Eastern Cape

Car, taxi collide: 1 dead, 6 injured
Report and picture by Phumlani Mdolomba ZWELITSHA -- A man died and six passengers were severely injured when a car and a minibus taxi collided here on Wednesday night. The accident occurred at 7pm when the driver of the taxi allegedly ignored a...

Dispatching smiles to winners
By Keshina Thaver EAST LONDON -- The Daily Dispatch gave away R1200 to lucky winners in the Cash Dispatch Strike it Lucky competition yesterday. A 64-year-old pensioner from Nahoon, Mrs Bessie du Randt, received a pleasant surprise when she disc...

Bisho dept back in court over pay claim
PORT ELIZABETH -- A Cape Recife High School teacher here, Barenise Diedericks, yesterday dragged Bisho back to court for once again failing to comply with a high court order to pay her the full amount owed to her. This comes despite a tongue lash...

Nehawu calls on Santa to change
By Keshina Thaver EAST LONDON -- About 50 members of Nehawu (the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union) marched on the Fort Grey Santa hospital yesterday to protest against alleged "resistance to change" by Santa management. The ma...

R55m for EC schools still to be dispensed
By Ursula de Wet EAST LONDON -- A R55 million allocation by Finance MEC Enoch Godongwana to the Eastern Cape Education Department to build and rehabilitate schools has not yet been spent -- four months after the amount was "ringfenced". Educatio...

No special votes in local govt elections
By Zama Feni and Lucas Mati EAST LONDON -- Security forces, prisoners, the aged and infirm people would not enjoy any special privileges during the upcoming local government elections, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said here yesterda...

Tighter security promised for E Cape matric exams
BISHO -- The Eastern Cape Education Department yesterday reacted to the recent leak of a matric exam paper by announcing plans to employ stricter control measures in the handling of matric papers. The department's head of examinations, Phaphama M...

Old-age home closure angers workers
By Mphumzi Zuzile BUTTERWORTH -- The closure of an unregistered old-age home here by the provincial Welfare Department early last month has left more than 500 employees shocked and dissatisfied. On top of being left without jobs, workers at the ...

B'worth sewage spill cleared up
By Mphumzi Zuzile BUTTERWORTH -- The sewage spill which almost led to the closure of Weirs Cash and Carry here has been cleared, NSB Brewery officials said yesterday. An official, who did not want to be named, said his company had hired machines...

Jobless, poor march
UMTATA -- About 500 poor and unemployed people marched to the regional Welfare Department offices here yesterday to demand that the government address their plight. PAC provincial executive member Gilbert Sineke, who led the march, said the prote...

Link FM bids to stay on air
EAST LONDON -- Local radio station Link FM yesterday launched an 11th-hour bid to have the decision to close the station down overturned by the high court in Grahamstown. Station manager Anthony Barkhuizen said lawyers were working on an attempt ...

More members of T'kei gang sought
UMTATA -- Police are still looking for more suspects, firearms and getaway vehicles of a gang that terrorised Wild Coast shops earlier this year, the regional court here was told yesterday. Five men and a woman charged with six counts of armed ro...

Claims of police brutality dismissed
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Claims of police brutality were dismissed by a judge here yesterday in a trial within a murder trial. Judge Hendrik van der Linde ruled in the Grahamstown High Court that no undue influence was used by the police on murder and robb...

Mbeki may attend Berlin launch Countdown Tourism Month
Report and picture by Lew Elias BERLIN -- When this tiny town, about 30km from East London, is mentioned, visitors generally greet the reference with scepticism. However, the town is getting ready for its day of media fame when it becomes the p...

Voyage of discovery for EC visitors
EAST LONDON -- Berlin will be pulling out all the stops in September when it becomes the launching pad for the start of national Tourism Month. The event's media organiser, Deon Bredenhann, confirmed this week that the event would be launched nat...

Welfare Dept still has 'long way to go'
By Adrienne Carlisle GRAHAMSTOWN -- The Welfare Department has gone some way towards addressing some of the ills identified in a hard-hitting report on the myriad of problems within the department, but it still had a "long way to go", says welfar...

Q'town dog unit arrests 354
QUEENSTOWN -- The dog unit here made 354 arrests here last month, it was revealed yesterday. Unit commander Captain Tommy Chellew said 14 suspects were arrested for serious charges such as murder and car hijacking and 340 for petty offences such...

ANCYL to refocus, redefine its role
By Phumlani Mdolomba KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- The provincial African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has cited lack of skills, high rate of crime and corruption and the alarming HIV/Aids rate among the youth as the major challenges to be add...

Three officers tell stories of dedication
By Sonja Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- Three Eastern Cape policemen this week told stories of courage, initiative and dedication in carrying out their duties -- examples which led to their nominations in the provincial Police Star of the Year award last m...

Disabled man guards suspects
By Matt Ramsden EAST LONDON -- A wheelchair-bound Fort Jackson farmer this week said he had to stand guard over two theft suspects for more than two hours before police collected them from his farm. Nick Venter, 49, said he first called in polic...

Doctor up for medicine theft
UMTATA -- A doctor practising near Port Shepstone has appeared in the Bizana District Court on charges of theft of medicine worth nearly R20 000. Dr Tapson Ally Mwanga, 48, a Tanzanian national, was not asked to plead. He was arrested by security...

Armed men rob bakery of R25000
By Matt Ramsden EAST LONDON -- About R25 000 was stolen from a city centre bakery in a robbery yesterday morning when three armed men burst in and held up the owner and his secretary. Captain Shannon Kirkhoff said the robbery occurred at Quick B...

Traffic officer struck by car
QUEENSTOWN -- A 35-year-old Butterworth municipal traffic officer was admitted to the Butterworth Hospital with severe head wounds after being struck by a car which failed to stop near the town yesterday. Superintendent Bathandwa Dada said the of...

Agent in court on rape charge
UMTATA -- A 42-year-old insurance agent appeared briefly in the Engcobo District Court yesterday for allegedly raping a six-year-old child. Mr Khangelani Dorrington Bantwini, 42, arrested at the weekend after the Engcobo-based anti-child abuse fo...

Cash crisis meeting in Bisho
By Sonja Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- Drakensberg District Council representatives are due to meet several provincial government departments today in an attempt to avert a financial crisis facing the local authority. The council serves a vast area, incl...

VCs to respond to proposals for restructuring
By Adrienne Carlisle GRAHAMSTOWN -- Members of the South African Universities' Vice-Chancellors' Association (SAUVCA) will respond both individually and as an organisation to Education Minister Kader Asmal on the Size and Shape task team's recent...

Locals to participate in policy formulation
By Mayibongwe Maqhina UMTATA -- Local authorities officials should participate fully in the policy formulation process which the Local Government and Housing Department has embarked upon. So said director for Local Government and Housing Departm...

Disagreement over R50 000 donation
By Wilberforce Mdoda BISHO -- The Department of Arts and Culture has donated R50 000 to 11 heritage sites in Tsolo to be used at unveiling ceremonies. The unveiling of the Masakh'isizwe Tsolo project, originally scheduled for this week, has been...

College set to expand
By Sonja Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- The Dordrecht International People's Community College, will this year endeavour to expand its programme of recruiting foreign students for a course promoting international relations. The college has, annually hos...

Young Men's Guild conference held
MOUNT FRERE -- The triennial conference for the Young Men's Guild (YMG) of the United Methodist Church of Southern Africa, was held here last Friday. President of the conference, Reverend Churchill Msindiswa, stressed the importance of leadership...

Glory of Swaziland's old churches preserved
by James Hall THE preservation movement is spontaneous and uncoordinated, and seems to come at an historic juncture where attitudes toward Africa's colonial era are changing. Relics left by Swaziland's old colonial masters when the former Briti...

Renowned educationalist dies
By Ncedo Kumbaca IDUTYWA -- A former secretary in the Department of Manpower in the Transkei, Cecil Ashton Vuyisile Makasi, will be buried on Saturday. Makasi died at the age of 72 on July 27, 2000, after suffering from diabetes for many years. ...

Cala funeral for hospital matron killed in crash
By Stan Mzimba UMTATA -- The funeral service of one of the 11 people whose bodies were charred after a cash-in-transit vehicle and a minibus collided on the Cala/Elliot road a week ago will be held at her Cala home this weekend. Nomatsiri Mseng...

Youth praised for choir success
By Wilberforce Mdoda BUTTERWORTH -- The recent Telkom/Old Mutual regional choir competition has boosted the hopes of the Butterworth Services Choir, who were placed first in the Western division of the competition. The overall winners were the Jo...

Communities unite to beat crime
By Mayibongwe Maqhina UMTATA -- Communities should work toge-ther with the police in fighting crime in their areas, deputy area commissioner director, Zipumeze Lutuli, said yesterday. Lutuli was addressing a gathering during the launch of the Ng...

106 clinics to get power from emerging contractors
By Mayibongwe Maqhina UMTATA -- Health MEC, Bevan Goqwana, has awarded contracts for the electrification of 106 clinics, to emerging electrical contractors, spokesman for Previously Disadvantaged Electrical Contractors Association (Pdeca) spokesm...

Ready for festival
LADY FRERE -- The district is alive with Sondela Youth Arts Festival fever. Lady Frere, Cala and Cofimvaba are busy preparing for the district festival. On 14 July, Cofimvaba held a mini-Sondela Festival, with the best groups being selected for t...

Mzamane consecrated as 10th Bishop of St John's
By Stan Mzimba UMTATA -- Bishop Sitembele Tobela Mzamane, of the Diocese of St John's was consecrated and enthroned at a service in the Anglican Cathedral here, presided over by Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, of Cape Town. Sixteen other bisho...

ADC posts frozen until councils unite
Municipal Reporter EAST LONDON -- The provincial Housing and Local Government Department has frozen all vacant posts in the Amatola District Council (ADC) until the amalgamation of municipalities has been completed. Currently the ADC has a varie...

Private agent to help collect unpaid levies
By Zamuxolo Feni, Municipal Reporter EAST LONDON -- A new credit control policy aimed at defaulting levy-payers in the Amatola District Council was approved at a recent council meeting. It was decided to appoint a private levy collection agent t...

Zwelitsha education forum gets new lease of life
By Ursula de Wet EAST LONDON -- The Zwelitsha community has taken charge of making education a community responsibility by reviving the Zwelitsha Education Forum (ZEF) at a recent meeting at Hector Petersen High School. "The theme of the meeting...