Minimum wage debate: the old cheap labour system will get us nowhere

The low wage argument is a red herring, argue Gilad Isaacs and Ben Fine in the latest contribution to the minimum wage debate.

Gilad Isaacs and Ben Fine

Opinion | 17 December 2014

Cape Town congress shows how Rana Plaza offers hope for workers’ rights

Rana Plaza was the deadliest factory disaster in history. On April 23 last year a shoddily built eight-storey building in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, collapsed.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 15 December 2014

R3.30 an hour: De Doorns child labour probed

The Department of Labour is investigating allegations of child labour on a grape and mushroom farm in the Hex Valley, outside De Doorns.

Daneel Knoetze

Feature | 15 December 2014

Empty medicine shelves of Gauteng hospital

Gauteng hospitals are suffering severe medicine stockouts. Here are photos that GroundUp has obtained of the empty shelves of a pharmacy in a Gauteng tertiary hospital. All the medicines shown (or, to be more precise, not shown) are used to treat psychiatric conditions.

GroundUp Staff

News | 12 December 2014

Witness says fire that left over 20 homeless was started by man high on tik

At noon on 10 December more than 20 people were left homeless by a fire at a hostel in Mfuleni.

Pharie Sefali

Brief | 11 December 2014

Don’t touch me on my dreads

Anelisa Sonjola from Khayelitsha says that last week she was mugged. And robbed of her dreadlocks!

Pharie Sefali

News | 11 December 2014

Khayelitsha pastor accused of rape has case to answer, says state

The state said it has completed its investigation on rape allegations against Khayelitsha pastor Dumisani Mathibela, and the pastor has a case to answer.

Johnnie Isaac

Brief | 11 December 2014

Who is behind the airport shoe shine business?

Lere Mosieane Mgayiya dreamt of being a pilot. But when that didn’t work out he started the shoe shining business that you find in every major South African airport.

Zintle Swana

News | 11 December 2014

Know Your Constitution: a challenge to students

This is a challenge to young people, and to law students in particular, to think about how we can use the law to effect change: we have a Constitution now, but what are we going to do with it?

Rachel Mazower and Isabeau Steytler

Opinion | 10 December 2014

Parow’s block of flats from hell

Immigrants who live in Goodman Close and Le Ruth Close at 194 Voortrekker Road Parow are fed up with the awful conditions they live in.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 10 December 2014

UCT responds on minimum wage

UCT's Deputy Vice-Chancellor responds to the article by Budlender and Lorenzen that criticised UCT's policy for next year on minimum wages.

Francis Petersen

Opinion | 10 December 2014

Unions should rescue TAC, says Achmat

Former Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) leader, Zackie Achmat, has called on the trade unions to come to the rescue of TAC which has been mired in financial difficulties.

Alide Dasnois

News | 10 December 2014

Troubling questions about role of banks in scam

It might come to light why and how local banks readily granted bonds to people who couldn’t afford them when investors in a scam, run by the now liquidated Brusson Finance, head to the Gauteng High Court early in 2015.

Mandy de Waal

News | 9 December 2014

Life-saving AIDS medicine out of stock in Gauteng

Hospitals throughout Gauteng ran out of essential medicines in recent weeks, including a life-saving drug for people with AIDS called amphotericin B.

Daneel Knoetze and GroundUp staff

News | 9 December 2014

Csaawu launches campaign to save it from bankruptcy

Farmworkers union Csaawu has launched an online crowd-funding campaign to save it from bankruptcy.

Daneel Knoetze

Brief | 8 December 2014

Fishing the Black River

News | 8 December 2014