Eastern Cape

Bisho official felt degraded by newsletter
By Nandipha Ramadikela EAST LONDON -- The legal adviser to the Eastern Cape Legislature, Herlu Smith, told the Bisho High Court here yesterday he had felt dirty and degraded after reading the "Father Punch" newsletter. Father Punch is the anonym...

Cold, wet weekend in sight for EC
PORT ELIZABETH -- Bring on the brollies -- a wet weekend awaits the Eastern Cape. The SA Weather Service has forecast very cold conditions, spreading to the interior from the Western Cape, later today. This will bring about temperatures around ...

Mayor's home robbed
By Lulamile Feni KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- Thieves broke into Buffalo City Mayor Sindisile Maclean's home yesterday and stole goods with a value of R9000. "Thieves have got no boundaries whether you are a mayor or a preacher," he said in an interv...

Official funeral for Sisulu
CAPE TOWN -- The late ANC stalwart and anti-apartheid activist Walter Sisulu will be given an official funeral, the Cabinet decided yesterday. The struggle veteran, who was jailed for 26 years alongside Nelson Mandela in the apartheid era, died o...

Peddie case postponed
BISHO -- The case against five youth accused of hijacking and assaulting academics Michelle Cocks and Dr Isla Grundy was postponed in the high court until today. Cocks, 31, of Rhodes University and Grundy, 47, of Stellenbosch University were hija...

RIVETING MOVES
Dancers perform a sequence from This Beautiful House is Unmade, which has its final performance at the Guild Theatre tonight at 8pm. The cast is from the First Physical Theatre Company.Picture by ALAN EASON Eastern Ca...

10% penalty for late payments
EAST LONDON -- The provincial Labour Department said yesterday the account number for Unemployment Insurance Fund payments published in yesterday's paper was not for the province, but for national use by all employers of domestic workers. The acc...

RARE FIND
Trainee Victor Ndibo gets a closer look at the rarely seen oar fish at the East London Museum yesterday. The 2,5 metre fish, the oceanic species Regalecus Glesne, was found washed ashore in good condition. The origin of the name refers to its el...

Siamese twins buried in Nomzamo
QUEENSTOWN -- The Siamese twins who died in Cape Town last week before undergoing an operation to separate them were buried at Nomzamo location cemetery here yesterday. The funeral service, conducted by a local undertaker, was attended by a handf...

2 held in King dagga bust
EAST LONDON -- Police yesterday arrested two men in Thambeni village near King William's Town for dealing in dagga worth R28000. Inspector Stephen Marais said members of the drug and dog units, acting on a tip-off, discovered two bags of dagga w...

3 held for robbing, assaulting officer
QUEENSTOWN -- Three men who have been on the run following the alleged assault and robbery of a police officer were arrested at Macibini informal settlement in Butterworth on Tuesday, police said yesterday. Police spokesman Gcinikhaya Taleni said...

Baby burns to death
UMTATA -- A three-month-old baby burnt to death as she slept when a stove exploded and burnt down the room she was in on Tuesday. Zenande Zokufa was left alone with her six-year-old sister in Xhontana Street, Ngangelizwe on Tuesday at about 7am. ...

EL prison officer's case postponed
EAST LONDON -- The case against senior prison official Rodgers Siyila was postponed to May 13 in the magistrate's court here yesterday. Siyila, who is head of the institutional committee and assistant director at West Bank's Medium A prison, was ...

Perlemoen sentences welcomed
PORT ELIZABETH -- Police pronounced their satisfaction yesterday with two tough sentences handed down to perlemoen poachers. First-time offender -- former Port Elizabeth resident Hercules Buytel, 42, who now lives in Johannesburg -- was caught at...

Praise for inventive student
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Local police say an inventive Rhodes masters law student managed to escape from an alleged gang of violent hijackers when he got them to "push-start" his old BMW soon after 3.30am on May Day. Zimbabwean Reginald Tafatzwa Manykara, ...

RESCUERS
Grahamstown Hi-Tec security guards, senior supervisor Peter Elbrecht (right) and armed response officer Chris Barnard say hijack victim Reginald Manykara was so thrilled to be saved by them that he kissed Elbrecht. (ECN) ...

Robbery suspects arrested
QUEENSTOWN -- The serious violent crime unit here has arrested three men suspected of involvement in an armed robbery which took place at Chamana spaza shop in Cofimvaba on March 18. Captain Gcinikaya Taleni said the three were arrested on Monday...

Skelenge case struck from roll
EAST LONDON -- The case involving Mnquma deputy mayor Ndyebo Skelenge, pertaining to murder and attempted murder charges, has been removed from the court roll pending an instruction from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said Butterworth'...

Transkei crime
THREE people were arrested for dealing in dagga worth R1million on the R61 near Misty Mount, Libode, on Tuesday night, police said. Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta said they were arrested by members of Operation Sofelakhona. They will appear in c...

UDM shocked at special leave for Mafu
By Wendy Sa Joe EAST LONDON -- News that Department of Roads and Public Works head Dumisani Mafu had been placed on "special leave" following allegations of mismanagement received mixed reaction from political parties in the province yesterday. ...

Umzimkhulu gets housing re
lief EAST LONDON -- At least 235 low-cost houses are being built in Umzimkhulu for families whose houses and livestock were destroyed by fire last June, muni-cipal spokesperson Nonkoliseko Nkaitshana said yesterday. Nkaitshana said construction ...

Young man held for child's rape
QUEENSTOWN -- A four-year-old Aliwal North girl was raped at Dukathole on Monday, police said yesterday. Captain Mpofana Skwatsha said the girl was outside her home at 7.30pm when she was grabbed and raped. Skwatsha said the girl managed to des...

Happy 21st birthday Brands!
IT'S BRANDS Furnishers' 21st birthday this month, and the store invites customers and suppliers to come along and join in the festivities. Indeed, there's a lot for this homegrown furniture and appliance company to celebrate. Not only are their s...

Cuban tutors for rural areas
WELCOME: Cuban education tutors are welcomed by the provincial Education Department's director of communications, Danie Breytenbach. From left are: Alberto Rodriguez, Pedro Comas, Rey Hechavarria and Jose Mieres. Report and picture by Lulamile...

ECDC debts to be settled tomorrow
EAST LONDON -- Buffalo City manager and chief accounting officer Mxolisi Tsika and the CEO of the East Cape Development Corporation, Mcebisi Jonas, held "in-depth discussions" yesterday at the ECDC headquarters here on the issue of outstanding amo...

EC dept 'has 270 unplaced officials'
EAST LONDON -- The Eastern Cape Sport, Arts and Culture Department has about 270 unplaced staff members with no specific job description on its official records, according to the Democratic Alliance. The party's sports and culture spokesperson, P...

EL firms host female learners
By Samkelo Ngwenya EAST LONDON -- Many young girls have never seen a car being made. But tomorrow more than 20 pupils from the Byletts Combined School and Phakamisa High will be observers at the DaimlerChrysler SA plants here. They are part of ...

Godongwana may up funds for roads
BISHO -- Finance and Provincial Expenditure MEC Enoch Godongwana yesterday gave an undertaking that he would look at a further allocation for the Department of Roads and Public Works to address the roads backlog in the province. The department re...

Primary health: huge challenges
By Mayibongwe Maqhina, Municipal Reporter EAST LONDON -- The Health Department recognised that district municipalities were focal points where things should happen in delivering primary health care, the department's chief director, Thobekile Mjek...

Unitra to honour Tobias, Dandala
By Adrienne Carlisle UMTATA -- Internationally renowned palaeo-anthropologist Phillip Tobias and Methodist Church Bishop Hamilton Mvumelwano Dandala will be awarded honorary doctorates at the University of Transkei's 25th graduation ceremony here...

Youth centre gets Dutch funds
KING WILLIAM'S TOWN -- The twinning agreement between Buffalo City and the City of Leiden in Netherlands yesterday became a reality to the Child and Youth Care Centre here when R23600 was donated to the institution. The cheque was handed over by ...

ANC alliance pays homage to bus accident victims
QUEENSTOWN -- ANC alliance leaders yesterday attended a memorial service at the town hall here for the 51 Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) members killed in a bus crash in the Free State on May Day. Cosatu regional secretary Xola P...

Jacob Zuma to open R5m royal chambers
EAST LONDON -- The R5million royal chambers of King Xolilizwe Sigcawu at the Qaukeni Great Place in Lusikisiki will be opened tomorrow by Deputy President Jacob Zuma. National Public Works Department spokesman Lucky Mochalibane said the king's ch...

PERMANENT COLLECTION
Toasting the proposed military museum at the Buffalo Volunteer Rifle Base last night were Officer Commanding Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Clegg; Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Gugile Nkwinti; Adjutant Capt Malcom Cock; and Regi...