Eastern Cape

Emfuleni in bid to drop deal Casino, hotel jobs at risk
By Adrienne Carlisle GRAHAMSTOWN -- Emfuleni Resorts' bid to ditch its casino licence condition that it cross-subsidise the Fish River Sun and Mpekweni resorts was met with opposition from outraged trade unions, local government, tourism bodies a...

Stofile pleads for racial harmony
By Lucas Mati BISHO -- Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile yesterday urged black and white people in the province to ensure they lived in harmony without discriminating against each other. Speaking at a ceremony here that saw the lighting of...

Judges angry over EC pensions appeal
PORT ELIZABETH -- The Appeal Court in Bloemfontein has criticised the Eastern Cape government for bringing an appeal against a Grahamstown High Court order which permitted a class action for a number of disabled people unlawfully deprived of their...

Stranded humpback dies
PORT ELIZABETH -- The young humpback whale saved in a rescue at Hougham Park at the weekend died after it beached itself again yesterday. In a sad finale, its carcass was dragged out to sea and blown up by explosives experts. The teenage male, a...

DCSA strikers to decide on 9% deal
By Mthobeli Mxotwa EAST LONDON -- DaimlerChrysler South South (DCSA) workers here will today decide whether to accept the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) proposals of a nine percent across-the-board raise or to conti...

SA must now fight intolerance says Xoseni
By Sonja Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- Democratic South Africa was engaged in a new struggle -- the struggle against intolerance, Lukhanji executive mayor George Xoseni said here yesterday. Xoseni was speaking at the conclusion of a march in support of t...

Ndevana resident hijacked
Crime Reporter KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- A Ndevana resident was robbed of his 4x4 vehicle at Sweetwaters near here yesterday after being shot in the mouth by a hijacker. Sipho Maboni, 31, was taken to Grey Hospital where he was treated for shock an...

BC won't intervene in car strike
By Samkelo Ngwenya EAST LONDON -- Buffalo City executive Mayor Sindisile Maclean yesterday said roleplayers in the labour relations arena -- employers and employees -- must be left alone to sort out their problems. Maclean was addressing over 10...

Long jail terms for 'witch' killers
UMTATA -- A Qumbu school principal and three other men were sentenced to a total of 89 years' jail for the murder of a 70-year-woman whom they accused of witchcraft. The Tsolo Special High Court sentenced the principal, Lungile Mabindla, 40, and ...

Well prepared
A new Buffalo City Junior Council was last night inducted at a ceremony held at the City hall. Pictured here are, front from left, deputy junior town clerk Viwe Booi, junior mayor Carien van der Burgh and junior deputy mayor Charl van Wyk. In the ...

Quads born in Umtata
UMTATA -- A 36-year-old woman has given birth to quadruplets here, SABC TV news reported yesterday. All four babies were well and in incubators. The woman has five other children, the oldest of whom is now 18. She said she had never taken ferti...

Developer loses the battle of the boom
By Mthobeli Mxotwa and Mphumzi Zuzile EAST LONDON --An unauthorised boom gate shutting off public access to Estuary Drive in Gonubie was removed yesterday by the Buffalo City municipality. This was confirmed by the head of the engineering servic...

4 hurt in drive-by shootings
By Denver Donian, Crime Reporter KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- Two Uncedo Taxi Association drivers and two passengers were injured in two separate drive-by-shooting incidents within minutes of each other on the N2 near here on Monday night, police said....

Hijackers leave victim naked
PORT ELIZABETH -- Hijackers left a motorist standing naked alongside a road near Umtata after making off with his vehicle, police said. Captain Mzukisi Fatyela said Jack Madeni of Ikwezi township was hijacked by three gunmen at the Tutor Ndamase ...

Naming of grant payer delayed
By Mphumzi Zuzile EAST LONDON -- The Eastern Cape Department of Welfare yesterday delayed announcing the independent partner for social grant payments. Department spokesman Gcobani Maswana said the announcement was supposed to made yesterday, bu...

District councils 'still have role in rural health'
By Mayibongwe Maqhina UMTATA -- District municipalities still have a major role to play in delivering quality health services to rural areas, the chief director of the national Health Department, Dr Tim Wilson, said at the weekend. "There is no ...

Nurses rededicate themselves to excellence
Tanya Jonker-Bryce Health Reporter EAST LONDON -- Nurses at the East London Hospital Complex this week rededicated themselves to excellence in patient care during a week-long service delivery awareness campaign. The campaign, at the Health Resou...

Poor medical waste disposal found in EC
Health Reporter EAST LONDON -- Large amounts of medical waste in the Eastern Cape are still routinely disposed of in pit-latrines or in open fires, in contravention of minimum health standards. A recent survey by fieldworkers attached to the Equ...

Donations for Mandela statue
By Glyn Williams EAST LONDON -- The family of Donald Woods has asked that donations be given for Nelson Mandela's statue instead of flowers. Giving further details of the funeral service in London, his eldest son, Dillon, said: "The family will ...

Memorial Mass postponed
EAST LONDON -- Plans for a memorial Requiem Mass for former Daily Dispatch editor Donald Woods on Friday have been changed. Woods died in London on Sunday after a fight against cancer. The decision to defer the Mass was taken in the light of new...

M'drift health centre opens
EAST LONDON -- A R2,5 million health centre that could serve more than 50 000 people has been officially opened in the Middledrift area. The centre is a joint initiative between the provincial departments of health and local government. ''The ce...

Frere, CMH finalising rationalisation plan
Health Reporter EAST LONDON -- A detailed business plan on the rationalisation of Frere and Cecilia Makiwane (CMH) hospitals is being finalised, and should be available for public scrutiny within two weeks. This will give a clear picture of what...

Rhodes media staff pay tribute to Donald Woods
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Rhodes University's Journalism and Media Studies Department has paid tribute to former Daily Dispatch editor Donald Woods, who died on Sunday. "He was founder of our Steve Biko journalism bursary scheme and an inspiration to many o...

Woods home inspires young pupils
By Ayanda Salayedwa EAST LONDON -- Young minds have fresh ideas, and there was no shortage of ideas yesterday among a group of Merrifield Primary School pupils on how the late former Daily Dispatch editor, Donald Woods, should have fought the apa...

Report slams councils for poor controls
BISHO -- A local government standing committee meeting here revealed earlier this week that many local Eastern Cape councils were lacking funds and being managed so poorly that they owed huge sums of money to creditors. The revelation came after ...

Bill to curb initiate deaths in pipeline
UMTATA -- At least 22 initiates have died this winter, bringing to 164 the number of initiates who have died at circumcision schools in the Eastern Cape since 1994, says Henderson Dweba, provincial co-ordinator of traditional circumcision. Speaki...

Disused factory doubles as school
BUTTERWORTH -- An abandoned chemical factory in Ibika township near here has been converted into a primary school for more than 200 learners from a nearby squatter camp. The primary school learners will continue their education in this facility, ...

RPL drives to improve work skills
By Justine Gerardy EAST LONDON -- The last stage of a pilot programme seeking to redress historical injustices by formally recognising workplace experience was launched here this week. The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme aims to re...

Ibika school gets new buildings
Reports by Lew Elias BUTTERWORTH -- The 938 pupils at the Phakamani senior secondary school at Ibika township near here celebrated their first assembly in a real quadrangle last week after years of being housed in an abandoned chemical factory. ...

Cambridge library moves to new premises
EAST LONDON--The old Cambridge library is to close and staff and assets will be moved to the newly-built Cambridge location library, according to a Buffalo City council resolution. Amid strong objections from the DA's Amalinda-Cambridge ward coun...

FET merger 'will improve learner skills'
EAST LONDON -- Transformation in the Further Education and Training (FET) sector was part of a vision of productive citizenship in South Africa and would help eradicate fragmentation in education and training -- a provincial FET indaba heard here ...