Good Hope Construction: workers’ demands still being probed
The Building Industry Bargaining Council is investigating employees’ claims that money is still owed to the Council by Good Hope Construction (GHC), target of a protracted strike during which one employee died.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and GroundUp staff
News | 14 July 2015
Sesfikile ,“ the women’s winery
Even though she once despised wine because her brother would get drunk, Nondumiso Pikashe from Gugulethu has made a success of her own handcrafted wines. She thinks more people could tap into the industry.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 14 July 2015
Workers ride in cattle trucks of the gravy train
We are constantly being told, as the economy stutters and stumbles, that “we are all in it together”; that we have a “shared future”; that we have a patriotic duty to “build the nation”. And, for all the tub-thumping rhetoric about the evils of capitalism, this will almost certainly be the underlying theme of the Cosatu special national congress next week.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 14 July 2015
No sympathy for metered taxi companies protesting against Uber
I have taken thousands of trips in metered taxis in Cape Town over the last ten years. In the last year or so I’ve switched to predominantly Uber taxis. Since I can’t legally drive due to poor eyesight, these are my primary ways of navigating the city. I therefore have a very significant interest in the battle between metered taxi companies and Uber. The aim of regulating an industry must ultimately be to serve the public interest. In the case of the metered taxi industry, the aim must be to ensure that a safe, reliable and affordable service is provided to the public, whilst of course ensuring that drivers are working under fair conditions of employment.
Marcus Low
Opinion | 13 July 2015
Dunoon parents start own school
Dunoon parents have turned to the Equal Education Law Centre for help after their children could not find spaces in the nearest schools. The community has now occupied temporary classrooms and started their own school while they wait.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 13 July 2015
Building a business out of old bricks
At Sweet Home Farm in an area known as Etheni near Brown Farm in Philippi, a number of families are making a living by selling recycled bricks for R1.50 a brick. New bricks retail for around R6.95.
Siphesihle Matyila
News | 13 July 2015
Living in a shed the size of a toilet for 14 years
Forty-three year old Patrick Brewer from Henley in Pietermaritzburg has been living in a tiny shed the size of a toilet for 14 years.
Ntombi Ngubane
News | 10 July 2015
First Xhosa chess book launched
International Chess Master Watu Kobese sits on a luxury couch in the Cape Sun Hotel, where the South African Chess Open is taking place. It is an hour before he competes. He has agreed to meet to discuss his life, South African chess and Masidlale Uthimba (Let us play Chess), the first isiXhosa chess book. It was launched on Tuesday (7 July).
Mariska Morris
News | 10 July 2015
Global campaign to make corporations more accountable
Transnational corporations influence every aspect of our lives. From the television programmes we watch to the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the way we communicate.
Baone Twala, Centre for Applied Legal Studies
Opinion | 9 July 2015