Daily Dispatch
Petition battle brews over East London’s new name
Two nonprofit organisations are hoping to obtain 8,000 signatures this week to challenge the renaming of East London to Kugompo City, which has been officially gazetted. The organisations are claiming no proper consultations were held despite numerous...
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Underfire BCM bosses sue to halt discipline
Three Buffalo City Metro administration bosses are taking the council to court to prevent it from taking disciplinary action against them over allegations of irregular procurement of temporary housing units during the Covid-19 pandemic. Six officials...
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Auction of BCM’S vehicles on hold — for now
Buffalo City Metro has managed to save part of its fleet of vehicles from going under the hammer just a week before they were set to be auctioned. On Thursday, the East London high court stymied moves by boxing promoter and former ANCYL hotshot Ayanda...
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Awaiting-trial prisoners slip through police custody gaps
Nearly half of the 167 awaitingtrial prisoners who have escaped from police custody in the Eastern Cape over the past four years are still at large — a situation experts and politicians warn is placing communities at serious risk. These figures...
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R900m shortfall sparks court battle as EC schools fight chronic underfunding
The Eastern Cape education department has shortchanged government schools out of billions of rands since 2020 and a civil society organisation and some schools based in Makhanda have had enough. The Makhanda Circle of Unity and school governing bodies...
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Probe flags 23 in R71m pool fiasco
Buffalo City Metro’s disciplinary board has recommended that action be taken against at least 23 current and former city officials in connection with the failed multimillion-rand Mdantsane swimming pool precinct. They are suspected of possible...
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The story of Kugompo: how a wave and a rock inspired EL's new name
The name Kugompo City, proposed as the new official name for East London, has roots that stretch back to the late 1800s. Bonisile Grey, who submitted the proposal, said Kugompo was the original name for the region, inspired by the sound of waves...
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Patients at risk at crumbling clinics
Healthcare facilities across the Buffalo City Metro and Chris Hani district are battling crumbling infrastructure, weak security and staff shortages that are undermining service delivery and putting the safety of patients at risk. The extent of the...
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Bye East London, hello Kugompo City
East London will officially become Kugompo City, while Graaff-reinet is to be renamed Robert Sobukwe Town. Sport, arts & culture minister Gayton Mckenzie has approved 21 more geographical name changes across SA. The changes, which follow nationwide...
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Admissions crisis at Eastern Cape universities
The future for many of the more than 44,000 Eastern Cape matriculants who achieved bachelor’s passes in their 2025 exams may not be at a university. The province’s four universities, and many others across SA, are struggling to keep up with the demand...
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Orcas chase great whites to EC waters
Great white sharks have migrated from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape coast, with high numbers reported in Chintsa Bay, researchers have found. Fifteen great whites were found in Chintsa Bay between January 17 and 19 by a fivemember team of Western Cape...
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Roads closed, buses roll in as Malema returns to court
East London roads have been cordoned off, with hundreds of EFF supporters from across the country shuttled to the city on Thursday, ahead of Julius Malema’s sentencing proceedings in the city’s regional court. Malema has been found guilty of charges...
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Unpaid hospital gas bills spark R360m lawsuit against state
The state faces a lawsuit from an essential national health service provider claiming R360m in unpaid invoices, some from eight years ago, adding to the departments’ troubles after the auditor-general recently flagged eight provinces for R24bn in...
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Pupils forced to compete for seats as overcrowding hits EC school
Pupils at Zameka Senior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape say getting a seat in class is on a first come, first served basis due to severe overcrowding. A Grade 11 pupil revealed that her class had 89 pupils in 2025, forcing some to stand or listen...
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Wind-fuelled fire rips through farmlands near Port Alfred
Driven by near gale-force winds, the speed and force of a fire that in 24 hours destroyed homes, vehicles and farmlands northeast of Port Alfred on Sunday and Monday, shocked even the most experienced firefighters. Two landowners and some staff lost...
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BCM against the ropes in sponsorship fallout
The Buffalo City Metro’s failure to honour a sponsorship agreement with a prominent Eastern Cape boxing promoter has come back to haunt the city — almost 20 municipal vehicles have been attached and may now be auctioned off. The vehicles were attached...
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SIU to investigate controversial Buffalo City beachfront projects
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is set to launch a full investigation into Buffalo City Metro’s controversial contracts involving the Leighandre “Baby Lee ” Jegels Recreational Park, popularly known as The Stoep, and the recently renovated Marina...
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Matric class of 2025 slightly off the pace
The matric class of 2025 in the Eastern Cape has fallen short of achieving the targeted 87% pass rate, recording a slight decline compared with last year’s record performance. The pass rate in the province dropped by 0.7 percentage points, from 84.9%...
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Department confident of smooth start to school year, despite concerns
It is all systems go for the reopening of schools this week, the Eastern Cape education department says. This is despite scepticism from some stakeholders who flagged a number of challenges they said would hamper the smooth transition into the new...
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Harrowing tales of child abuse and neglect in EC
In just six months in 2025, more than 1,600 vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape had to be moved from their homes and housed at various places of safety by the provincial government. They had been victims of rape and physical abuse, mostly at the...
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Drunk-driving arrests drive drop in festive road deaths
The Eastern Cape has recorded a huge decline in the number of serious vehicle accidents and deaths on the roads since the festive season began on December 1. Fatalities had plunged by 66 compared with the same period last year while the number of...
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Sunrise paddle turns into brush with sharks for teens
A peaceful early-morning paddle in the ocean near East London resulted in a frightening encounter for two 18-year-olds on Monday when their small boat was circled by two sharks, one of which came so close that its tail struck them as it swam away. The...
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Calls for action over spate of teen births in province
Out of 395 babies that made their grand entrance into the world on Christmas and New Year’s Day, 88 were delivered by teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19. A total of 187 babies were born on Christmas Day and on New Year’s Day, 208 mother welcomed...
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‘New’ R42m conference centre still unused — eight years on
Despite the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency’s (ECPTA) assurance that the state-of-theart Cape Morgan Conference Centre would be operational by the end of 2023, the multimillion-rand facility remains unused. “We thought some people from around...
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East London’s big dirty secret
Public toilets meant to serve thousands of residents and workers in the Buffalo City Metro are in such an appalling condition that some are being used as makeshift kitchens, while others are avoided entirely because of filth, safety risks and fears of...
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Mabuyane primed for move up the ranks
Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has officially stated his interest in contesting one of the ANC’S top seven leadership positions. While the official lobbying season for the ANC national leadership race is yet to be opened, Mabuyane, who serves as...
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Chaos at Bhisho Hospital
Bhisho Hospital patients were forced to discharge themselves, some were sent to recover at home and others were moved to other hospitals amid chaos at the hospital aggravated by this week’s heavy storm, which left a trail of destruction in many...
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Mighty storm leaves trail of destruction in region
A storm swept across parts of the Amathole district and Buffalo City Metro on Tuesday, damaging electricity infrastructure, flattening homes and leaving dozens of families displaced. Strong winds, heavy rain and hail tore off rooftops, uprooted trees...
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From Mdantsane to the Springboks: Dumke remembered as trailblazer
Springbok Women blindside flanker and former Border Ladies captain Lusanda Dumke had high hopes of returning to the national team — but on Tuesday she lost her battle with cancer. The East London rugby sensation, who was named SA Rugby Women’s Player...
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Metro approves R20m to upgrade Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium
Buffalo City Metro has thrown its weight behind a bid to host the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup, with the council on Monday approving a R20m boost to upgrade the Buffalo Park Stadium. With millions of rands in economic spinoffs expected should the city...
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Bhisho frees up land for development
With hopes of boosting economic growth and creating job opportunities, the Eastern Cape government is looking to generate millions in profits as it prepares to lease more than 60 hectares, comprising 72 properties across the province. These properties...
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Musical brings burst of sunshine during challenging times
The beloved musical, Annie, began its run at the Guild Theatre on Thursday and will be on until December 21, delivering a message of hope, resilience and optimism at a moment when its themes feel urgently relevant. Backed by the award-winning Wela...
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Minister changes game as battle for Fish River enters new era
With rival investors fighting over invalid leases — and one staging an unauthorised sod-turning ceremony at the shuttered Fish River Resort — land affairs minister Mzwanele Nyhontso has moved to restore order. He has ushered in a new community trust...
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Whistleblower sparks inquiry into Frere irregularities
East London’s Frere Hospital is facing fresh scrutiny following allegations of irregular appointments, maladministration and financial misconduct — claims now being taken to the office of the public protector and parliament’s appropriations...
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Ebuhlanti ready for festive season after R31m upgrade
The long-awaited and controversial Marina Glen redevelopment project is finally complete, ending months of construction, delays and anticipation from East London residents. The leisure and recreation site located along the city’s beachfront, popularly...
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Iconic fashion brand Maxhosa set to move production to the ELIDZ
In a scoop for the East London IDZ, internationally recognised fashion house Maxhosa Africa is bringing its production and manufacturing unit there. The move, already in progress, will see the brand consolidate its base in East London, with plans for...
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Metro shines light on Qonce for festive kick-off
A festive spirit is lighting up Buffalo City Metro as the city gears up for popular annual switching on of the Christmas lights. This year, the event heads to the picturesque Botanical Gardens in Qonce on Saturday. BCM spokesperson Bongani Fuzile...
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Warning about water quality as vandals strike
With just days to go before the metro declares the holiday season open and welcomes visitors to the city, the Buffalo City Metro on Wednesday issued an urgent alert for residents in East London and Mdantsane to boil their tap water before drinking it....
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BATTLE FOR POWER
The next three days are going to determine the future of Princess Faku’s mayorship of Buffalo City, as her party in the region finally sits to elect new leadership. Faku is set to face strong contestation from a former ally and current senior manager...
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R4.9m golden handshake for ousted CEO
The Buffalo City Metro Development Agency forked out R4.95m in an out-ofcourt settlement to get rid of CEO Bulumko Nelana after the Makhanda high court repeatedly ruled against his dismissal and ordered he be reinstated. The court previously referred...
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Dust-up over BCM inspectors
Despite calls from its own staff and opposition political parties for the city to increase the number of its health and safety inspectors ahead of the festive season, Buffalo City Metro maintains that it has enough “fully capable” staff to do the...
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Abuse of funds exposed while rugby takes hit
While Eastern Cape Sports Confederation president Mzondeleli Qotoyi allegedly enjoyed meals, fuel and other benefits paid for from confederation funds, club rugby teams were left scrambling to cover their own travel and accommodation costs and prize...
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Fury greets BCM’S new tariff plan
Buffalo City Metro’s battle over electricity tariffs has reignited, with residents accusing the city of trying to rush a new “token” public participation process through even as a court battle over the legality of its “basic service” charges...
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Fish River Resort renovations underway despite lease dispute
An American-based company has taken over the site of the shuttered Fish River Resort despite its lease agreement being declared invalid. The company says it will increase the capacity of the 126room hotel to 250 rooms, revamp the Gary Player-designed...
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Health forced to cough up R5m for negligence
The Eastern Cape health department has been told to pay a patient R5m just a month after it was ordered by the Bhisho High Court to pay out R12m to a mother whose child suffered brain injury at birth, which caused cerebral palsy. The same court is now...
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Legal Aid lawyers buckling under crushing caseload
The public defenders of suspects accused of a range of serious crimes are buckling under the strain. So dire is the situation that between the Bhisho high court and the East London circuit high court, there are just two Legal Aid practitioners...
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Battle with metro over electricity tariffs far from over
While Buffalo City residents may have won their recent Bhisho high court battle with the metro over its “basic charge” added to its electricity tariffs, the fight is far from over. The judgment will be put on hold as the city is set to appeal. The...
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E Cape beaches gear up for festive season
With the festive season fast approaching, coastal municipalities across the Eastern Cape are stepping up safety measures at popular beaches. Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Bongani Fuzile said all 12 of its swimming beaches were ready to welcome...
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Residents step up to restore pride to BCM suburbs
Buffalo City Metro residents are rolling up their sleeves to transform their neighbourhoods, taking on cleaning and maintenance work themselves in a grassroots effort to restore pride and order to the city. Residents in several areas have organised...
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Ratepayers win tariff hike battle
Buffalo City Metro residents have won a big victory in their battle against the city’s controversial electricity tariff hikes imposed last year. The Bhisho high court has ruled in favour of an application brought against the city by various...
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Metro is epicentre of GBV crisis
Buffalo City Metro’s alarming rise in domestic violence and rape cases has drawn the attention of parliament, with the Cambridge police station emerging as the epicentre of the crisis. During the 2024/2025 financial year, the metro recorded the...
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Cash van rammed and bombed in N6 heist
A brazen cash-in-transit heist unfolded on a busy stretch of the N6 near East London on Tuesday, where a heavily armed gang of 18 attackers rammed and blew up a G4S armoured vehicle, forcing two security guards to flee for their lives The gang is...
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Clinic guard killed, another critical after horror attack
A woman security guard was killed execution-style and another is in critical condition after an early-morning attack on an Eastern Cape clinic. The two guards were ambushed while on duty at the Xhwili Clinic in Bhityi, outside Mthatha. Their hands...
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EFF calls on East Cape councillors to stop their municipal duties
The EFF in the Eastern Cape has banned all its MPLS and councillors from participating in any activities in their municipalities and in the Bhisho legislature. This, the party says, is because it wants all its public representatives in the province to...
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Chippa’s academy booted from R466m jobs project
The Eastern Cape government has cut Chippa Mpengesi’s Chippa Training Academy (CTA) from its R466m skills training programme due to noncompliance and failure to pay beneficiaries on time. Mpengesi’s company was awarded a R32m contract for the project...
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Metro approves R29m ‘hardship relief’ for staff
To restore “harmonious relations” with the workforce who recently went on strike, BCM on Wednesday approved a R29m sweetener to be shared among thousands of unionised staff. As part of the settlement reached with recently striking workers, the city...
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Learn-to-swim project makes a splash among Tsolo residents
Growing up in Siphaqeni village in Flagstaff, Tsolo businesswoman Kholeka Cele never learnt how to swim, even though many children spent their days in rivers and dams. It was only after becoming a mother and watching her children take to the water...
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Metro pledges R79m ‘smart’ disaster centre
Buffalo City Metro has announced plans for the construction of a “new and compliant” R79m disaster management centre — just a week after a damning Bhisho report lamented the city’s lack of disaster preparedness. Metro spokesperson Bongani Fuzile on...
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Explosive claims of corruption against top WSU officials
Testimony by the CEO of a security company contracted by Walter Sisulu University (WSU) has levelled allegations of serious corruption, extortion and employment irregularities against at least six senior university officials. In an affidavit,...
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BCM’S disaster management centre in crisis
The Bhisho legislature has raised serious concerns about operations at the Buffalo City Metro’s disaster management centre, recommending that the provincial government step in to help the municipality address its glaring challenges. The understaffed...
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EL waterfront dream is a step closer to reality
An official sod-turning ceremony this week has reignited a dream to turn the East London harbour into a vibrant waterfront tourism hub. The stop-start R147m Latimer’s Landing project at the Port of East London was first announced in 2019, and back...
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Dire state of social services laid bare
The provincial government’s social welfare system in Buffalo City is in crisis, leaving residents desperate and officials struggling to work amid toxic offices, snake infestations and a staggering shortage of social workers. Community members told the...
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Alarming lag in school building programme
Despite the Eastern Cape education department receiving an unqualified audit opinion for the previous financial year, parliamentarians were “devastated” by the revelation that it had achieved just 10% of its targets for infrastructure development —...
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Payment dispute delays completion of R169m East London special school
Plans to complete a R169m state-of-the-art special school in Amalinda by the first quarter of 2026 are in jeopardy as tension brews between the provincial government and construction company. The project, in the works for nearly a decade, has been...
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State to oppose bail for educator facing prostitution charges
The state plans to oppose bail for an East London primary school deputy principal accused of running a human trafficking and prostitution ring involving girls and young women at a well-known city brothel. The 52-year-old woman, facing eight counts of...
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Desperation lives under the Esplanade
Beneath the surface of East London’s iconic Esplanade, a network of sinkholes has become a refuge for the city’s destitute — men and women who have slipped through every social safety net. Among them is former dancer Xhantilomzi Kotobe, who now lives...
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Ginsberg creche founded by Steve Biko in ruins
A landmark Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC) in Ginsberg near Qonce — cofounded by anti-apartheid icon Steve Biko — is on the brink of collapse after years of neglect, vandalism and storm damage. Staff accuse the provincial government of being...
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Thousands of pupils miss school amid scholar transport boycott
Thousands of Eastern Cape pupils who rely on scholar transport missed the first day of the final term on Monday as taxi operators withdrew the service because the provincial government still owes them money. This had a major impact on schools whose...
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New R200m mall brings jobs and hope
More than a decade after announcing plans to build a R200m shopping mall in the heartland of Engcobo, his mother’s place of birth, Eastern Cape-born property mogul Sisa Ngebulana is about to make good on his promise. And he has promised to bring more...
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R500m bill after UFH arson mayhem
The violent three-day protest action by University of Fort Hare students may cost the institution half a billion rand as a result of fire damage and vandalism. The university confirmed this on Thursday after a dramatic week of violence in which three...
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I’m sorry, WSU VC tells shot students’ families
A tearful Walter Sisulu University vice-chancellor Prof Rushiella Songca on Wednesday used her appearance at the commission of inquiry into the shooting of a number of students at her university to offer her “sincere apology” to the families of the...
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Trio listed on sex offenders’ register are still teaching
Three Eastern Cape teachers are still teaching children at schools in the province despite their names appearing on the National Register of Sexual Offenders. Their cases involve three charges of rape and one of assault. An individual is listed on the...
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Metro is neither dysfunctional nor cash-strapped, says mayor
“Buffalo City Metro is not perfect. It has significant challenges, many of them well illustrated. But it is neither dysfunctional nor cash-strapped.” This was the message of BCM mayor Princess Faku when city bosses appeared before two multiparty...
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15 accused found guilty of horrific assault, burning four youths to death
An Eastern Cape father, watching in horror as a mob of community members beat his son to a pulp, begged him to die before being burned alive, while a traumatised nine-yearold cried hysterically, pleading for her mother’s life. While the country...
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Mandela family praying for safe return of Mandla
“Be strong.” This is the message from former MP Nkosi Mandla Mandela to his worried family on Wednesday before the Global Sumud Flotilla, which he is part of, was intercepted by Israeli forces en route to Gaza, creating an international outcry. The...
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