Makhanda festival city
The city is renowned for its educational institutions, for being the national seat of the judiciary and for its cultural events
STRICTER
…
Yeah well, if people don t want to listen, they must feel, and that is precisely what they have been doing since President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposed level 3 restrictions on the nation on Monday last week. This came after SA passed the mark of more than a million confirmed coronavirus cases. Nearly 27, 000 South Africans are known to have died from Covid-19.
The President said in his address to the nation: “The number of new coronavirus infections is climbing at an unprecedented rate.”
He added, “We have let down our guard, and unfortunately we are now paying the price.”
The current restrictions will remain in place until January 15. OPEN ONCE AGAIN …
Rhodes University resumed its administrative functions this week after the festive season break, and for many staff members the priority will be releasing the 2020 examination results, from January 11 to 13. Then it ’ s a rather long wait for first-year students to arrive on campus, and this they will do on March 6 and 7, with Orientation Week running from March 7 to 11. Continuing students return to campus over the weekend of March 13 and 14, while undergraduate lectures begin on March 15. NOT ENOUGH MONEY, BUT …
Potholes there are aplenty on Makhanda ’ s
(Grahamstown) streets (everywhere you look you ’ ll spot a wheel-wrecking crater), far too many
water-wasting leaks on the streets and sidewalks, fast-fading and near-invisible street markings (centre lines, stop signs, zebra crossings, parking bays), trenches on the streets not properly repaired, and overgrown verges.
We ’ ve heard these words all too often in the past: “There ’ s no money.”
But I’m pretty damn sure there was enough money to pay annual municipal staff bonuses last month! BONUSES AND BOXES
…
I must admit I hadn ’ t heard this line from a
salaried worker for many a year, yet it was addressed to me on Monday last week, just after the Christmas weekend, by a municipal refuse collection worker: “Have you got a ‘ Christmas
Box ’ for me?”
Goodness me, I thought, you ’ ve just scored a bonus from your employer, and now you want a box! NEW AT GRAEME …
Graeme College has made four new appointments to its staff complement for 2021. They are Dr Lauren Shaw (senior school life sciences and physical science teacher), Liyema Mafane (grade 5 teacher), Caryn Johnson (grade 3 teacher) and Jacqui de Jong (senior school CAT, life sciences and mathematics teacher). DONATING RED
…
Since changing its Makhanda blood drives to every Tuesday, the SA National Blood Service (SANBS) has found that the monthly figures have increased markedly. The weekly sessions at the Dutch Reformed Church hall in Hill Street (one door up from Beaufort Street) have been held between 11am and 4pm.
Donor relations practitioner Maryke Harris said the SANBS felt that if the times were changed slightly it would benefit both donors and the blood service.
“From January, we will continue the weekly Tuesday blood drives, but from 12 noon to 6pm to accommodate what we believe will attract many more people.
“We will also throw in bus blood drives at SPAR Oak Cottage as well as at Pepper Grove Mall. We will then have a presence in Makhanda to try and attract all the school learners and students,” Harris said. THE VIRUS STRIKES
…
It really is sad, but it ’ s true. Many Makhandans
have died due to Covid-19 the past few months, and especially in recent weeks. They are family members, friends, acquaintances and colleagues. Also, many Makhandans have had relatives in other cities and towns die from the dreaded virus. The community sympathises with those affected by these losses.
Then there are residents who have been, or are currently, in isolation, either here in Makhanda or in other centres, after having tested positive for coronavirus.
Our wishes are for a full recovery.
In the meantime, we should not for one moment let our guard down: wash your hands regularly, sanitise them when entering stores and businesses, and wear masks at all times when away from home.
Be careful out there, and stay safe. RESIDENTS TO THE RESCUE …
It appears that if the municipality will not, or simply cannot, repair what appears to be millions of potholes around Makhanda, then
“” local businesses, organisations and residents will do it.
Up there in Sunnyside, just off George Street, I spotted three men repairing potholes in Thackeray Street last week, doing so with concrete, wheelbarrow, spades and lots of muscle power.
I went and had a closer look, making an interesting discovery.
One of the three is a local resident, while the other two were visitors, one from Cape Town and one from Port Elizabeth.
Thank you, gentlemen!
Now it’s up to Makana Municipality to repair the water leak in the same street, and then undertake the task of repairing the huge pothole stretching from one side of the street to the other, and caused by the leak over a period of many months.
Oh yes, residents in the area have reported that leak on numerous occasions, but it’s still there. A SWIFT RIDE TO CERES
…
Graeme College teacher Andrew Swift is one of the driving forces behind the school ’“s 2023
Dream Project ” which aims to raise R3m to
develop an indoor sports venue at the school. Swift kick-started the fund-raising project last month when he cycled 500km from Vosburg in the Northern Cape (60km west of Britstown) to Ceres in the Western Cape.
The main focus of the school’s 150th anniversary in 2023 will be to develop the indoor sports centre – no school fees will be used in funding the project.
“The school is challenging various Old Graemian year groups and current families to raise funds,” said a school spokesperson. ANOTHER BATCH
…
With 300 litres of alcohol-based sanitiser headed for Settlers Hospital on December 17, it brought the total amount produced and distributed by Rhodes University ’ s Faculty of Pharmacy for the year 2020 to a whopping 12,210 litres. JUNIOR LEADERS …
Pupil leadership at Graeme College s junior school
’
will undergo significant changes this year. Grade 6 pupils in 2020 had to complete certain tasks in order to enter the leadership programme for 2021. The boys who successfully completed these tasks will operate as monitors in term 1 or term 2, said deputy headmaster Gregg van Molendorff. After receiving training and being appraised, a
“
group of boys will then be selected to continue functioning as monitors in terms 3 and 4.”
Leaders chosen for term 1 are: Heinrich Bouwer, Jayden Brits, Giano Fourie, Torres Fourie, Cian Keulder, Thabang Madiba, Iviwe Mshubeki, Hendrik Myburgh, Lwakhe Nxozi, Jovan Radovic, Keanu-Josh Rooi, Caden Sickle, Erin Stevens, Enrique Strydom and Rhys Wiblin. CREEPING OVER
…
Maybe the rules of the road have changed recently, but on more than two occasions at the Cathedral traffic lights shortly before Christmas I noticed taxis driving over the red light on the northern corner of Church Square. An acquaintance told me later he had also spotted taxis creeping over the red.
What they do is arrive at the traffic lights and stop when they are red – the right thing to do!
Then they wait a couple of seconds, see everything is quiet and clear of traffic, then just creep over.
Thank goodness not everyone does that! NO PROBLEM? …
The sign outside the kiosk in the parking area at Boknesstrand ’ s main beach must have been painted before the current ban on walking, swimming and doing other things on the country ’ s beaches was introduced.
The multicolour sign has an arrow pointing towards the beach, with the words “The Beach” alongside it.
Beneath it are the words “No Shoes, No Shirts, No Problem”.
Oh yes, there has been a huge problem – we were not allowed on the beaches, unless we were one of the many anglers of long-standing, and even more first-time anglers who suddenly appeared on the scene with recently-purchased permits in hand.
Besides the many anglers and those launching ski-boats for deep-sea fishing purposes, there were a few who dared to venture onto the beach to swim in the sea or walk along the kilometres of pristine Boknes beaches.
Yes, there were the occasional visits by the men and women in blue, and they very politely requested beach strollers and swimmers to vacate the Boknes beaches.
At one stage the SAPS members walked a few hundred metres along the beach in their uniforms and heavy boots – the going must have been pretty tough for them! PARTNERS AND COLLEAGUES …
If you re an older reader of this column and lived
’ in Makhanda, once known as Grahamstown, for several decades, or have retired to the Sunshine Coast after living here for many years, you should know some of these business people and personalities. The people mentioned below were partners or colleagues in local businesses and firms back in the 1960s and 1970s. Name the firm/business in each case.
Here we go: Frank Bartlett and N “Gilly” Hutton; Neville Louw and Geoff Louw; JC Bates and HC Carmichael; Kyle Stone and Chris Stone; Bennie Goldberg and Bella Goldberg; Phil Kahn and Mike Kahn; Joe Truter and LB “Boysie ”
Green; Tim Slatem and Wally Kent; Reg Griffiths and Dal Wallace; and Ernest Dicks and Ernest Luke.
The answers are: Bartlett and Hutton – Espin & Espin Attorneys; Louw and Louw – AE Hohman (Hohmans) hardware merchants; Bates and Carmichael – Town & Country Supplies; Stone and Stone – Dold & Stone Attorneys; Goldberg and Goldberg – Graham Hotel; Kahn and Kahn – Oxford Furnishing; Truter and Green – Green & Truter Attorneys; Slatem and Kent – Williams Hunt Motors; Griffiths andWallace – Hepburn & Jeanes Photographers; and Dicks and Luke – T Birch & Co (Bicrh’s).