Metrorail or Metrofail?

Metrorail is one of the three divisions of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), the state-owned enterprise which is responsible for most passenger rail services in South Africa. It is also one of the most troublesome forms of public transport.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 6 February 2013

PE boy makes it on the American soccer scene

Twenty-year-old Kirk de Boer grew up in PE and is now playing football in Atlanta, USA. GroundUp spoke to him about his soccer career and how he started playing for Southern Poly.

Margo Fortune

News | 6 February 2013

How I became a polygamist

Mr Sithole is a very traditional man who has two wives and 19 children. Growing up he realised that his father was a polygamist, he looked at his fathers life and liked it, so when it was time for him to take a wife, he decided to have more than one.

Sthembiso Dube and Fanelesibonge Mthimkhulu

News | 6 February 2013

Boystown residents protest over housing corruption allegations

Residents burned tyres at Boystown near Crossroads in Nyanga. They complained that houses were being built without knowledge of who is going to receive them.

Mihle Pike

News | 6 February 2013

Gugs Youth perform hip hop at the Baxter theatre

Hip Hop Kaslam (which means "my location") is the name given to the first hip hop event organised in 2010. The event is returning to the Baxter Theatre on 2 March 2013.

Mary-Jane Matsolo

News | 6 February 2013

Renting out recycled bicycles

Eight years ago Bongani Ndlazi started collecting old bicycles and making them new again. He has turned his talent into a business that puts food on the table.

Nokubonga Yawa

News | 6 February 2013

Nomlinganiselo Primary School closed off by angry parents - principal locked in

Parents protested outside Nomlinganiselo Primary school in New Crossroads, Nyanga. They also prevented kids from entering the school building on 30 and 31 January.

Mihle Pike

News | 6 February 2013

Memorial for police officer shot dead in front of his house

A memorial service was held at Salvation Church in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, for Constable Ngangezwe Calvin Mkhize, who was shot at D-section, Khayelitsha, on Saturday 26 January. The shooting happened at 1am in the morning.

Mihle Pike

News | 6 February 2013

Unions: getting back to first principles

Yesterday, exactly 40 years ago, the modern trade union movement arrived on the
South African scene. Its birth was heralded by a wave of strikes in Durban that had
gestated over 22 days from the time 2,000 workers at Coronation Brick and Tile
downed tools.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 5 February 2013

The Auditor-General Problem

The Auditor-General’s (AG) report on the use of consultants and contractors demonstrates some very important facts. It shows that government is operating in an environment where financial and other controls are lacking. This not only creates an atmosphere in which corruption blossoms, but also allows for those contractors appointed in good faith to take chances and not perform their contractual obligations properly.

Daniel Hofmeyr and Zackie Achmat

Opinion | 30 January 2013

Why I will not be interviewed on Radio 786 - an open letter

This is an open letter sent this morning by Doron Isaacs to Radio 786. In it, he explains why he refuses to be interviewed by the station.

Doron Isaacs

Opinion | 30 January 2013

Tensions remain following dismissals of workers in De Doorns

Hundreds of farmworkers in the De Doorns area have been fired after the end of the farmworkers strike in the area on 22 January. The strike had been called off by COSATU the week before, but the seemingly dominant union in the area, the Bawsi Agriculture Workers Union of South Africa (Bawusa), suspended the strike days later. Clashes between police and protesters resulted in at least one death, many injuries and 181 arrests of striking farmworkers.

Ben Fogel

Opinion | 30 January 2013

Are the lights coming back on in Khayelitsha?

Broken streetlights in Khayelitsha are at the centre of a debate between civil society activists, Premier Helen Zille, Mayor Patricia De Lille and several councillors responsible for wards along Lansdowne Road.

Nokubonga Yawa, Mihle Pike and GroundUp Staff

News | 30 January 2013

Man loses use of hand at work, but can’t get compensated

A Zimbabwean man, Farai Chawasema, who lost all use of his hand in an injury at work on 29 November last year, is accusing his employer, Patrick Pieterse, of Pat's Engineering and a medical practitioner, Ajmal Ikram, of Melomed Gatesville Medical Centre, of failing to get him workman's compensation.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 30 January 2013

Residents, Parents from Zwelitsha and Nkanini call for new school

On Friday, 25th of January, residents and parents from Zwelitsha and Nkanini gathered to protest at the legislative buildings in Wale Street, demanding a new school for their children.

Mihle Pike

News | 30 January 2013

After the fire

Families are affected by township fires. We follow the lives of these individuals as they recount their tragic stories and how they have picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives.

Chume Ntuli and Buchule Putini

News | 30 January 2013