Constitutional rights apply to sex workers too

A year ago, some boys in my street came home late at night with a sex worker. They refused to pay her.

Abigail McDougall

Opinion | 22 January 2015

“My son was too young to have died like this”

The father of a sixteen-year-old boy who was killed by a mob in Mfuleni yesterday has criticised the police for not being on hand to help prevent the attack or to arrest any of the killers.

Daneel Knoetze

Brief | 21 January 2015

Is this the dirtiest job in Cape Town?

It’s midday and in 29 degree heat Sannicare contract workers Prudence Brink, Carmelita Johnson and Francious Beukes are having lunch, sitting on empty portable toilets in front of the depot at Airport Industria where thousands of toilets are cleaned daily.

Text by Zintle Swana. Photos by Masixole Feni.

Feature | 21 January 2015

“Enough is enough!” - Manenberg residents take to the streets

Instead of the familiar echo of bullets, the sound of dozens of Manenberg residents chanting “Enough is enough” could be heard last night through the streets notorious for the recent spate of gang violence in the area.

Barbara Maregele

News | 21 January 2015

Classrooms of the future?

The air is thick with the excitement of the first week of school. Stories of bright-eyed learners whose parents are dropping them off for the start of their school careers, donning their too-big uniforms and carrying backpacks almost the size of the learners themselves, are all over newspapers, radio stations, televisions and social media.

Nikki Stein

Opinion | 21 January 2015

Sexual trauma, a talking cat and a mid-life crisis

Nthikeng Mohlele’s latest novel, “Rusty Bell” will delight readers already won over by his previous two books “The Scent of Bliss” (2008) and “Small Things” (2013). Mohlele is a fine, literary novelist, a rarity on the South African publishing scene, who although receiving praise from significant quarters, should be enjoying much more attention.

Nthikeng Mohlele

News | 21 January 2015

NSRI’s water safety education a “drop in the ocean”

The WaterWise Academy has taught water safety skills to over half a million children around the country. These skills are easy to learn and provide an effective way to reduce the number of drownings in South Africa, says the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).

Kevin Elliott

News | 20 January 2015

City’s janitorial programme to be scrapped in some areas

The City of Cape Town will not be renewing the contracts of janitors employed to clean flush toilets in some informal settlements in the city.

Barbara Maragele

News | 19 January 2015

What Africa’s premier soccer tournament means to Equatorial Guinea

The brutal kleptocracy of Equatorial Guinea hopes to gain a measure of international acceptance by hosting the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) soccer spectacle that kicked off this weekend, writes Terry Bell. The oil and gas wealth generated by this “Kuwait of Africa” provides the economic wherewithal for the ruling elite to buy favours while the bulk of the population wallows in repressive poverty. Bell was the only foreign journalist to cover the independence of Equatorial Guinea more than 46 years ago.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 19 January 2015

Why Cape Town should not name a street after FW De Klerk

Once again, there is a furore about plans to name a major Cape Town street after former apartheid president FW de Klerk. As well there should be, although there is considerable support for the proposal.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 19 January 2015

Role models and perseverance: how Kenny Solomon became South Africa’s first grandmaster

In December Kenny Solomon crossed the final hurdle needed to achieve what no other South African has. He won the African Individual Championship to become South Africa’s first chess grandmaster. Along the way he beat Egyptian grandmaster Ahmed Adly.

Nathan Geffen

News | 18 January 2015

Kraaifontein gets its first spray park

Residents of Kraaifontein can now cool off at a spray park opened by mayor Patricia de Lille on Wednesday.

Michael Nkalane

News | 16 January 2015

Lwandle’s forgotten evictees

Last year, the eviction of hundreds of shack dwellers from Lwandle, Strand on the eve of a winter storm sparked a national outcry. Seven months later, construction of alternative accommodation has ceased, and yet dozens of evictees remain homeless - holed up in a temporary relief shelter at a nearby community hall. They have been all but forgotten.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 16 January 2015

“We’re not going anywhere until we’re heard” - Mfuleni tent dwellers

A group of about 100 Mfuleni backyarders who raised eyebrows in the community after erecting and moving into a tent in an open space, more than five months ago, say they are not going anywhere until they are heard.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 16 January 2015

Returning Zimbabweans battle with bureaucracy

Zimbabweans who travelled to Zimbabwe before their Special Dispensation Permits were issued have complained of problems on their return to South Africa after the holidays.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 15 January 2015

Plasma TV rumour surfaces again

New rumours of a “plasma gang” stealing TVs in order to retrieve a powder have surfaced in Cape Town, but police and scientists are unconvinced.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 14 January 2015