How I crossed the border illegally and other stories

16 October 2014

News

Lonmin\xe2\x80\x99s Bermuda Triangle

Platinum mining giant Lonmin could have found the money to meet rock drillers\xe2\x80\x99 pay demands instead of shifting funds between subsidiaries, possibly to avoid tax.

GroundUp staff

Lonmin stops press conference on its finances

Cape Town-based think-tank Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), which was stopped by Lonmin from holding a press conference about the platinum company\xe2\x80\x99s accounts, intends to hold the conference \xe2\x80\x9cvery soon\xe2\x80\x9d.

GroundUp staff

How I crossed the border illegally

Every day, hundreds of Zimbabweans cross the Beit Bridge border across the Limpopo River into South Africa - some of them illegally. GroundUp reporter Tariro Washinyira joined them.

Tariro Washinyira

Hangberg man to sue police

The man assaulted by police at his home in Hangberg last week is preparing to bring a civil claim against the police. Meanwhile, Hout Bay\xe2\x80\x99s police commissioner has said that neither he nor his staff knew of the covert operation by the National Intervention Unit.

Daneel Knoetze

Dookoom: screaming about injustice

Daars a nuwe hond in die omgewing en hy raas soos \xe2\x80\x98n baas! Kak gevaarlik and here to claim back the throne as the original Afrikaans gangsters, Dookoom have dropped a 4-track EP, A Gangster Called Big Times, and with the controversy caused by the debut single \xe2\x80\x98Larney Jou Poes\xe2\x80\x99, there are no sorry\xe2\x80\x99s here.

Zethu Gqola

In the business of building shacks

Sheffield Road, one of the busiest roads in Philippi, has become one of the city\xe2\x80\x99s best-known places to buy a shack. Here, builders make a living providing affordable housing for township residents.

Joyce Xi and Mary-Anne Gontsana

Masekane: a crisis in the heart of Woodstock

A hacking cough comes from the motley group of people huddled together in a flimsy shack alongside the railway line near Woodstock\xe2\x80\x99s industrial area. It could be from the smoke from the fire; it could be from the cigarette smoke that fills the shack \xe2\x80\x93 or it could be tuberculosis.

Ian Broughton

Road Accident Fund goes to communities

People involved in a road accident where someone is injured or killed should come directly to the Road Accident Fund, Communications Manager for RAF Jacqui Sobantu said at a briefing in Mfuleni at the weekend.

Johnnie Isaac

Lawyers to sue over uncovered drain

Lawyers representing the Bardale resident who fell into an uncovered drain in October last year say they are still processing the legal action.

Johnnie Isaac

Drain claims second victim

Residents of the informal settlement in Bardale have accused Baseline construction company of negligence after a man fell into an open drain, injuring his leg. This is the second incident in a year.

Johnnie Isaac

Opinion

Responding rationally to Ebola

Tightening border controls is not the way to prevent an outbreak of Ebola in South Africa, writes Nathan Geffen.

Nathan Geffen

How an Ebola clinic works

\xe2\x80\x9cSo just think of the one who is about to die, trapped behind hundreds of walls sizzling with heat, while at the same time, there are all those people, on the telephone or in cafes \xe2\x80\xa6\xe2\x80\x9d - The Plague by Albert Camus.

Kathryn Stinson

A deadly disease that demands huge investment

No doubt you\xe2\x80\x99ve heard there\xe2\x80\x99s a disease about that is infectious, difficult to treat and that has an extremely high death rate.

Nathan Geffen

Getting community service for lawyers right

A new law is intended to make it easier for poor people to get decent legal representation. But there is much to be done to make it work, writes Liat Davis.

Liat Davis

Of social class and door mats

The question of class came to the fore this week with that arch free marketeer Ann Bernstein and the Centre for Democracy and Enterprise (CDE) hailing the potential growth of a global middle class, among them teachers. At the same time, the Democratic Teachers\xe2\x80\x99 Union (Sadtu) concluded its conference, declaring teachers to be \xe2\x80\x9crevolutionary professionals, agents of change…in pursuit of socialism\xe2\x80\x9d.

Terry Bell

Sport

Vasco da Gama wins back the Coke Cup

Vasco da Gama beat RV United from Khayelitsha on penalties at the women\xe2\x80\x99s finals of this year\xe2\x80\x99s amateur Coke Cup at Athlone stadium.

Siyabonga Kalipa

Kids doing karate in Khayelitsha

The karate kids of the Eyethu Goju-Kai in Khayelitsha are living proof of how sport can instil discipline in young children.

Siyabonga Kalipa