Khayelitsha residents welcome SJC social audit report and other stories

Featured Stories

Angy Peter found guilty: sentencing in November

On Wednesday, Judge Robert Henney found Social Justice Coalition activist Angy Peter and her co-accused guilty of premeditated murder. Their bail was withdrawn and they will remain in police custody until sentencing on 24 November, unless defence lawyers present exceptional circumstances to the judge justifying the granting of bail.

Johnnie Isaac

Background to SJC activist Angy Peter case

Social Justice Coalition activist Angy Peter and her co-accused, husband Isaac Mbadu, Christopher Dina and Azola Dayimani, will know their fate after nearly two years on trial when Judge Robert Henney deliver his judgment today. The four were charged for the kidnapping and murder.

Johnnie Isaac

Another Abahlali baseMjondolo member assassinated

Shortly after returning to KwaZulu Natal from the Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) Western Cape relaunch, Thuli Ndlovu, a branch chairperson in the shackdwellers\xe2\x80\x99 movement, was gunned down in her shack.

Daneel Knoetze

The state of South African Sign Language

The last full week of September, which is Deaf Awareness Month, is the International Week of the Deaf. This year the theme is \xe2\x80\x98Strengthening Human Diversity\xe2\x80\x99.

Katy Scott

SJC social audit report

Khayelitsha toilet audit finds \xe2\x80\x9cdire\xe2\x80\x9d results

One in four of the Khayelitsha public toilets, which are supposed to be cleaned by the City of Cape Town's janitorial services, is not working, a social audit by the Social Justice Coalition has found.

GroundUp staff

Ernest Sonnenberg, Mayco member for Utility Services, responds to SJC

It is deeply ironic that the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), which has appointed itself the guardian of the dignity of the most vulnerable in our city, would rather grandstand, utilise social media platforms, and have lengthy report back sessions rather than work with the City to directly improve the lives of residents.

Ernest Sonnenberg

Khayelitsha residents welcome SJC social audit report

The community of BM Section in Khayelitsha came out in their numbers to listen to the report by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) into sanitation services in the township.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Reports

Shackdwellers celebrate after City eviction squad backs down

Shackdwellers from Philippi East\xe2\x80\x99s Mangaung informal settlement cheered after they successfully faced off the City of Cape Town\xe2\x80\x99s Anti-Land Invasion Unit (ALIU) on Wednesday.

Daneel Knoetze

How a group of Cape Flats women is trying to make their community safer

During the day, a group of six women from the Retreat area enjoy beadwork, looking after their grandchildren and helping the aged, but at night, they take on the streets in one of the most notorious gang-ridden areas of the Cape Flats.

Barbara Maregele and Katy Scott

City blames \xe2\x80\x9cirresponsible\xe2\x80\x9d residents for Philippi flooding

For months Philippi residents have been living with blocked drains that have flooded the roads. The City Council says the sewers are blocked because residents throw rubbish, including builders\xe2\x80\x99 rubble, into the drains.

Thembela Ntongana

Harare crime even higher despite urban upgrade

The recently released Western Cape crime statistics of 2014 deem Harare as one of the worst of 10 areas in Khayelitsha, plagued with increasing crime despite the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrade Programme (VPUU).

Mary-Anne Gontsana

TAC workshop highlights domestic violence

Khayelitsha community members voiced their concerns on how the police deal with gender-based violence such as rape.

Joyce Xi

Lwandle residents return

It is nearly a month since residents evicted from Lwandle in Strand returned to the land owned by the South African National Road Agency Limited, but they still face an uncertain future.

Johnnie Isaac

The need for special needs schools

A 15-year-old child spent 2013 without an education. Despite the great lengths her grandmother went to, she was unable to be placed in school because of her disabilities. There is a shortage of places for children with special needs.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Yom Kippur fast for Gaza

A group of South African Jewish men and women have dedicated their Yom Kippur fast to the people of Gaza, and are using the religious celebration as a platform to raise money for the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP).

Daneel Knoetze

TAC plans fundraising drive as crunch time looms

Even though the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) faces the possibility of closing down due to a lack of funding, it says there is no need to worry yet.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Analysis

SANDF court ruling victory for rule of law

When the high court upheld an application by Andiswe Dwenga against the defence force last week, it wasn\xe2\x80\x99t just a victory for HIV activists: it was also a victory for the rule of law.

Carmel Rickard

How Nedbank took the Radebes' house and how they won it back again

On Thursday in the Gauteng High Court, judgment was given in a matter dealing with reverse mortgage schemes. These schemes have proliferated over the last few years as people with poor credit records seek out companies that are willing to lend them money regardless of their blacklisted status.

Claire Martens

Media reports on protest action lack depth and context — media monitor

Palls of thick smoke hung over the N2 mid-September 2014, after protesters from the farming town of Grabouw, some 20 kilometres from Gordon\xe2\x80\x99s Bay, barricaded the national highway with burning tyres. Rubber bullets flew and canisters of teargas exploded as the police met protesters head on.

Mandy de Waal

Opinion

Adoption and race: we unpack the issues

Adoption of children across the the old apartheid categories is on the increase, according to the Department of Social Development. There were 936 such adoptions in the last three years. GroundUp unpacks some of the issues on what the department calls \xe2\x80\x9ctrans-racial\xe2\x80\x9d adoption.

Thembela Ntongana and GroundUp staff

Apartheid geography and murder in Cape Town

Building a socially and racially integrated Cape Town will decrease our murder rate and other violent crime, writes Zackie Achmat.

Zackie Achmat

Why I am going to Sierra Leone to fight Ebola

It\xe2\x80\x99s been a month since I applied and now it\xe2\x80\x99s a matter of days until I go. I head to Europe for briefing before landing in Freetown, Sierra Leone next Tuesday.

Kathryn Stinson

How heritage got roasted

Wednesday was a public holiday: Heritage Day. And carnivore commercialism seems largely to have claimed it. For many \xe2\x80\x94 if not most \xe2\x80\x94 South Africans who could afford it, this was a day to indulge in and enjoy chisa nyama, the ubiquitous braai.

Terry Bell

Brief

Abahlali baseMjondolo relaunches in Western Cape

Abahlali baseMjondolo\xe2\x80\x99s Western Cape branch relaunched at the Sweethome Farm informal settlement on Saturday. Re-elected chairperson Siyamboleka James spoke to GroundUp about the movement\xe2\x80\x99s hopes to expand in the city, to renew negotiations with council for accountable service delivery, and about why there is no prospect of them working with Ses\xe2\x80\x99khona People\xe2\x80\x99s Rights Movement.

Daneel Knoetze

Samwu expulsions unlawful, court rules

The Gauteng High Court has ruled that the expulsion of ten Samwu provincial office bearers by the union between April and June this year was unlawful.

Daneel Knoetze

Activist beat

The week in activism

This week we look at Sonke\xe2\x80\x99s call on government to support an important medical trial and the court ruling in the Limpopo foreign traders\xe2\x80\x99 case brought by Lawyers for Human Rights.

Thembela Ntongana

Sport

New found passion for touch rugby in Khayelitsha

Khayelitsha learners braved the rainy weather to put in two hours of practice for their new found passion for touch rugby. For these primary and high school learners, bad weather is the least of their problems when it comes to playing sports.

Siyabonga Kalipa

Wheelchair tennis growing in popularity

People living with disabilities gathered at Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha on the weekend to try their hand in wheelchair tennis. The sport of wheelchair tennis is growing in South Africa. Lucas Sithole is ranked second in the world. Khayelitsha has Meyenzeke Gwija, ranked fifth in South Africa.

Siyabonga Kalipa