.ac.za A compulsory tender’s site inspection will be held at 11h00 on Thursday, 28 February 2019 at the 35 South Street, Rhodes University, Somerset Street, Grahamstown.

Tender submission: Tenders must be submitted online through the eProcurement portal. Responses must adhere to the required format, to enable Rhodes University to adjudicate all bids effectively and fairly. Late submission, manual, email, fax and telephonic submission will not be considered.

Close of Tenders: Friday, 15 March 2019 at 13h00.

ONLY EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WILL BE ENTERED INTO

Kindly note that should the University not be satisfied with any of the tenders submitted, it will not be obliged to make a tender award.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS DIVISION

INVITATION TO TENDER

Rhodes University, Infrastructure and Operations Division invites all suitably qualified service providers to respond to the invitation for the tender below:

MV NETWORK UPGRADE PHASE 3

The scope of work for the project involves the decommissioning, disconnection and removal of existing substation equipment for the existing Rhodes University Medium Voltage network. The successful contractor will supply and install new dry-type transformers, MV switchgear and MV cables as part of the Phase 3 of the MV network upgrade. The phase 3 will also involve multiple switching on the existing system, testing and commissioning.

Tender documentation will be available on the Rhodes University eProcurement website on payment of a R500 non-refundable deposit. Tender documents will only be released after proof of payment has been received. Proof of payment must be emailed to w.lombard@ru.ac.za.

Payment must be made to the following bank account:o Account name: Rhodes Universityo Bank: First National Banko Branch: 210717o Account number: 621 4550 3076o Reference: 12500 798 183

Information about registering on the website as a Bidder can be obtained from the Procurement Department as per the details below:

• Contact person: Mrs W Lombard; Email: w.lombard@ru.ac.za A compulsory tender’s site inspection will be held at 11h00 on Thursday, 28 February 2019 at the 35 South Street, Rhodes University, Somerset Street, Grahamstown.

Tender submission: Tenders must be submitted online through the eProcurement portal. Responses must adhere to the required format, to enable Rhodes University to adjudicate all bids effectively and fairly. Late submission, manual, email, fax and telephonic submission will not be considered.

Close of Tenders: Monday, 11 March 2019 at 13h00.

ONLY EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WILL BE ENTERED INTO

Kindly note that should the University not be satisfied with any of the tenders submitted, it will not be obliged to make a tender award.

LearnerswinbigwithRUMESTAFF REPORTER

This year the Rhodes Uni-versity Maths Experi-ence (RUME) welcomed

22 schools and a total of 360 learners from in and around Makhanda (Grahamstown), with schools from Port Alfred and Port Elizabeth joining as well. RUME is an annual event that hosts learners from grade 7-12, both public and private schools.

“Generally learners have a perception that Maths is dif-ficult. This perception comes from elders and teachers who advise them against it. So, over the years, we are teach-ing the learners with new strategies to show them that it’s not really that difficult,” said Mandlakayise Sineka, Samuel Ntsiko Primary School, grade 7 teacher.

By design, the Maths Expe-rience is meant to stimulate an interest in mathematics for learners, with an afternoon filled with maths-orientated activities.

The first being an hour long mini-Olympiad set by the Co-ordinator Andrew Stevens, Lecturer at the Rhodes Uni-versity Education Department and Chair of the organising committee.

In preparation for this event, “the learners went to the Rhodes training sessions and we had extra Maths class-es in the afternoons. This is a wonderful opportunity, the learners gain so much from it even if they don’t achieve at a grade 7 level, it really puts them in a good position to achieve at the highest levels

because they know what is expected,” said Anita Sonne, Victoria Primary School, grade 7 teacher.

Once the students had concluded writing, they gath-ered in groups discussing the answers to the questions over refreshments. The nerv-ous energy that filled Barratt beforehand had dissipated, leaving an energy of excite-ment for the rest of the after-noons activities.

“It was difficult, but man-ageable and we would defi-nitely do it again,” said a group of students from Nombulelo High School in Makhanda.

While the teachers were hard at work marking, Ste-vens took to the front of the Barratt 1 lecture theatre and kept a room full learners rapt with maths questions and tips on problem-solving. With every maths problem-solving question he posed, the learn-er who gave the right answer would win a brand new cal-culator.

The learners thoroughly enjoyed this, with a number of hands shooting up with ex-citement; eager to give their answers and argue their case if it was found to be wrong.

“A lot of learners here today, are already entered into the South African Maths Olym-piad. When tackling problem-solving questions you need to READ and understand the problems; make a connection between the UNKNOWN and the given data; carry out your PLAN; and lastly, look back,” said Stevens.

In the question paper Ste-vens had set for the afternoon, five questions were common to all the papers. This was done in the previous year (2018) as well and resulted in a small difference between grade per-formance; with grades 9-10 doing better than 11-12 in some of them. The results em-phasise that knowing the facts is not always what is needed in problem-solving; however, understanding basic concepts is a better strategy.

The prize winners received cash prizes, with the top 3 achieving learners in grade 11-12 being awarded with scholarships to Rhodes Uni-versity. The scholarship prizes were organised by the Deputy Dean of the Science Faculty, Joyce Sewry.

The prize giving began with prizes being awarded to the top learners from each school,

followed by winners in each grade division.

The RUME Bursary winners for 2019 were Brody Hena-ghan from St Andrews College in 1st place; Chase de Doncher and Keanan Johns from Alex-ander Road in Port Elizabeth placing 2nd and 3rd, respec-tively.

Stevens gave thanks to all the sponsors who assisted in making the afternoon a suc-cess for the learners.

“There are not many events in the Makhanda region, where so many schools come together at one time, in one place to do something aca-demic. It’s a team effort, where teachers, learners and Rhodes staff all participate. However, it would not happen if it were not for Andrew Stevens. A big thank you to him. Mkahanda Maths is all the better for his efforts,” Sewry concluded.

Brody Henaghan from St Andrew’s College was the overall winner. Photo: Supplied

From Page 3contacted President Cyril

Ramaphosa for emergency funding to help provide the support that is much needed around the province.“I don’t think that advisers have briefed the president enough as to to what is actu-ally going on,” said Sooliman.The exploration of boreholes has continued throughout the week; with Groenewald breaking ground on two sites on municipal-owned land.

Crisis amid charityIn a statement on Thursday 21 February, Makana Mu-nicipality warned that James Kleynhans is producing water at half its capacity. The facility normally produces 10 mega-litres a day. This was because two of the plant’s four filters needed to be replaced at a cost of R1 million.

The Municipal Infrastruc-ture Support Agency had provided this funding but it would take two more weeks before the plant returns to full capacity. Meanwhile, Gift of the Givers would intensify water deliveries in Makhanda East.

“The delivery points will be communicated every day,”

Makana said.The pumping of water to

the Waainek plant stopped af-ter a broken pump leaked wa-ter into the Howieson’s Poort pump station and flooded the facility.

“The equipment at the pump station needs time to dry. The electricians are busy draining the water from the electric equipment. This might take two to three days,” the statement said. The equip-ment and the pumps would then have to be thoroughly dried before being recommis-sioned.

Residual water in the lay dams at the Waainek Water Treatment Works is being used to supply water to the western side for the two days it’s expected to take to restore the supply; however, at full use these would quickly be-come depleted and residents have been urged to use water sparingly: 25 litres a day per person (or 100 litres a day for a four-person household). Grey water should be used for flushing toilets.

– Kathryn Cleary, Sue Maclennan and Stephen

Kisbey-Green contributed to this article

Call for national aid to Eastern Cape

From Page 5Residents were once again calling for improved sanita-tion, access to water from communal taps and working street lights. These complaints are nothing new for this com-munity, but recent data re-leased by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) raises more serious concerns Water safety concernsWater testing results from November and December of 2018 returned positive for e.coli bacteria in Makana’s wa-ter supply. The laboratory re-sults show levels of potentially disease-causing bacteria to be up to 20 times higher than the legislated standard.

As charity Gift of the Giv-ers handed out emergency supplies of bottled water to residents, schools and clinics on Wednesday 13 February, furious councillors were hear-ing in a committee meeting of the Community Safety and Social Service portfolio that in November 2018, the total coli-form count of water sampled at the Environmental Health department was 201.

The standard considered safe for drinking is 0-9. In the same month, laboratory tests recorded a 2 cfu/100ml read-ing of e.coli in water sampled at the Extension 7 clinic. No amount of e.coli in drinking water is safe, according to the national standard.

However, water testing re-sults from January and Feb-ruary released 18 February show markable improvements in the municipal water sup-ply. Makgoka shared the latest test results with Grocott’s Mail 19 February, confirming that all sites except Riebeeck East had reached acceptable levels of bacteria. Makana issued a statement advising Riebeeck East residents to boil the wa-ter before consumption.

Adding to this, in a presen-tation at the end of last year, DWS Water Quality Manager Mzukisi Maneli highlighted some of Makhanda’s worst on-going sewage spillages. Pho-tographs showed raw sewage pouring into the Bloukrans and Botha’s Rivers from bro-ken sewerage pipes and junc-tions across the city, as well as infrastructure at the Belmont

and Mayfield waste water treatment works.

At the meeting of the Maka-na Water Forum in Noluthan-do Hall, intended among other things to set in place a water management plan for the municipality’s December shutdown period, Maneli said, “Here in Makana, there is an outbreak of waterborne dis-ease waiting to happen. It’s only a matter of time.”

Last week, DWS stated in a press release that Makana could be taken to court as a result of raw sewage spills into surrounding rivers.

Sun City is but one example of many local communities on the frontlines of Makana’s sanitation and water war. With one working tap pro-viding municipal water, and overflowing waste buckets, residents wait in fear for the worst.

Makgoka expressed that long-term plans for Sun City include relocating residents to a better environment; how-ever residents say there is no other place for them.

Sitting on a health time-bomb but nowhere to go

In council last November, Mayor Nomhle Gaga claimed that Sun City residents were “double-dipping”; meaning that they had been allocated housing in suitable areas but had chosen to stay in Sun City.

Makgoka in September said, “The area was closed, people were removed to areas of Mayfield and Hooggenoeg. But some people moved back, sold their houses and started Sun City informal settlement,” he said.

Our reporter returned to the community to further in-vestigate these claims.

Former ward councillor Marcelle Booysen claims that very few Sun City residents were in fact allocated to RDP housing, and of the few, only a handful were renting them out. Booysen served as a councillor from 2012 through 2016.

“Yes some people got their houses and they sold it, some are renting it,” she said. How-ever, there were also people allocated houses who never got them.

“There were people who

got houses. They had a letter to say, ‘this is your house, you should go get the key’. When they went to the housing de-partment to go and get the key, the house [had been] giv-en to somebody else. So now they’re sitting with a letter, and they’ve been registered as a house-owner, it would ap-pear on the [housing register] but they haven’t actually got the house.”

Booysen stated this was be-tween 2003 and 2007.

Our reporter spoke to one Sun City resident who had been waiting for a house since 1992. Tina Alkaster is 86 years old, and lives in a small metal shack with her daughter, Tina Seeletsa.

Alkaster stated that she had a letter approving her for a home, but when she went to claim the house there were already people living there. “The government didn’t as-sist,” she emphasised. “It’s no use fighting,” said her daugh-ter.

At the time of the visit, the family did not have the origi-nal letter with them.

Another family told a simi-lar story.

Lorraine Nel was pregnant with her son Samuel, when she was told she could move into a house in Extension 10. “I could have moved but I had no help and no money,” she said. “The clinic said I must put my feet up.”

Samuel is four years old, and has grown up in Sun City. Nel’s partner, Freddie Smith, has the original letter approv-ing their family for a home in Extension 10.

In September, Grocott’s Mail spoke to Smith, who had taken to fixing the broken tap in the community.

Nel added that their buck-ets had been collected the previous week, but that they were told it would be another month before the next collec-tion.

The day of the visit, Ma-kana was repairing a vandal-ised mainline in Mayfield. As result, Sun City did not have water.

Makana has been ap-proached numerous times for comment on the housing matter and did not provide a response.

8 NEWS NEWS9Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019

Water,healthconcernsgrow

(Left) Tina Seeletsa and her mother Tina Alkaster, live in a metal shack in Sun City. Alkaster has been waiting for an RDP house since 1992. Photos: Kathryn Cleary

(Left)Samuel and his mother Lorraine Nel reside in Sun City. Nel was allocated a house in Extension 10 but without assistance could not claim the property.

Grocott’s will continue to report.Grocott’s Mail will continue to investigate the housing and sanitation crisis in Sun City. Any residents who may have information to assist our reporters, please email ed7@ed.grocotts.co.za.

Our team would like to in-form our readers that the in-formation in this article dat-ing back to November 2018 was written as a story to be published with urgency and immediacy for our readers.

However, given the severity of the issues in the article we made the editorial decision to wait until we had more in-formation from Makana. We now feel that given the time of crisis it is our responsibil-ity to fully publish this infor-mation for the health and well-being of our readers.

Our team is also seeking resources to investigate po-tential waterborne disease and allegations of corrup-

tion within Makana. The investigation into potential waterborne illness is not about the municipal water supplied through commu-nal and private taps; but the standing water and sewage that accumulates in public areas as a result of leaks or spills. This issue is of particu-lar concern for Sun City due to the poor sanitation condi-tions and lack of water infra-structure.

“Here in Makana, there is an outbreak of waterborne disease waiting to happen. It’s

only a matter of time.”

A dog sleeps on a heap of dirty laundry in Sun City.

Councillors red-flag Makana’s waterGROCOTT’S MAIL REPORTERS

Bacterial counts in the tap water from testing sites in Makhanda (Graham-

stown) have returned to safe levels; however, in Riebeeck East, the water remains unsafe to drink, according to labora-tory results. An urgent notice for Riebeeck East residents to boil water for at least three minutes before drinking it was issued by Makana Municipality this week.

Testing on drinking water sampled from nine sites across Makana Municipality on 6 February show that bacteria in the tap water at all sites except Riebeeck East had returned to acceptable levels, accord-ing to Director of Community Safety and So-cial Services Kelello Makgo-ka. The Director on 19 Febru-ary telephonically shared with Grocott’s Mail some of the lat-est test results, printed at the National Health Laboratory Service’s Port Elizabeth labora-tory on 11 February 2019, as well as information about tests on samples taken in January.

Public service watchdog PSAM this week slammed Co-operative Governance MEC Fikile Xasa for failing to inter-vene in Makana Municipality, after it emerged that during the last two months of 2018, some residents were receiving unsafe water in their taps.

The Public Service Account-ability Monitor called for seri-ous action to address human rights violations, and council-lors have demanded discipli-nary action, as test results on Makana water in November and December report levels of potentially disease-causing bacteria up to 20 times higher than the legislated standard. The alarming repeat of Ma-kana’s May 2018 dirty water debacle came as Makhanda (Grahamstown) faces an un-precedented water supply cri-sis.

Large areas of the city had dry taps for a week or longer because of operational failures at the water treatment works. And the city’s water could halve as soon as next week, as drought shrinks the supply to the west, Settlers Dam, to a level where it can no longer be pumped.

Humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers handed out emergency supplies of bottled water to residents, schools and clinics last Wednesday from six massive trucks that had travelled from every corner of South Africa.

This week, Gift of the Givers has brought a giant rig to town and together with Makana Municipality is deciding where to drill boreholes.

The water quality shock that confronted councillors and of-ficials in the Council Chamber on Wednesday 13 February, was due to insufficient capac-ity to manage Makana’s wa-ter infrastructure, ineffective supply chain management processes and a lack of skilled operation and maintenance, Director of Community Ser-

vices and Public Safety Kelello Makgoka said.

On Tuesday, Makgoka said laboratory results for February confirmed that water at all the testing sites except Riebeeck East had returned to safe lev-els.

Makgoka’s directorate sup-plies water safety information to managers of the municipal-ity’s water treatment works, which they must act on. He said he would be corroborat-ing data from Makana’s clinics to see if there had been a rise in diarrhoea or other water-

borne diseases among the com-munity during November and December last year.

Furious coun-cillors in a com-mittee meeting of Makana Mu-nicipality’s Com-munity Safety

and Social Services portfolio heard that in November 2018, among other shocking results, the total coliform count of water sampled at the Environ-mental Health department was 201. The total coliform stand-ard considered acceptable for drinking is 0-9. In the same month, laboratory tests re-corded e.coli in water sampled at the Extension 7 clinic. The national standard for drinking water says no amount of e.coli in drinking water is safe.

SOUTH AFRICA’S WATER SAFETY STANDARDSANS 241: 2015 is the South Afri-can National Standard for drink-ing water. It includes microbio-logical, physical, aesthetic and chemical factors derived from the World Health Organization Guidelines for drinking-water quality.

The unit to estimate the num-ber of bacteria that could di-vide and multiply in a sample is colony forming units per 100ml (cfu/100ml). The e.coli bacterium is found in the faeces of animals and humans. The SANS standard for e.coli is zero.

The total coliform count in-cludes bacteria found in the soil, in dams and other surface water, as well as in human and animal waste. It’s an indication of contamination that has the potential to cause disease. The permissible total coliform range for drinking water, according to SANS 241: 2015 is 0-9 cfu/100ml.

National spotlightIn May 2018, angry residents put the national spotlight on Makana’s water and sanitation crisis, marching to the city hall with bottles of dirty water and at least one bucket of raw sew-age.

As he was then, Health and Cleansing Manager Johann Es-terhuizen was last week called on to explain the test results. His department, which falls under the Community Services and Public Safety directorate, carries out regular internal water quality testing. Samples are also sent to an accredited laboratory once a month for certified testing.

WHAT WE HAD IN OUR WATERAccording to a report in the Social Development Portfolio

Committee agenda for 13 Febru-ary 2019, water sampled at one place in November 2018 had e.coli:• Extension 7 clinic: 2 cfu/100mlIn November 2018, the follow-ing total coliform counts were measured in water samples in Makana:• Extension 7 Clinic: 8• Environmental Health Of-fice: 201• Community tap in J Street: 29• Indoor Sports Centre: 10• Alicedale Municipal Office: 41• Riebeeck East Municipal Office: 50In December 2018, e.coli was measured in samples from:Extension 7 Clinic: 4J Street community tap: 1Indoor Sports Centre: 1In December 2018 a total coli-form count of 95 was measured at the water purification works itself. The Extension 7 clinic, J Street tap and Indoor Sports Centre had total coliform counts greater than 201, with the Envi-ronmental Health Office at 130, Alicedale Municipal Office at 109 and Riebeeck East Municipal Of-fice at 89.

IMPROVED RESULTS IN FEBRUARYDirector Makgoka verbally shared test results from February 2019 with Grocott’s Mail. These verbally shared figures suggest-ed that water from all sampling points except Riebeeck East had by February returned to safe levels. Some of the results, as shared telephonically on Tues-day 19 February were:• J Street – e.coli corrected to zero (after a January count of 1 cfu/100ml).• Makana CBD offices – e.coli 0 and total coliform 10• Extension 7 Clinic – e.coli 0 and total coliform 8• James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works – e.coli 0 and total coliform 8• Alicedale – e.coli 0 and total coliform 5

“If results do not comply to SANS, resampling must be done and the results must be corroborated with clinical data from the community in that area,” Makgoka emphasised to Grocott’s Mail on Tuesday 19 February.

Asked to explain the No-vember and December 2018 data during last week’s meet-ing, Esterhuizen said staff at Riebeeck East and Alicedale water treatment works had told him that for three weeks they hadn’t had enough so-dium hypochlorite to treat the water and had been instruct-

ed to use less to make it last longer. They had also run out of chlorine gas.

“You need to purify the wa-ter properly with right amount of chemicals,” Esterhuizen em-phasised to the councillors on Wednesday. “The people who are supposed to do the job are doing it – but they can’t do it properly if they don’t have chlorine gas, or sodium hy-pochlorite. I don’t understand why they run out of the chemi-cals.”

DoseageCouncillors were unanimous in their outrage.

“Who issued the instruction to reduce the doseage?” Ward 4 councillor Brian Fargher asked. “Who issued an instruc-tion to break the law?”PR councillor Carey Clark called for consequence man-agement. “If people don’t do their jobs and that puts thou-sands of lives at risk, they need to be fired,” she said.

Supply chain management was under fire for an almost identical situation in early 2018, when the Waainek treat-ment facility ran out of chlo-rine and the chlorination pro-cess at James Kleynhans was faulty.

Excessive sludge in the set-tling tanks at the water treat-ment works for east Makhanda (Grahamstown) made the wa-ter muddy in appearance.

The turbulence along with the large quantities of floccu-lent added to settle the sedi-ment made chlorination inef-fective, Department of Water and Sanitation officials ex-plained at the time.

Of the November and De-cember 2018 test results, Mak-goka confirmed to councillors this was one area that could not be compromised.

With a senior technician act-ing as a water manager, capac-ity was a serious problem, he said. One of the consequences of this was that the plants are not maintained on a regular basis.

In addition, supply chain management needed improve-ment so enough chemicals are bought in time, Makgoka said.

Portfolio chair Phumla Maty-umza said the institution’s sup-ply chain management should be called to account.

DysfunctionalPublic Service Accountability Monitor Jay Kruuse this week said the latest water quality results confirmed a recurrent trend of mismanagement that implicates various officials within Makana Local Munici-pality.

“This is not the first time that residents of Makhanda, Alicedale and Riebeeck East have had their human rights violated by mismanagement of a critical function – the de-livery of unpolluted clean and safe drinking water,” Kruuse said.

“It is high time that those implicated face disciplinary ac-tion for recurrent acts that re-sult in widespread endanger-ing of residents health.”

Kruuse said the latest results and explanations provided by the Municipality revealed yet again that decision-making and management had failed at water treatment facilities, within offices responsible for maintaining essential supplies and at middle to senior man-agement levels.

“We call upon the Munici-pal Manager and Council to take serious action to address these human rights violations. A municipality that distributes polluted water to residents places preventable strain upon the health service and poses serious health threats to espe-cially young undernourished children, the elderly and those who don’t have easy access to medical treatment.

“This state of affairs also im-plicates Fikile Xasa, the MEC for Cooperative Governance, who has failed to respond ad-equately or at all when called upon to intervene and improve such basic services that clearly evidence dysfunction and neg-ligence,” Kruuse said.

Promise of supportIn May 2018, during a summit with local stakeholders includ-ing business, schools and the University, Minister of Co-operative Governance Zweli Mkhize promised that Makana would receive various kinds of support from the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA), including water engi-neers. Makana’s Infrastructure Director Dali Mlenzana was in September 2018 put on pre-cautionary suspension pend-ing investigations into alleged financial misconduct during periods when he was acting municipal manager.

Makgoka, who was ap-pointed Director of Commu-nity Safety and Social Services midway through 2018, was al-most immediately additionally tasked with carrying the deep-ly fractured and dysfunctional infrastructure and technical services directorate.

He was recused from this role at a full Council meeting on 30 January, with the acting directorship defaulting to Mu-nicipal Manager Moppo Mene.

If people don’t do their jobs and that puts thousands of

lives at risk, they need to be fired.

Upgrades are under way at James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works that are set to double its capacity to 20 megalitres a day by 2021. Meanwhile, poor maintenance, lack of capacity at the treatment works and ineffective supply chain management have led to water quality problems. Photo: Sue Maclennan (11 February 2019)

AMAZWI PUKU STORY FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 2019

FRIDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2019

TIME ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION VENUE AUDIENCE CAPACITY9am to 4pm EXHIBITION Tour of permanent and temporary exhibition spaces featuring the first Puku

Festival exhibition and the 6th Puku Story Festival exhibition dedicated to Gcina Mhlophe. Exhibitors include authors, publishers, NGOs and environmental organisations.

Nelm Ground Floor All

9.30am to 11.30am

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME Storytelling and games facilitated by various storytellers. Children’s storytelling area Gr 5-7 100+

9.30am to 10.30am

Active Learning Workshop Foundation Phase Teachers utilising multimedia resources to enhance the curriculum - Facilitated by V. Pikoli from DoBE.

Activity Room Gr R-3 Teachers/RU CSD

30

9.30am to 10.30am

ILAM/Journalism Depart-ment

Groups of school children will visit ILAM and the Journalism Department at Rhodes to learn more about the African Music collection and the school that moulds some our finest award-winning journalists in the country.

Allan Street Gr 8-9 30

9.30am to 10.30am

Becoming a Reader Groups of learners are taken to the local libraries to sign-up as members and borrow isiXhosa books.

Hill Street Gr 8-9 30

9.30am to 10.30am

Becoming a DJ/Radio Presenter

Groups of learners are taken to the local community radio stations to witness presenting and news reading in isiXhosa.

Radio Gtown and RMR Gr 8-9 30

9.30am to 10.30am

PRINTING PRESS TOUR THE EASTERN STAR GALLERY is a printing press and museum, and a satelite of the NELM. The Galley offers an exhibition on the history of printing (19th centure printing equipment and related materials - being an operational Wharfedale Press from c 1850) from Gutenberg to the present day.

Anglo-African Street Gr 8-9 30

11am to 11.45am

I’solezwe lesiXhosa Iminyaka emihlanu yokupapasha l’solezwe lesiXhosa namathuba eencwadi ezintsha zesiXhosa.

Auditorium All 100+

11.45am to 12.15pm

Book Launches • Izinto Zehlabathi by Zongezile Matshoba. This is a Via Afrika’s WritePublishReed Programme.• Woodland by Ngcali Xhegwana - a childrens book by another child.

Auditorium All 100+

12.15pm to 12.45pm

Via Afrika:Publishing Opportunity

Heinrich Dirk will present Via Afrika’s WritePublishReed Programme, an online publishing opportunity in all the indigenous languages of South Africa.

Auditorium All 100+

12.30pm & 4pm

2x Drama Shows Xolisa Ngubelanga and his group presents a play “Broken Lens”. He is also a Rhodes University Masters of Arts in Creative Writing student.

Auditorium All 100+

SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY 20199.30am to 10am

Qhiwula, Zemk iinkomo Magwalandini

Discussions around news and social media and their impact on isiXhosa. Auditorium All 100+

10am to 10.30am

Tyhila Kwedini! An Open Mic Session where the young and old share their isiXhosa writings and/or readings.

Amphitheatre All 150+

11am to 12pm

Uncwadi Ezikolweni Reflections of isiXhosa reading at school and at home, with a specific focus on prescribed material, what is being taught currently at school and tertiary level, and how its received and examined.

Auditorium Gr 8-12/Students/Adults

100+

Masiba-khumbule Focus on isiXhosa writers of yesteryears and their works who contributed massively on our literary heritage.

Auditorium All 100+

12pm to 12.30pm

Umculo Wakwantu/Indig-enous Musi

The International Library of African Music (ILAM) presenting rare African music recorded throughout Africa.

Auditorium All 100+

11am to 12pm

Poetry Workshop Poetry author Sithembele Xhehgwana will present a free poetry writing workshop for any interested isiXhosa and English writer.

Activity Room All 30+

12.30pm to 1pm

Camagu!

Sabela Uyabizwa!

Easten Cape recorded praise-singers sharing the stage and showcasing their recorded poems.Their CDs will be on sale. Other traditional music such as umbhaqanga and isicathamiya with poetic lyrics will be welcomed on stage.

Amphitheatre All 200+

10 PUKUSTORYFESTIVALGrocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019

ISIXHOSA SIYAVUTHADUMISA MPUPHA

Under the auspices of the NRF SARCHI chair in The Intellectualisation of African Languages,

Multilingualism & Education.

As we celebrate Black History during the month of February, local imbongi Dudu Saki offers this eulogy about the late Zimbabwean music legend Oliver Mtukudzi who passed on last month. Mawethu nanku omnye unyana wenu uDudu enimaziyo abaninzi. Ngowa lapha eMakhanda. Iwuuu! Madoda nisivile eso sithonga Sokuwa komthi omkhulu siwubuka Suke neengcambu wasiphuka Sakhamnqisek’ isizwe kukothuka Abafazi bathwal’ izandla benesijwili Amadoda abamb’ ongezants’ enesingqala Awu! Madoda, kufa kambe awunalusini Thungandini olude olunomdintsi Imnkile ingqanga kazi amathole odlani? Umnkile umqhagi omfusa kazi kokhonya bani? Linabile iciko, uqaqaqa uzakwenela esifubeni limxhwile isela okaMtukudzi kwasala

iinkumbulo Ndiyalichila eli shwangusha ndingesosanusi! Ndiyawubhebhetha lo mshologu ndingengosiyazi! Ndiyandolosa kambe ndigxoth’ ukufa Huntshu! Silondandini esingenabande Huntshu! kuwe nqwelondini evunywe ngabathakathi Buyel’ apho ubuvela mbodlindini endolosa ngobututu Ntondini edla igqib’ isizwe ngobuthuntu Iwuuu!

Ngu: Dudu Saki

Makhanda based theatre and dance group, Via Kasi Movers, performing on the first day of Puku Story Festival held at NELM on Thursday 21 February, alongside Playwriter and Director Masixole Heshu. The programme continues today and tomorrow - see below for details. Photo: Azlan Makalima

FRIDAY 22 FEBRUARYREDDITS POETRY6pm at Cafe D’Vine. For the usual mix of open-floor poetry, spoken word and occasional music. Everyone is welcome. Contact Harry Owen heo@hotmail.co.uk

SUNDAY 24 - MONDAY 25 FEBRUARYMASICULE 2019Sunday 6pm and Monday 7.30pm at the Guy Butler Theatre. This year’s featured artist will be the legendary Vusi Mahlasela. Tickets are only R40 for adults and R30 for students, learners, and pensioners. Tickets are available from Fusion Foods (Pepper Grove Mall), Makana Tourism and Madhatters (High Street), Joza Music Hub (Joza), at the Monument, and online – www.tickethut.co.za/creativecity. Taxis will be in service on both evenings and will offer transport to and from the Monument.

TUESDAY 26 FEBRUARYGRAHAMSTOWN MUSIC SOCIETY CONCERT7:30pm at Nelm. This will be presented by Duo Zappa-Mainolfi (Cello and Piano).

THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARYU3A LECTURE10am at the Grahamstown Bowling Club. Speaker: Tony Hocking. All welcome Charge R5. Contact Malcolm Hacksley 046 636 1762

ALZHEIMER SA EASTERN CAPE REGION SUPPORT GROUP3pm at Brookshaw Home. This is a support group for family, friends and caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s Disease or any form of dementia and cognitive decline. The speaker will discuss issues around feeding and eating. Contact Dr Heather Rauch 081 350 8079

BOOK LAUNCH5.30pm at Nelm. The launch of the book Bushmen, Botany and Baking Bread: Mary Pocock’s record of a journey with Dorothea Bleek across Angola in 1925. The book is compiled and edited byJean Kelly and Tony Dold, the Curator of the Selmar Schonland Herbarium. Copies will be on sale for a launch price of R350. Contact on Whatsapp Jean Kelly at 072 377 9863 or email: ericjeankelly@gmail.com

FRIDAY 1 MARCHTHE QUEEN OF SPADES SCREENING6pm at the Olive Schreiner Theatre, Monument. The National Arts Festival and Nebula Productions are delighted to announce the screening of the Royal Opera House production of Tchaikovsky’s THE QUEEN OF SPADES. Tickets are R75 with concession tickets available at R65 and will be available from 5.30pm at the door. Members of the Monument Movie Club get R10 discount on these prices. To book tickets in advance, contact Kate on 046 603 1163 or email movies@nationalartsfestival.co.za.

TUESDAY 5 MARCHSHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER5pm at St George’s Hall. Hosted by the Cathedral of St Michael and St George. Pancakepandemonium! Delicious pancakes with a variety of fillings to eat at the hall or take away. All funds made will go to the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal. The pancakes are cheap, and tasty, and there are tables to sit down comfortably and chat with friends. Or people can bring their own containers and go home with take-aways.

SATURDAY 9 MARCHGLITZ AND GLAMOUR HATS AND HEELS5pm at Gold Rush Casino. This is a women’s conference hosted by Queen P. Tickets are available and are R250 including meals. Contact Sheila Deu at queenpevents@gmail.com

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Sudoku

Bridge ResultsGrahamstown Bridge Club   Thursday 14 Feb 2019 5½ Table 24 Board Howell Movement NORTH/SOUTH 1 Ernie van Hille & Sheila Hicks                 66.15% 2 Jo Fitzhenry & Shirley Gadd                  55.21% 3 Mary Schudel & Peter Midlane            54.69% 4 Pair 1                                                               42.19% 5 Pair 3                                                               31.77%

EAST/WEST 1 Pat Shepherd & Maureen Clayton      64.38% 2 Maureen van Hille & Mary Birt              61.88% 3 Mary Godlonton & Merle Murray        54.38% 4 Pair 12                                                             40.63% 5 Pair 10                                                             40.00% 6 Pair 9                                                                38.75%

Grahamstown Bridge Club Results Monday 18th February 4 Table Full Howell Movement

PAIR NAMES1st Val Buchner and Jenny Haswell          69.05% 2nd Mary Schudel and Peter Midlane      54.76% 3rd Jenny Kroon and Jo Fitzhenry             53.57% 4th Shirley Shaw and Merle Murray        51.19% 5th Pair 2                                                   44.64% 6th Pair 8                                                   44.05% 7th Pair 5                                                   41.07% 8th Pair 7                                                   41.67%

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T A K E A W A Y S C O P E D

O I M P T H H A

P O L Y P P A R T I T I O N

I I O L A M D

C O M M U N I T Y C E N T R E

A L Q S R R L

R U N N E R U P T A H I T I

U J E Y V O

C L A S S Y N I G E R I A N

K R A A Z R A

S W O R D O F D A M O C L E S

A I R A S I I

C A R D S H A R P I B S E N

K O T I H O E U

S M O U S D I A G N O S I S

Crossword Solution for last week JDE 170

Compiled by George Euvrard

ACROSS1 Mixture of business and cold beers first, therefore hotel not needed (11)7 Fool left out bread (3)9 You and I, at present, have finally prevailed and survived (9)10 She gets up one’s nose ultimately, snuggling into the Bishop (5)11 Auk hulk struggles a lot (7)12 Hectic battle to get on top of rankings at contest (3,4)13 Set up a kettle - a piece comes back broken (5)15 Benign Afrikaans veldkornet upheld natural compassion under legitimate and rigorous leaders (9)17 Most tapered or ran back to USA etc (9)19 Twit in audible crime (5)20 Object without being incessant (7)22 Red rage produces remark (7)24 Trouble surrounds grand English mobile (5)25 Stopping a fly going around one gets one performing (9)27 On stage (3)28 Spelt what Don Juan did? (5,6)

DOWN1 Boss about - eina! (3)2 A favour by surprise (5)3 Finish old hat worn by you and me (7)4 Cruel cat I frantically go around (9)5 Remove a name coming up bottom (5)6 Mistake a twitch as abnormal (7)7 Boast about hundred - let’s forget time and hitches (9)8 Warning to protect/accept ANC with patience (11)11 Bleak - taken a resolution to cough up and pay (3,2,6)14 Sending up usual love on finishing (9)16 Extreme majority supports state (9)18 Unity that none dispute - the Buddhist’s bliss ultimately (7) 19 Fury about spiritual teachings gets wilder (7)21 Charming university is within budget (5)23 Foreign aid weighed down on Europe for so long (5)26 Agreement from head doesn’t have a date (3)

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JDEThe Original South African

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

JDE 171

For more information contact Sheila Hicks 083 442 3322 .

63 High Street046 622 3241

Great Big G’town Weekcommunity@grocotts.co.za

For church Notices

and weekly events turn to page 14

For church notices please

go to bit.ly/GrocChurNo

MondaysGRAHAMSTOWN BRIDGE6.30pm at Grahamstown Bowling Club. Duplicate Bridge. Contact Sheila Hicks 083 442 3322 .

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING7.30pm at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Learn Scottish Country Dancing in a friendly social setting. Beginners welcome. Contact Jennifer Williams 084 589 7149

TuesdaysSENIORS BRIDGE AND TEA 2pm at Christ Church Speke Street. Come and boost your weekly bridge. Join our 10 to 20 cheerful, friendly players. Cost R10 per person per week. Contact Maureen 046 622 5215.

ThursdaysGRAHAMSTOWN BRIDGE CLUB1.30pm at Grahamstown Bowling Club. Duplicate Bridge. Contact Sheila Hicks 083 442 3322 .

63 High Street046 622 3241

GrahamstownWeekly What’s On

See more events on our online calendar at http://www.grocotts.co.za/grocotts-mail-diary/

Like us on facebookhttps://www.facebook.

com/grocotts/

Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019 WHAT’SON 11

Addicted to Plastic Shopping BagsWhat would you do without them? Hayley McLellan de-cided to stop using plastic shopping bags 12 years ago, and her immediate friends and family thought she was crazy. Instead of giving up, she stuck to her plan and now heads a crusade for all of South Africa to give up single use plastics; shopping bags, straws, bottles, cups and balloons. Once you make the change, and refuse to ever again ac-cept these items, life doesn’t end. We need nutri-tious food, warmth, water, shelter and love – but we do not need single-use plastics.

Makana Plastics Action Group [MPAG] was delighted that McLellan accepted our invitation to come to Makana, and SPAR EC region gener-ously paid for her trip from the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town where she works.

In two days McLellan gave nine presentations to around 2000 learners at six local schools, Ntsika, Graeme, VG, SACS/DSG, Kingswood and Nombulelo. She also gave evening presentations at

SAIAB and NELM, and was still vibrant as she presented

to over 1,000 RU students during ‘O’ week. Her energy and engagement with the pupils and students was full of humour as she got her very seri-ous message across

about the damage that plas-tics are causing in the wider environment, and particularly in the oceans. 8 million tons of plastics are washed into the sea every year and South Af-rica is the 11th worst offender. She asked the students to pic-ture 8 million one ton bakkies unloading plastic into the sea.

The trouble with plastic is that it doesn’t break down and biodegrade, it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces. These ‘microplastics’ enter the bottom of the food chain and end up being eaten by larger animals, so we eat them too every time we eat seafood.

McLellan joked about the man asking for a plastic bag while shopping for fish who was an-swered by the shop assistant ‘the bag is inside the fish.’

Animals, such as the don-keys and cows roaming our city, but also fish and birds cannot tell that plastic is not food. McLellan’s presentations included hard-hitting footage such as a plastic straw wedged inside a turtle’s nostril, a dead whale whose stomach con-tained hundreds of plastic items, and starving albatross chicks because the parents were feeding them plastic as if it were food. While we sleep, work, relax – every minute of every day – animals are ingest-ing and dying be-cause of the plastics we use.

It has become the norm to see bushes, fences and veldt decorated with plastics. This is not normal and harms the local economy, detracting from the natural beauty of our countryside that is such a rich tourist attraction. So what to do?We can all make an impact by insisting on only using reusable shopping bags, us-

ing refillable water bottles of whatever type suits you, and carrying your own coffee cup. A number of local eateries and cafes will give you a small discount if you use your own cup. McLellan also advocates using your lips to drink, not a straw, because ‘straws suck’. For addicts of straws there are numerous alternatives to plas-tic straws.

Beyond that, balloons are very bad news for the environ-ment, find other ways to cel-ebrate. Releasing helium filled balloons is actually illegal, be-cause it is aerial litter – scat-tering balloons all over the

place. Items that form loops such as hairbands and plastic bands of all descriptions often become entangled around the necks of animals, hence a campaign to ‘Cut A

loop and save a life.’If you are ready, or have

already stopped using single use plastic bags, straws, cups etc. please don’t keep these solutions to yourself. Give re-usable items as presents, talk about why you’ve stopped, and let shops and other out-lets know that you do not ac-cept single-use plastics. For

more facts, ideas and inspira-tion please see: https://www.aquarium.co.za/content/page/rethink-the-bag

Focus on Young PeopleHayley McLellan encourages all institutions, especially schools, to make a pledge to become single-use plastic bag free zones. For more informa-tion, including factsheets and educational videos you can contact her at hayley.mclel-lan@aquarium.co.za or local-ly contact MPAG via Tim Bull timothybull05@aol.com . Thank you!It was a packed three days, with great engagement and plenty to build on towards a single-use plastic free Ma-kana. Thank you to Hayley McLellan of Two Oceans Aquarium for her endless en-thusiasm for engaging and informing us about the en-vironmental disaster caused by single-use plastics. All the support from SPAR locally and Eastern Cape region; Conrad Isaac, Alan Stapleton, Guy White and Andiswa Mfon-dini who made all this pos-sible. The schools for greet-ing McLellan so warmly and adjusting timetables so she could make presentations to

so many learners. Thank you to NELM for use of your fa-cilities free of charge. And not least, thank you to MPAG, es-pecially Dr Sarah Hanton who organised Hayley’s schedule and Daksha Naran for accom-modating McLellan. Your PledgeMPAG urges you to make the Pledge: “For the good of the environment, I promise to no longer purchase or accept any plastic shopping bags. Instead I will take my own long-life shopping bags.”

Find us Online: www.grocotts.co.za/category/outside/enviro-news

12 OUTSIDE/MOTORING Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019

SETTLER CITY TOYOTA69 Beaufort Street, P O Box 325, Grahamstown,

Tel: (046) 622 2328 / 622 2031 / 622 7017, Fax: (046) 622 8200

TANYA ROSSOUW - SALES MANAGER 071 158 0461

ASHLEY LANGSON - 082 865 4219RODNEY WANCKEL - 081 492 5474

AYANDA YOLANI - 073 648 0716

Please visit our New and/or Pre-owned Showroom at 69 Beaufort Street, Grahamstown and come and meet our friendly Sales team to view or test drive any of our range of vehicles. Also feel free to contact us on any of the numbers below. If you can’t come to us - we come to you!

DEMOS - PASSENGER AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLESPlease do not hesitate to contact us should you be interested in an Automark Toyota Demo Model. Passenger or CommercialPRE-APPROVED PASSENGER AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES2018 TOYOTA AVANZA 1.5 SX R239 900.002018 TOYOTA FORTUNER 2.8 GD-6 4X4 6mt R569 900.002018 TOYOTA YARIS 1.5 SPORT R269 900.002017 TOYOTA HILUX SC 2.8 GD-6 RB Raider R349 900.002017 TOYOTA COROLLA 1.6 (K04) R192 500.002016 TOYOTA FORTUNER 3.0 D-4D RB 4X2 man R359 900.002016 TOYOTA RAV 4 2.2 D GX AWD R379 900.002015 HYUNDAI GRAND i10 1.25 R129 900.002015 ISUZU KB 300 D-TEQ LX P/U S/C R265 500.002015 TOYOTA AURIS 1.6 XR (18X) R208 900.002014 TOYOTA HILUX SC 2.5 D-4D 4X4 SRX R259 900.002013 HONDA CRV 2.4 ELEGANCE A/T R219 900.002012 TOYOTA FORTUNER 3.0 D-4D R249 900.002012 TOYOTA FORTUNER 3.0 D-4D 4X4 5M R309 900.002012 TOYOTA YARIS ZEN 3 ACS R129 900.002012 TOYOTA FORTUNER 2.5 D-4D RB 5m R259 900.002011 TOYOTA HILUX 3.0 D-4D 4X4 X/Cab R249 900.002010 TOYOTA FORTUNER 3.0 D4D 4X4 MANUAL R249 900.002010 ISUZU KB 300 D-TEQ LX E/CAB 4X4 S/C R168 900.00

My Garden

1 Cromwell Street, GrahamstownTel: 046 622 6069

FOR ALL YOUR GARDEN REQUIREMENTSTrees •Pots •Compost/potting soil •Shrubs

Water features •Seedlings •Garden Ornaments Fertilizers •Garden Furniture •Tea Gardenunnyside

Garden Centre

Pastor Geelbooi watering his garden.

Buyisile Geelbooi, Reverend from Gospel Ambassador Ministry is a true garden lover. Encouraged by his father, Geelbooi has been planting on a piece of land at Andrew Moyakhe Primary School for 10 years. He gardens to help keep his family and community happy and healthy.  His motto is “one home one garden, every home should have a garden.” He also donates vegetables to the old age home on Raglan Road. Geelbooi has planted spinach, beetroot, cabbages, potatoes, onions and tomatoes. He would appreciate a Jojo tank for water, as well as a watering can and rake. – Text and Photo: Lindani Donyeli

Anti-plasticsactivistintownMAKANAENVIRONEWS

Tim Bull

Contacts for Makana Enviro-News:Tim Bull: timothybull05@aol.com,076 289 5122 Ntuthu Blow: ntuthublow@gmail.com, 078 732 9235 Jenny Gon: j-gon@intekom.co.za, 046 622 5822 Philip Machanick:p.machanick@ru.ac.za, 078 882 3918.

13

Grocotts Mail

1. PERSONAL

Classifieds 1. Personal 2. Announcements 3. Sales & Services 4. Employment 5. Accommodation 6. Property 7. Motoring 8. Legals

RALO NOLUVUYO NOLUKHOLO uhlala e Old Clinic Riebeeck East ungcwatywa ngoMgqibelo umhla we 23 February 2019.ZUZANI NOSISI MIRRIAM uhlala e Krantz Dift, kwaDoul, (KwaNdwe), Grahamstown ungcwatywa ngoMgqibelo umhla we 23 February 2019. KONZA IRVIN uhlala kwa 3139 Ntsika Street, Port Alfred ungcwatywa ngoMgqibelo umhla we 23 February 2019. TYALA NYELISWA uhlala kwa 2356 Machelane Street, Bathurst ungcwatywa ngoMgqibelo umhla we 23 February 2019. MANYATHI ZWELINZIMA uhlala kwa 846 Manyathi Street, Bathurst ungcwatywa ngoMgqibelo umhla we 23 February 2019. NKWINTI NONTOMBI uhlala kwa 3801 Zukisa Street, Kenton on Sea ungcwatywa ngoMgqibelo umhla we 23 February 2019.

Funerals arranged by Siyakubonga

Funeral Services. 6 Cobden Street

Grahamstown Tel: 087 357 7047

Please go and our facebook page, all

notices available on every week.

SiyakubongaFuneralServices

Funeral

Notices

2. ANNOUNCEMENT

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, PROTEA GROUP. Drinking problem – get help from us! Meetings 7.30pm, Monday night at the Princess Alice Girl Guide Hall, African Street, opp BP Garage.

www.grocotts.co.za

3. SALES & SERVICES

Furniture2ND HAND HOUSE. High Street. Buyers & Sellers. Quality furniture, antiques, removals. Contact: 073 470 6105

Pets

FAIRBAIRN KENNELS

& CATTERYCell: 082 552 3829 Tel : 046 622 3527

For Well Cared-for, Happy Pets

22 February 2019

4. EMPLOYMENT

Home MaintenanceMARIUS BARNARD PLUMBING& RENOVATIONSCell: 079463087224 Hours ServiceEmail: mbholdings01@gmail.com

For all your Refrigeration Air Conditioning &

Electrical requirementsPLEASE CALL WILLIAM

083 427 4350William@reedselectrocool.co.za

Services Offered

DIGS TO DIGS REMOVALSFurniture Removals( local & national), Deliveries & Daily Refuse Collections. Call / WhatsApp: 081 436 9750

GRAHAMSTOWN TREEFELLING& GARDEN REFUSE REMOVALCell: 079 157 3401WhatsApp Only: 0712114723Email: mbholdings01@gmail.com.Treefelling and stump removal. We undercut any quote.

Miscellaneous WantedCars and Bakkies wantedin any condition. OldModels are welcome too Please contact Himat on :082 722 6183

Do you require a highly skilled painter who can also plaster walls, lay

tiles, glaze windows, and repair

roofs and gutters? If so, phone Patrick Mgqobele at 083 929 1317. For a

recommendation, contactMike or Sue at

046 636 2312 or at 082 778 1242.

Transport

GRAHAMSTOWNTREEFELLING & GARDEN REFUSE REMOVALLoads or bags. 7 days a week. Call Marius at 079 157 3401

FRONTIER AUCTIONFurniture auction,

23rd Feb , The Scout hall , African street, Grahamstown. 10am start. Viewing Friday

from 12 o clock. Lots on sale, cupboards,tables,

massive oak bar, couches, beds, tools, entrance

tables, boat with licensed trailer and so much more. For info contact Craig on

076 312 3514.

1. The Department of Social Development at Ibhayi Service Office, in Port Elizabeth is requesting anyone with information with regards to the whereabouts of the maternal family of the late Miss Nosifungo Nkumbi from Grahamstown, to contact Social Worker Mrs Ellen K Makuwa at 041 406 5733 during office hours (07h30-16h00) and/or fax 041 451 3458.Her children Nonkosazana, Anam and Sonwabile only remember their maternal grandmother as Mamqocwa.

1. Child Welfare SA, Grahamstown is looking for Esmerral Magdelene Welgemoed, born 31/12/1985, who is the mother of MISUMZI JUNIOR (MJ) WELGEMOED born 24/07/2013. Please could anyone with information on her whereabouts contact Ms Sally Damana, Social Worker at Child Welfare Grahamstown SA on 046 636 1355.

Employment Offered

ASSOCIATION FOR PERSONS WITH

PHYSICAL DISABILITIESIQUMRHU

LABAKHUBAZEKILEYO

The Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities –

Makana based in Makhanda/Grahamstown, invites

applications for a qualified and registered

SOCIAL AUXILIARY WORKER

to work part time. Essential requirements:

proof of qualification; proof of registration with the national body for Social Work; Police Clearance certificate; fluent

in English and isiXhosa; computer literate and

experience working in a team.

Please email your CV together with the above

documentation, with 2 current contactable referees to

apdgrahamstown@yahoo.com or deliver to APD office in GADRA building, Cobden Street, behind the Settler’s

Day Hospital, by 12 noon on the 28 February, 2019.

For enquiries Tel: 046 622 5359.

If you do not hear from APD within 2 weeks after the closing

date above, consider your application unsuccessful.

8. LEGALS

Estate Late

AUCTIONlN THE HIGH COURT OF

SOUTH AFRICA(EASTERN CAPE DIVISION,

GRAHAMSTOWN)

CASE NO. 829/2018

In the matter between : THE HUMANSDORP CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED Plaintiffand

MATRIPROX (PTY) LIMITED First DefendantJACOBUS LUDOWIKUS DU PREEZ VERMAAK

Second DefendantBHULUKAZI ELIZABETH PETER

Third Defendant

NOTICE OF SALE IN EXECUTION

In pursuance of judgment granted on 21st AUGUST 2018 in the High Court of South Africa (Eastern Cape Division, Grahamstown), and under a writ of execution issued thereafter the undermentioned goods will be sold “voetstoots” to the highest bidder by the Sheriff Grahamstown at Grahamstown Self Storage, Rautenbach Road (Next to SAPS Stock-theft unit), Grahamstown on 8th March 2019 at 10:00 by the Sheriff, Mr K A BENNIE/Mr W Ntshokoma:

GOODS:FORD TRACTOR 4100 (BLUE)FORD TRACTOR (BLUE)DISK PLOUGH 20 SKOTTELSBOOM SPRAY – 700 LITRESBUSH CUTTER (GREEN)

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE THAT:1. This is a sale in execution pursuant to a judgment obtained in the above court,2. Rules of this auction is available 24 hours foregoing the sale at the office of the Sheriff of the High Court, Grahamstown at 115 High Street, Grahamstown.3. Registration as a buyer, subject to certain conditions, required i.e.3.1 Directions of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (URL http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=99961 3.2 Fica-legislation in terms of identity and address particulars;3.3 Payment of registration monies;3.4 Registration conditions.4. The offices of the Sheriff, 115 High Street, Grahamstown will conduct the sale with the auctioneers Mr KA BENNIE/Mr W NTSHOKOMA.5. Advertising costs at current publication tariffs and sale costs according to Court Rules will apply. SHERIFF OF THE HIGH COURTfor the district of GRAHAMSTOWN

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFJJM COETZEE

DE JAGER & LORDAN INC. 2 ALLEN STREET

GRAHAMSTOWNTel no: 046 622 2 799

REF: JJM Coetzee/an/H393

INSOLVENT ESTATE GERT WILHELM DANIEL ELS

MASTERS REFERENCE NUMBER E000024/2017

NOTICE OF ACCOUNT LYING

FOR INSPECTIONPursuant to Section 108 (2) of the Insolvency Act No. 24 of 1936, as amended, notice is hereby given that the SECOND LIQUIDATION AND DISTRIBUTION ACCOUNT will lie open for inspection by the Creditors of the Estate at the Offices of the Master of the High Court, GRAHAMSTOWN, for a period of fourteen (14) days as from 22 February 2019.

DEBORAH JOUBERTTRUSTEE

DE JAGER & LORDAN25 RETIEF STREET

ALEXANDRIA6185

NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN

DECEASED ESTATE

In the Estate of the late NTOMBIZANELE JULIA NDOKWENI, Identity Number 500121 0710 086, who died on 7th August 2016, Widow, and who resided at 68 Extension 4, Joza Location, Grahamstown, 6139

Estate Number: 1281/2017Master of the High Court

Grahamstown

All persons having claims against the abovementioned estate are hereby calle dupon to file their claims with the undermentioned within 30 (Thirty) days from date of publication hereof.

Brenda Campbell Attorneys87 High StreetGrahamstown

6139Telephone number

046 622 2757Email

legal@brendacampbell.co.za

NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN

DECEASED ESTATE

In the Estate of the late NOBUTO GLADYS MAKUPLA, Identity Number 20630 0138 089, who died on 25th October 2018, Widow, and who resided at 20 Wood Street, Grahamstown, 6139

Estate Number: 534/2019Master of the High Court

Grahamstown

All persons having claims against the abovementioned estate are hereby calle dupon to file their claims with the undermentioned within 30 (Thirty) days from date of publication hereof.

Brenda Campbell Attorneys87 High Street

Grahamstown, 6139Telephone number

046 622 2757Email

legal@brendacampbell.co.za

NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN

DECEASED ESTATE

In the Estate of the late VUYANI MIKE MARAWU, Identity Number 690828 5858 088, who died on 11th February 2019, Widow, and who resided at 65 Nkomo Street, Mayfield, Grahamstown, 6139

Estate Number: 602/2019Master of the High Court

Grahamstown

All persons having claims against the abovementioned estate are hereby calle dupon to file their claims with the undermentioned within 30 (Thirty) days from date of publication hereof.

Brenda Campbell Attorneys87 High StreetGrahamstown

6139Telephone number

046 622 2757Email

legal@brendacampbell.co.za

www.grocotts.co.za

STEAK EVENING and MUSIC by

Gordon PhillipsJoin us at ALBANY CLUB 114 High StLast Wednesday of

every month.

www.grocotts.co.za

14 SPORTGrocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019

SidburyearnfirstGCBtitleBy CHESLEY DANIELS

The Sidbury Cricket Club are the new champions of the Grahamstown

Cricket Board (GCB) First League, clinching the title at the death after 15 years in the league. They celebrated their win, after they demolished Cuylerville in their own back-yard at Shaw Park by a bonus point 7-wicket win.

The GCB First league went down to the wire in deciding who would take the league. Southwell were the log lead-ers, going into the past week-end expecting to beat Salem on Saturday 16 February, to secure the league title.

Sidbury, on the other hand, would need to beat Cuylerville by a bonus point, and have Southwell lose to Salem over the weekend in order to win. This unlikely turn of events, however, would go perfectly in Sidbury’s favour.

Sidbury travelled to Shaw

Park to take on Cuylerville, earning a solid victory. They did that in clinical style, dominating in all facets of the game. Cuylerville batted first and were bowled out for a mere 110 runs. Sidbury’s bowlers were on target and bowled accurately from the outset. The home side’s bats-men struggled throughout and could not handle the continuous pressure from the bowlers.

Sidbury’s batsmen came out to bat with one thing on their minds. That was to bat posi-tively and with aggression to chase down the target within 37 overs, in order to gain a bonus point. They achieved that (112/3) in 20.5 overs. Cliff Savage (43*) and Mike Lourens (55) were the biggest heroes for Sidbury. Salem vs SouthwellSalem took sweet revenge against the favourites, South-

well, and took a massive 163-run bonus point win.

This was after Southwell defeated Salem in their en-counter earlier in the season. Kevin Bennett (66), Chris Van der Meulen (56), Buster Brotherton (39) and Simon Amm (32), were all on song with the bat for Salem. Josh Van Rensburg (3/67 (10)), Murray Hobson (2/34 (10)), Adrian Reed (2/62 (10)) and Jeff Tarr (1/36 (10)), were the stand out bowlers for Southwell.

Southwell’s batsmen sur-prisingly struggled with the bat and could only answer with 118 (22.5). Salem’s bowlers were brilliant, bowl-ing economically, and out-classed the batsmen. Kyle Van Niekerk once again starred for Southwell with the bat with an unbeaten 48 runs not out. Leard King was the standout bowler for Salem, taking 4/29 (8).

Graeme, Alice RPC lock horns in MakhandaSTAFF REPORTERIt was a mixed weekend for the Graeme First team cricket side. St Andrew’s College out-gunned the Graeme side with an impressive T20 perfor-mance on Friday 15 February. It was good preparation for both teams as they are still try-ing to qualify for the CSA T20 Finals.

St Andrew’s beat Graeme by a very comfortable 140 runs before going on to win the Eastern Cape final against Grey. Nick Barlow was mas-sively instrumental, scoring a rare T20 century. Graeme face Hudson Park in the final of the Eastern Cape Focus School section on Friday 22 February.

On Saturday 16 February, Graeme hosted the Alice U19 Regional Performance Centre, which turned out to be a su-perb game.

Batting first, Graeme scored 194/ 8 after their 50 overs. It was a decent score but kept both teams very interested in the result. Aaron Richardson top scored for Graeme with 47, while Raven Bush scored a valuable 43 not out at the end of the innings.

Sese Tumuyaza (3/28) and Tayi Bosch (2/21) picked up the wickets for the Alice RPC, but it was the spinners who applied most of the pressure.

In combination, Lwando Shoba and Longeziwe Sgila conceded only 52 runs in 20 overs, and also picked up two wickets.

Sgila got the Alice RPC off to the perfect start and bat-

Graeme captain Lakhanya Sam (left), welcomes the Alice RPC captain to Graeme on Saturday 16 February. Photo: Supplied

ted for the majority of the in-nings; his 56 set the perfect platform for the visitors. It was the Graeme spinners who managed to claw their side into the game as well. Garwin Dampies and Richardson com-bined for 17 overs, claiming 4 crucial wickets and conceding 64 runs.

Butsha Mfazwe (34) put the Alice RPC in a very strong position and at 170/ 6, the last roll of the dice for Graeme was the experience of their two left arm quicks.

Lakhanya Sam stepped up and removed Sese Tamuyaza (27) and Buhle Shoba (22), although both dismissals needed some superb catching from the Graeme fielders. Sam was absolutely outstanding on the day, picking up 3 for 40.

That swung the pressure com-pletely on to the visitors, and Siphesihle Madlongolwana finished the innings in clinical fashion for Graeme, picking up 3 for 35.

Graeme managed to snatch victory from the jaws of de-feat with a tense 19-run vic-tory, with the visitors losing 4 wickets for just 14 runs. Only the U15 B team man-aged to get a win over St An-drew’s on the weekend, while the Graeme Junior sides fared much better against Wester-ing.

The visitors, though, man-aged to sneak an exciting one wicket win over Graeme in the U13 A game.

Graeme claimed good wins in the U9, U11 A, U11 B and U13 B matches.

Back to back Vides trophies for St Andrew’s CollegeSTAFF REPORTERThe St Andrew’s College First water polo team travelled to East London on Thursday 14 February to participate in the annual Vides U19 Water Polo tournament, the oldest Water Polo tournament in the coun-try in its 43rd year of exist-ence. St Andrew’s had a tough task ahead of them in defend-ing their trophy that they won in 2018, as they would be challenged by 20 teams from around the country, all de-scending on the Buffalo City.

SAC topped their pool with dominant and clinical perfor-mances on Friday 15 Febru-ary. They beat Glenwood High School from Durban 15-5, then beat Alexander Road High School 20-2 followed by a win against Northwood High School 12-3.

Finally, in their final game of the day, the Blues beat Stir-ling 10-8. The match against Stirling saw four of the play-ers receiving their 100th cap for the St Andrew’s first team. Joshua Cowen, Lloyd Koster, Joel Vides and Nicholas Sutherland joined Matthew Hillary (164 caps) and Connor Stulich (139 caps) to reach this remarkable milestone.

The success of topping Pool C meant that the team went directly through to the quar-ter finals on Saturday 16 Feb-ruary. They were up against hosts, Selborne, in an absolute

nail biter.The home side, with crowd

behind them, had a dream start and the St Andrew’s had their backs against the ropes at 4-1 down in the third chukka. But there was some remark-able character and grit shown by the St Andrew’s players to draw the score level to 5 goals apiece.

Joel Vides managed to squeeze the ball under the Selborne keeper’s arms to draw the game with just un-der 10 seconds to go on the match clock. The match went to a penalty shootout and SAC ended victorious beating Selborne 3-2 in penalties to advance to the semi-finals.

They were to face a much-fancied Paul Roos side in the first semi-final in the late af-ternoon on Saturday. Again the St Andrew’s team started slowly, having to claw their way back after being down 3-0 after the first chukka as a result of some outstanding shooting from the Paul Roos back three.

It was an immense perfor-mance to overcome the men from Stellenbosch with the winning goal being a penalty that Cowen converted with just 20 seconds to go on the clock. Paul Roos put all effort in with their goal keeper com-ing right up the pool to join the attack. There was an excellent shot from the Paul Roos num-

ber 2 that hit the inside of the upright and ricocheted behind the goalkeeper Nic Suther-land and across the face of the goal. A nervous end, but the miss meant that St Andrew’s were through to the Final. Reddam House Constantia in Cape Town overcame a very talented Grey High School (Port Elizabeth) outfit to con-test the final on Sunday morn-ing, 17 February. The game was incredibly tense with both sides trying to figure each other out early on. It was the team from Cape Town that scored first and really played out of their skin. Both teams defended brilliantly, and the scores were level for most of the game. The Reddam goal-keeper had an outstanding game and managed to save two one on ones and several excellent shots from the St Andrew’s team. However, it was a clinically executed ex-tra man move that saw Cowen scoring a brilliant goal to give St Andrew’s a 4-3 lead with just under a minute left on the clock. However, Reddam were not going to go down without a fight and struck back im-mediately with an extra man move of their own when they took advantage of a mistake made by the St Andrew’s de-fense.

The game was level with 30 seconds to play and St An-

The St Andrew’s College First team were victorious in the annual Vides Tournament. Photo: Supplied

drew’s, with a timeout and one last opportunity to win the game. Poor passing and a fumble saw Reddam steal the ball with just two seconds re-maining on the match clock. Reddam coach, Ryan Weide-man, called time out to try a sneaky long-range shot. The ball went wide, and the match ended in a draw. This meant yet another penalty shootout. Shooters Hillary, Cowen and Nicholas Jelley were the men responsible for trying to win

the trophy for St Andrew’s. It was an outstanding save by Sutherland and clinical shoot-ing from Hillary, Cowen and Jelley that meant St Andrew’s College were victorious and retained the converted Vides Trophy for the second year in a row.

This is an outstanding achievement and reflects grit and determination from the young 1st team. This is the sixth time St Andrew’s has won the tournament in the

last ten tournaments after the 2010 First team won it for the first time. It is also the second time St Andrew’s has won back to back titles following on from the 2013 and 2014 First teams.

Three players were recog-nized for their performances this weekend. Cowen and Vides were both selected as part of the tournament team. Joining them was Hillary, who was also named Best Player of the tournament.

DSG and Kingswood clash on courtSTAFF REPORTERThe Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) hosted another suc-cessful Dave Hodgson Squash Festival over the weekend of 15-17 February, with teams visiting Makhanda (Graham-stown) from Collegiate Girls’ High School, Clarendon High School and Queenstown Girls’ High School, as well as an Invi-tational team, with Kingswood

College also taking part in the local festival.

There was some wonderful squash on display, especially when the top two rated schools in the country were involved – Queenstown GHS (1) and Clarendon (2). In their match up, Clarendon upset the odds to win the game in a very ex-citing encounter, as GHS have been ranked as the number

one school in the country for a number of years. This is a result GHS will be looking to set right in May when the two teams meet again.

DSG had a good time on the courts, beating both Collegiate and the Invitational Team, be-fore suffering a narrow defeat to Kingswood, in another high quality encounter which went down to the wire.

Grocott’s Mail 22 FEBRUARY 2019 SPORT 15

Archie Mbolekwa pupils who represented Sarah Baartman District athletics in Nelson Mandela Bay on Friday 15 February. From left to right: Liyema Manyathi, Ziyanda Sentswa, Luphumlo Magopeni and Aviwe Fanki. Photo: Azlan Makalima

StrongopeningforMayoralCupBy DANIEL GOLDBERG

Saturday 16 February saw SEDRU’s annual Mayoral Cup kick off, with six

matches in total taking place in Makhanda (Grahamstown) and Alexandria combined. At the Oval in Makhanda, Old Collegians took on Easterns, and Brumbies clashed with Lily White. Both matches were preceded by games between the teams’ First reserves. In Alexandria, Trying Stars and Kowie United and both teams’ First reserves played.

In Alexandria, Trying Stars First Reserves beat Kowie United First Reserves in a 20-5 thriller. Trying Stars proved to be dominant, winning the main clash 45-14 over Kowie United at fulltime. Overall, dy-namic rugby was played with both games providing ample entertainment and drawing a decent crowd of supporters.

In Makhanda, the First Re-serves clash exhibited run-ning rugby at its finest. Old Collegians First Reserves churned out a clinical 28-0 victory against Easterns First Reserves, attributed to their general dominance on the field. Brumbies First Re-serves emerged victorious in their clash against Lily White First Reserves, with the score at fulltime sitting at 17-5 in favour of Brumbies.

The First Team clashes at The Oval were an even greater display of traditional rugby. Old Collegians vs East-erns resulted in a draw at 16-16. Both teams fought hard and the result was very apt of the game’s nature. Neither team could emerge dominant throughout the game despite both clubs’ best efforts.

The final match of the day, Brumbies versus Lily White, began via two Brumbies tries

in the first half. Lily White responded with a try of their own on the stroke of half time to go into the break 10-5 in favour of Brumbies. Brumbies upped the intensity during the second half and dispatched Lily White for a full time score of Brumbies 29-13 Lily White. Brumbies’ victory can mostly give recognition to the disci-pline and organisation of their backline’s structure, as well as their forwards’ intensity on defence.

The opening weekend of SEDRU’s 2019 Mayoral Cup proved to be successful and showed a lot of promise for the rest of this year’s Mayoral Cup.

The next clashes take place on Saturday 23 February. On 23 February, teams will clash in Port Alfred, with Kowie United taking on Klipfon-tein and Wanderers going up against the Brumbies as well as Easterns versus Swallows at Miki Yili in Makhanda.

Another Senseitional EC seminarSTAFF REPORTERUnited Shotokan-Ryu (USR) will be hosting André Bertel Sensei in Port Elizabeth on 2 and 3 March for his second South African Seminar. Ber-tel’s first visit to South Africa, and the African continent, was back in 2013.

Bertel is internationally respected for his innovative and dynamic approach to the practice of traditional Shoto-kan karate, and is considered to be one of the foremost practitioners of Asai-Ha Sho-tokan-Ryu.

Apart from having received private tuition from the late Japanese Shotokan Karate Master, Tetsuhiko Asai Sensei (1935-2006) over a period spanning two decades, Bertel has also trained with many of the other leading Japanese Shotokan Karate Masters.

Originally from New Zea-land, Bertel Sensei currently resides in Oita City, Japan and teaches karate extensively in that Country and abroad. His thorough knowledge of traditional karate combined with his insight into Japanese culture and language enables him to translate the many subtleties and complexities of Japanese karate, which are often overlooked or mis-understood by non-Japanese karate practitioners.

The seminar, which will take place at the Fairview Sports Centre in Port Eliza-beth, will be structured into four, two hour sessions.

The Seminar is open to all Shotokan Karate practition-ers (irrespective of affilia-tion) age 14 and older, who hold the level of green belt (sixth kyu) or higher.

Sensei Andre Bertel training in Japan. Photo: Supplied

According to organiser and USR Chairperson, Gary Grap-entin, this will be a tremen-dous opportunity for South African Karateka to learn from Bertel Sensei, who is widely regarded as a leading contem-porary master in the practice of Shotokan Karate as a form of traditional Japanese Budo rather than as a sport.

He further added that as Bertel Sensei only accepts a limited number of annual international invitations,

his visit to South Africa was a major coup for South African Shotokan Karateka. Grapentin confirmed that while he had al-ready received bookings for the seminar from across South Afri-ca, there were still a few places available which will be allocat-ed on a first come first served basis. Members of the public are requested to note that the seminar is closed to spectators.

Grapentin may be contacted at garyg@geenet.co.za for fur-ther information.

IMakana LFA iyilungele itumente yabakwantsasana edlalwa kuloMgqibeloNguCHRIS TOTOBELAImozulu ebintle izole nasebukhweni bezinja yangoMgqibelo walempela veki esisuka kuyo, ivumele abathandi bebhola bagaleleke ngobuninzi babo kumabala ase JD Dlepu eJoza.

IMakana LFA ibigqibezela itumente yayo yokuqala konyaka nalapho amaqela ayo ebeziva amandla elungiselela ukuqala kwemidlalo yabo yeLeague.

Kumaqela amane ebedibene kwimidlalo eyandulela owamanqamu iSakhulutsha, ibhaxabule

iNewtown City ngamanqaku amane eqandeni kumdlalo obuthande ukukekelela calanye.

Komnye umdlalo, iYoung Killers ibethe iLove and Peace ngenqaku elinye eqandeni kumdlalo obunzima kakhulu kubonakala ukuba kudibene ooxholovane bekudala bezondana. Lonto ithetha ukuba iMakhanda iyakumelwa yiSakhulutsha neYoung Killers kwitumente yabakwantsasana ezokudlalwa kulempela veki esiya kuyo, nalapho bazakugilana bebilelana

namaqela aphuma eHoloholo, eNgqushwa, eQhorha naseSeven Fountains.

Ngokutsho kwegosa lolawulo kwiMakana LFA uAfika Adam, imidlalo ibimihle kakhulu kwaye khange kubekho magingxigingxi nogquzulwano. Abalandeli nabo baphume ngobuninzi kwaye baziphethe kakuhle kwade kwagqitywa udlalwa. Wonke ubani othanda ibhola makasondele ngaseDlepu kuloMgqibelo azokuxhasa amaqela ethu azakube emele iMakhanda.

Athule Rooi of Lily White 1st XV attempts to score a penalty for his team during their clash against Brumbies last Saturday. Brumbies won this game 29-13. Photos: Daniel Goldberg

Jason Potgieter of Brumbies 1st XV attempts to leg drive past Mzekhaya Mka of Lily White 1st XV. Brumbies won this game 29-13 at The Oval in Makhanda last Saturday.

Parkrun #230 The 230th edition of the Makhanda (Grahams-town) Parkrun took place on Saturday 9 Febru-ary. Here are the top finishers from the event: 1. Justin Stoddart - 19:32 (M) 2. Thanduxolo Royi - 21:09 (M) 3. Melikhaya Jacobs - 21:18 (M)

4. Craig Tudhope - 22:20 (M) 5. Malibongwe Mbelu - 22:27 (M) 6. Unknown - Information not collected 7. Kennedy Khuzwayo Simango - 23:26 (M) 8. Unknown - Information not collected 9. Lwando Myles Saunders - 23:36 (M) 10. Unknown - Information not collected)

KNOW THE SCORE

HIGHLIGHTSPro14 The Guinness Pro14 enters its final quarter of the season this weekend, when the Isuzu Southern Kings and the Toyota Cheetahs take part in round 16 of the tournament. The Kings will face an uphill battle against defending champions Leinster in Dublin on Friday night, despite a number of Leinster players being away for national duty with the Ireland squad in the Guinness 6 Nations. The Cheetahs, however, will face their own challenges against the Scarlets in Wales on Sunday afternoon. Chippa United Despite going down to ten men against Milano United in their Nedbank Cup round of sixteen encounter, Chippa United earned a deserved two nil victory to continue in the tournament. They will now turn their attention back to the PSL, where their next encounter will see them take on Golden Arrows on Friday night. The Port Elizabeth side has been rising up the PSL rankings, and are closing in on the Arrows, who are three places above Chippa’s 13th position on the log. Proteas Suné Luus claimed four wickets and Mignon du Preez followed her up with an unbeaten half-century as the Proteas Women completed a clinical six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their final One-Day International (ODI) at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on Sunday 17 February. Stand-in captain Luus was the star performer for the hosts after she grabbed a four for 30 in eight overs. Super Rugby Round two of Vodacom Super Rugby will take place this weekend, with all four South African Super Rugby franchises once again facing tough opponents on Saturday. The Cell C Sharks will host their first match of the season agains the Blues from New Zealand, before the DHL Stormers host the Emirates Lions in a massive South African derby on Saturday afternoon. The Vodacom Bulls will end off the weekend when they travel to Argentina for a midnight (SA time) clash with the Jaguares. Sri Lanka tour The Proteas lost their opening test match against the touring Sri Lanka on Sunday 16 February, when the tourists took a very narrow, and well-earned 1-run victory. Sri Lanka came into their second innings needing 303 runs before the end of day five to earn the victory. They did just that with one wicket remaining, scoring 304 in their second innings in their first of two test matches on tour. South Africa are hosting Sri Lanka in the second test at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, which started on Thursday.

SPORTS DIARYFRIDAY 22 FEBRUARY CRICKET • Kingswood U13 Cricket Festival - Starts Thursday 21 February, ends Sunday 24 February. • EPCD Tournament at Graeme College - Starts Thursday 21 February, ends Friday 22 February. • Graeme College Senior: CSA T20 Knockout festival (Fort Hare) • Graeme College in CSA EC Finals (Alice) • St Andrew’s College: U15 A in the Independent Schools’ Cricket Festival (St Benedict’s College); First team in the Independent Schools’ Cricket Festival (St Alban’s College) - 21-24 February. • Cricket South Africa (CSA) Rural Week: EP Grahamstown vs Mpumalanga - Somerset (Greame); Boland vs  Limpopo - Marais (Greame); EP Midlands vs Free State - Shaw Park; Border Country vs KwaZulu Natal - Knowling (St Andrew’s); Border Villagers vs North West - Lower (St Andrew’s) TENNIS • Graeme College vs St Andrew’s College: U15 A and U15 B • St Andrew’s College: Second team vs Grahamstown Club • Victoria Primary: U13 A and U11 A vs Diocesan School for Girls (DSG)

WATER POLO • St Andrew’s College: First team, Second team, Third team, Fourth team, U15 A, U15 B, U14 A and U14 B vs Pearson College, Grey High and Selborne. SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY CRICKET • Kingswood U13 Cricket Festival - Starts Thursday 21 February, ends Sunday 24 February • Graeme College Junior: U13 A, U11 A and U9 A (Home), U13 B and U11 B (Away) vs Clarendon. • Graeme College Senior: First team and U15 A (Away), Second team and U14 A (Home) vs Hudson. • St Andrew’s College: U15 A in the Independent Schools’ Cricket Festival (St Benedict’s College); First team in the Independent Schools’ Cricket Festival (St Alban’s College) - 21-24 February • Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB): Willows vs Rhodes (Albany); Port Alfred vs Shrews (Country Club); Tiger Titans vs Manley Flats (Hospital); Rainbows vs Salem (Hilpert). • Cricket South Africa (CSA) Rural Week: Boland vs KwaZulu Natal - Manley Flats; EP Grahamstown vs Free State - Shaw Park; Border Country vs Limpopo - Salem; Border Villagers vs Mpumalanga - Sidbury; EP Midlands vs North West - Southwell

RUGBY • Mayoral Cup 2019: 12h00 - Wanderers 1st Reserves vs Brumbies 1st Reserves; 13h10 - Easterns 1st Reserves vs Swallows 1st Reserves; - 14h20 Wanderers vs Brumbies; - 15h45 Easterns vs Swallows SUNDAY 24 FEBRUARY CRICKET • Kingswood U13 Cricket Festival - Starts Thursday 21 February, ends Sunday 24 February • St Andrew’s College: U15 A in the Independent Schools’ Cricket Festival (St Benedict’s College); First team in the Independent Schools’ Cricket Festival (St Alban’s College) - 21-24 February. • Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB): Rhodes vs Manley Flats (Prospect). • Cricket South Africa (CSA) Rural Week: EP Grahamstown vs KwaZulu Natal - ManleyFlats; Boland vs Mpulanga - Salem; EP Midlands vs Limpopo - Shaw Park; Border Country vs North West - Sidbury; Border Villagers vs Free State - Southwell

22 February 2019 • Vol. 149 Issue: 007

The founders, sponsors and players of the Lakhenathi United FC pose together in their new kit from KFC. Bloss Murray (Back left), Unati Snam (co-founder, second from left), Themba Faltein (coach, third from left), Mandelake Klaas (co-founder, third from right) Simthobele Twani (coach, back right), Darryl van der Berg (KFC Assistant marketing manager, kneels no left), Aimee de la Harpe (KFC Marketing Manager, kneeling right). Photo: Stephen Kisbey-Green

By STEPHEN KISBEY-GREEN

The Lakhenathi United Football Club, founded January 2019 by co-founders Unati Snam and

Mandelake Klaas, has grown to 35-45 players between the ages of seven and 17. The successful expansion and growth of the club has brought the attention of local sponsors, including KFC Eastern Cape, who handed over a number of playing kits to the club on Wednesday 20 February.

“This project was born out of see-ing these kids being idle after school and not doing much,” said Snam. “So we thought of a plan where we can get these kids together in one place, especially after school. Most of the time they have nothing [to do], so that at least they can be in a safe en-vironment.”

The Lakhenathi Project started in 2016 as a literacy and learning pro-ject, aimed at promoting education and skills development in the Xolani and Tantyi areas.

The project wanted to make books popular again by organising book clubs and other programmes to pro-mote literacy in the community.

The soccer club started on 14 January, and since then has regis-tered with the Makana Local Football League (LFA), which will start over the first weekend of March. A post on the local Facebook group brought the club to the attention of local resi-dent, Bloss Murray, who sponsored supplies, equipment, and most im-portantly balls and bibs for the team; and spread the word around town of the initiative.

Soon, word of mouth reached the KFC offices in Port Elizabeth, where Aimee de la Harpe, former Makhan-da (Grahamstown) resident, works as the Marketing Manager.

“We heard that they didn’t have any playing kit and the name hadn’t been finalised, so we helped them with the logo design and gave them three sets of playing kit so that they can start playing matches and feeling like a team.”, said De la Harpe.

Earlier in the day, De la Harpe and her colleague, Darryl van der Berg, Assistant Marketing Manager at AKM Foods, dropped off an “Add Hope” cheque of R100 000 to the Eluxol-weni Child and Youth Care Centre, as a beneficiary of the R2 “Add Hope” initiative at KFC. This is the third year in a row that Eluxolweni has

received such a donation from KFC.“This whole thing was not even

about football in the first place,” said Snam.

“All we wanted to do was to get these boys together and impart life skills. We are not really looking to make football stars out of these boys, we want to make decent, responsible and disciplined citizens.”

The Lakhenathi United FC is also looking to widen their reach to in-clude young women that want to become involved in sport, including soccer, netball and even tennis in the future.

At present, their practices are open to anyone looking to get involved. Lakhenathi practice at the Oval every Monday through to Thursday, from 3.30pm to 5pm.

All hope for Lakhenathi United

View the updated Sports Diary: http://bit.ly/2ljw7Pa