The deadlines for students at the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology to vacate their residences came and went this week with many students refusing to leave.
Thembela Ntongana, Ashleigh Furlongand Tariro Washinyira
News | 19 November 2015
“The condition that these people live in is uncalled for,” says Ward 52 Councillor Mayenzeke Sopaqa. He is describing a derelict area in Section 18, Langa, known as Emaholweni, established 45 years ago in what has become a no-man’s-land, all but abandoned by the authorities.
Photos by Masixole Feni and Liza Kettil.Text by Thembela Ntongana
News | 19 November 2015
Clashes occurred between protesters and police, and campus activities were suspended after over a thousand students and a number of workers picketed and sang outside the administration building of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Bellville.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 13 November 2015
Masiphumelele residents who have been promised a new mobile police station will have to wait until the police decide it’s safe to install it.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 12 November 2015
About 150 students from iQhayiya High School in Khayelitsha marched to the Western Cape Department of Education to demand an answer from the acting deputy director, Benjamin Schereka, to their list of demands.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 11 November 2015
Students disrupted a meeting of the University of Cape Town (UCT) senate today and threw water bottles at vice-chancellor Max Price when he refused to release workers to attend a mass meeting.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 9 November 2015
Hundreds of Masiphumelele residents sang outside Simon’s Town Magistrates’ Court at the bail hearing of community activist Lubabalo Vellem.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 2 November 2015
On Wednesday, over 300 parents of children going to Masiphumelele High School and Ukhanyo Primary School attended a meeting organised by student governing bodies (SGB) of both schools and the Masiphumelele Youth Development Forum to discuss a way forward to make sure children do not miss any more schools days due to protests.
Thembela Ntongana
Brief | 29 October 2015
Over 500 residents marched and sang through the streets of Masiphumelele on Sunday in a march for peace organised by the Masiphumelele Youth Development Forum (MYDF). The march comes after weeks of violence, including murders and rapes, incidents of mob justice, a march for more policing that turned violent, and after residents held a prayer service on Thursday for a better community.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 20 October 2015
When other kids their age are at school learning, Thandeka Plaatjies, aged 10, helps her mother with chores and plays with her siblings – Thandiswa, age nine, and Luthando, age seven – outside their home in Westlake township.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 19 October 2015
Many South African women are still resorting to unsafe abortions with illegal providers, often with disastrous implications even though safe legal abortion has been available since 1997.
Thembela Ntongana
Feature | 12 October 2015
Andile Thetha turned his love for hip hop into a way to spread peace in a community plagued by crime, unemployment and drugs.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 24 August 2015
“I was walking at 5am to catch a taxi to go to work. Three people with their faces covered surrounded me and put me in the middle,” says Robert Makhoza, a resident of Masiphumelele.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 11 August 2015
A complete disregard for the no-smoking notices and rules on Metrorail trains and at stations by many commuters poses a daily health hazard to thousands of their fellow travellers. And Metrorail appears powerless to enforce the law.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 3 August 2015
The Wetlands informal settlement of Masiphumelele is home to over 20,000 people. It is a jumble of corrugated iron shacks and electrical wires. The smell of sewage and rubbish fills the air. Among the many problems its residents face are a lack of toilets and taps for water.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 11 June 2015
South Africa needs black people to donate their bone marrow. According to the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) there are more than 67,000 donors and only 4,100 are black.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 5 June 2015