Eastern Cape

Survey shows school crime most common in EC, KZN
By Tanya Jonker-Bryce EAST LONDON -- School crime, including burglaries and assault, is more common in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal than elsewhere in the country. This is according to the National School Register of Needs, compiled after a...

Work on Kei cuttings at a standstill
By Lew Elias EAST LONDON -- Two of the three major construction companies involved in the upgrading of the Kei cuttings have been placed under judicial management and work on the project has come to a standstill. The R46,6million contract was a...

Neer gets tough on taxi war
EAST LONDON -- Over 200 minibus taxis have been impounded in two days in and around Umtata for various traffic offences, including outstanding summonses. This follows the murder of at least 27 people in the low-intensity taxi war which has worsen...

Cash boost for disability centre
UMZIMKULU -- Former president Nelson Mandela and Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya yesterday received a major donation from Saambou to build a centre for children with disabilities at the Vuleka Special School here. Skweyiya said the scho...

Police negligence blamed for escapes
UMTATA -- The recent spate of escapes from police holding cells, especially in the Transkei and Drakensberg regions, was due to police negligence, deputy provincial Commissioner Ross Mpongoma said yesterday. Mpongoma said a decision would be take...

Old tunnels remain a mystery
by Ceridwen Morris EAST LONDON -- If there are tunnels under the harbour to the prison, and another from the Customs House in the harbour to Hill Street, they are well hidden. Prompted by urban legends of a labyrinth of tunnels beneath East Lond...

Cruise passengers in for treat
By Lew Elias EAST LONDON -- The summer cruise season with ships calling here will be a pleasant surprise for passengers, who will be treated to an African experience. A team from Specialist Cruise Services (SCS) were here this week to plan the d...

Rhodes accounting students excel
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Rhodes University had an overall pass rate of 90 percent among its first-time students writing Part 1 of the Final Qualifying Examinations (FQE), set by the Institutes of Charered Accountants in South Africa and Zimbabwe this year. ...

No access to PAC file for 50 years
By Phumlani Mdolomba ALICE -- The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) yesterday signed an agreement which compels the University of Fort Hare not to release the organisation's confidential documents to any individual for 50 years. The file c...

Welfare pays social grants
PORT ELIZABETH -- In a successful sequel to the landmark constitutional relief ruling by the high court in April, two beneficiaries here have received their cheques from the Eastern Cape Welfare Department. The payments could be the first of hund...

7th suspect held for R2,4m scam
By Denver Donian KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- A seventh suspect allegedly involved in two separate fraud scams amounting to R2,4 million in various government departments in Bisho was arrested by members of the special investigations unit from East Lon...

Aquarium guards were ill on night of killing
By Tanya Jonker-Bryce EAST LONDON -- Two municipal policemen who failed to arrive for work on the nights that 11 penguins and two pelicans were bludgeoned to death at the aquarium here are both both claiming to have been ill. An official investi...

Huge response for nursing vacancies
By Lulamile Feni EAST LONDON -- The Central Nursing College (CNC) here has since Monday issued more than 2 000 applications forms for basic nursing training, although there are only 100 vacancies. The number is expected to triple by June 18, whi...

Outbreak of scabies in EC schools
Municipal Reporter EAST LONDON -- Informal settlements around the city have reported an outbreak of scabies, with 1 460 cases recorded by the end of May. According to a report tabled at a community services standing committee meeting this week,...

DA questions ANC-only trips
EAST LONDON -- Buffalo City's mayoral office is working on a policy that would consider the council's position on future overseas trips, mayor Sindisile Maclean said yesterday. His remarks were a response to DA caucus leader Quinton Williams' que...

Officers sued for setting dogs on girl
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Three local police officers are being sued in the magistrate's court here for an undisclosed amount after setting two dogs on a teenage girl while she and her family watched television. Dog handler Inspector Andries van Rooyen, Ser...

Warrant for EL teacher
EAST LONDON -- A warrant of arrest has been authorised against former East London teacher Jean-Pierre Roux, after he failed to appear on two charges of culpable homicide here yesterday. However, the court heard representation on Roux's absence, a...

DV school choir to sing for funds
Report and picture by Wilberforce Mdoda EAST LONDON -- The victorious Duncan Village Public School choir which recently won a national school music competition is hard at work preparing for their fund-raising concert. They hope the concert will ...

Ft Hare, union in wage dispute
By Adrienne Carlisle GRAHAMSTOWN -- The University of Fort Hare and at least one of the three unions active on campus look set for a major stand-off, with the university offering an annual increase of roughly 24 percent less than is being demande...

Orient slipway idea welcomed
By Lew Elias EAST LONDON -- A lot of the public's unhappiness with the rubber duck fraternity stems from a lack of sites from which to launch their vessels, Border Inflatable Boat Club vice-chairman Lionel Ball said yesterday. Discussing the pr...

E Cape IFP leader charged
KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- The Eastern Cape leader of the IFP, Matsepiso May, 46, appeared briefly in the magistrate's court here yesterday charged with the possession of suspected stolen cheques and identity documents. May was arrested on Sunday aft...

Funds for joint tourism project
By Sonja Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- The Maloti Tourism Forum, which includes representatives from the eastern Free State, Lesotho and a section of the Eastern Cape from Aliwal North to Maclear, is set to receive funds from national government to jointl...

ANC appoints two more whips
By Lucas Mati Political Reporter BISHO -- The ANC has increased its number of whips in the Eastern Cape Legislature to six following the appointment of two younger MPLs. The two, Phakamisa Hobongwana and Grant Snell, were appointed last week at ...

Police find two more batches of postmortem reports
By Stan Mzimba UMTATA -- Two more batches of postmortem reports, some vital to court cases, have been recovered by the police, the provincial commander of serious and violent crimes, Director Gary McLaren, confirmed yesterday. McLaren said on Th...

Paint truck overturns in B Bay
By Mphumzi Zuzile EAST LONDON -- A truck carrying tons of paint overturned at the traffic circle at the Stutterheim Road-Beacon Bay intersection, delaying traffic for over two hours yesterday afternoon. The unidentified driver and his wife, both...

Burnt-out link causes Zone 16-17 power cuts
EAST LONDON -- A burnt out electricity link plunged zones 16 and 17 in Mdantsane into pitch darkness on Monday night. However, the police said there had been no escalation of reported crime as had happened in the past. The problem started after ...

School vandalised again
By Mthobeli Mxotwa EAST LONDON -- Teachers and learners at Luzuko Higher Primary School in Zone 11A in Mdantsane found themselves without toilet facilities yesterday. Principal Ntsikelelo Ngqame said his school has been vandalised frequently rec...

B'worth workers sue for benefits
By Mkhululi Titi QUEENSTOWN -- Butterworth municipal workers have started court proceedings to have lost pension benefits paid out to them. Attorneys representing the Butterworth municipal workers filed an application in the Umtata High Court la...

Drive to recruit the unemployed
UMTATA -- The Eastern Cape Unemployed Workers' Union (Ecuwo) has embarked on a recruitment drive. Ecuwo president Alfred Ndzondza said this week the campaign was part of the union's efforts at looking after the interests of the unemployed. The c...

Cash-strapped child shelter plans to expand
By Sonja Raasch TARKASTAD -- It is a year since Sparrows Children's Shelter started its work among abandoned, abused and neglected children here. The shelter presently caters for 12 children between the ages of eight and 16 years, and there are ...

Soccer hero to referee Ft Hare match
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Bruce Grobbelaar, the manager of the South African Premier Soccer League side Super Sport United, will officiate at this week's Fort Hare Youth Day charity football tournament. The former Liverpool and Zimbabwean goalkeeper will re...

Chiefs must be consulted on land issues says PAC
QUEENSTOWN -- Land administration activities cannot be successfully implemented in rural areas without the consent of traditional leaders, said PAC national secretary for local government Gilbert Sineke. He was speaking at a local government work...

Officer on drunk driving charge
KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- A police captain based at logistics here appeared briefly in court on Monday charged with drunken driving. Captain Lumkile Wiseman Msetu, 45, was arrested near Breidbach at the weekend. He was not asked to plead and the cas...

Call for Kidd's Beach policing
EAST LONDON -- Jonguhlanga High School chairman Bonisile Mkobeni has called on the provincial government to address crime in the Kidd's Beach area. He said crime there has reached unacceptable levels and ordinary people are finding it difficult t...

Ma Mbeki could get VIP protection
QUEENSTOWN -- The police VIP protection unit in Bisho has applied for authority to take over security at the home of President Thabo Mbeki's 85-year-old mother, Mrs Epainette Mbeki, at Ngcingwane in Idutywa. This follows the recent stone-throwing...

Intruder shot: woman held
KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- A single mother of two minor children from the Ndindwa Administrative area near Debe Nek has been arrested for allegedly shooting dead an intruder in her home, police said yesterday. Captain Tamie Nqai said the man, Phakama...

Chest contributions steady
EAST LONDON -- When the final figures were in at the end of the financial year on March 31, the fundraising and donations actually totalled R1853 more than the previous year. "Unfortunately, the much reduced interest rates saw our income from tha...