Activists have accused government officials of turning a blind eye to a pattern of environmental violations at the Tormin dune mine on the West Coast – including a “catastrophic” cliff collapse – after state departments failed to act on a string of letters, objections and a formal appeal.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
Feature | 11 December 2015
A gyrocopter overflying the embattled MSR Tormin mine near the remote West Coast town of Vredendal was shot at last month, according to a witness who reported the alleged incident to the local police.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 6 November 2015
Hundreds of pensioners marched from the Company’s Garden to Parliament on Tuesday to demand a “decent living wage” of R5,000 from the current R1,410 state pension.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 30 September 2015
Workers at Australian-owned Tormin mine on the west coast are still on strike after a protest two weeks ago in which a police officer and a worker were injured, and 27 people were arrested.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 23 September 2015
In the canine sterilisation ward of the South African Mass Sterilisation Trust (SA.MAST) in Khayelitsha, several dogs lie in cages, unconscious, with their tongues out. Others are brought in on stretchers, after being successfully sterilised.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 17 September 2015
After recovering from a difficult labour, Nolitha Kamana went to look for her baby in the hospital wards, only to find the child in the mortuary. Her story is one of scores collected by the Treatment Action Campaign highlighting problems in maternity and obstetrics units in Cape Town. GroundUp's Mary-Anne Gontsana spoke to some of the women.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
Feature | 9 September 2015
Rubbish is piling up in front of people’s homes in Barcelona informal settlement near Gugulethu and the airport in Cape Town. Residents showed their displeasure this morning by dumping rubbish on the N2.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 2 September 2015
Several hundred mothers, pregnant women, men and activists marched to the provincial legislature and parliament on Thursday to highlight problems accessing quality maternal and obstetric care in the Western Cape.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 27 August 2015
Until national police minister Nathi Nhleko signs the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry recommendations, 90 percent of them cannot be implemented, according to Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 26 August 2015
Around 200 people from several social justice organisations took part in a march to parliament on Tuesday, for safety, equality and justice.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 25 August 2015
The Khayelitsha Green Point White Hall was packed on Saturday as residents came to air their grievances at a community hearing on sanitation and housing issues in the area. The community hearing was based on the findings of a social audit conducted with support from the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) between 4 and 14 August.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 25 August 2015
Nyanga meat sellers might be in line to receive a formal animal slaughter site after the City of Cape Town finalised a pre-feasibility study into this site for informal meat traders.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 19 August 2015
About 20 Mfuleni residents were forced to demolish their shacks that they had erected after occupying open land in the township.
Mary-Anne Gontsana and Masixole Feni
Brief | 18 August 2015
From the German cut to the razor cut and from dreadlocks to braids, men and women in Cape Town’s townships have plenty of imagination when it comes to trending hairstyles.
Photos by Masixole FeniText by Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 14 August 2015
The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) have called for the resignation or dismissal of national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, saying she has failed the people of Khayelitsha and poor people in South Africa as a whole.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 12 August 2015
More than 7,000 people are homeless in Cape Town and a large percentage of them are male. This is according to the City of Cape Town's Social Development and Early Childhood Development Directorate's survey.
Bernard Chiguvare and Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 6 August 2015