Articles for Mary-Anne Gontsana

SJC trial: “We wanted the City to see we were serious”

Emotions ran high in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday as Social Justice Coalition’s(SJC) general secretary, Phumeza Mlungwana, was cross-examined about last year’s protest on the steps of the Cape Town Civic Centre.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 8 October 2014

SJC members defend civic centre protest

Protests are a way to be heard and not just an event, Social Justice Coalition general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana told the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Mary-Anne Gontsana and Lea Bork

News | 7 October 2014

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) on sanitation services in the township.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 1 October 2014

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

News | 1 October 2014

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

News | 29 September 2014

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

News | 26 September 2014

Western Cape crime stats to be monthly

According to a report by the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry released in August, the crime statistics for the three police stations in Khayelitsha when combined, record the highest number of violent crimes in the country year on year. The national crime statistics were released on Friday in Pretoria and they show that there has been a decrease in contact crimes (such as murder, sexual crimes, assault and robbery) from last year in Khayelitsha.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 22 September 2014

17-year-old who tried to make a difference shot and killed in Manenberg

Galiema Kenny broke down as she recalled her son’s last words to her after he was shot by gangsters in Manenberg. Kenny laid her 17-year-old son, Yusriy Kenny, to rest on Tuesday afternoon.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 17 September 2014

Khayelitsha cleaners fed up with not getting paid on time

Every month since January, Khayelitsha’s refuse collectors and street cleaners in QA and PJS Section go in large groups to camp outside the supervisor’s office so they can get what is due to them.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 15 September 2014

Disabled and living in a shack

Regina Mahlombe is 64. She has become bed-ridden as a result of being stabbed by muggers in Gugulethu when she was 21. She yearns to leave her shack for a proper home.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 12 September 2014

RR Section’s overflowing toilets still unfixed

An unbearable smell lingers in the air of RR Section to the point where you can taste it. This is the daily struggle for Khayelitsha residents who live next to overflowing drains and toilets that still remain unfixed by the City of Cape Town.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 8 September 2014

Taxi owners distance themselves from strike

As all Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) returned to normal, taxi associations Cata and Codeta say they are happy with the outcome of the meeting they had on Tuesday, and that calm has been restored among taxi drivers.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 3 September 2014

Taxi drivers vow to continue protest

Taxi drivers angry at an increase in traffic fines have vowed to continue their protest if the authorities do not reduce fines.

Mary-Anne Gontsana and Katy Scott

News | 3 September 2014

Shortage of drug that prevents babies from getting HIV

The National Department of Health (NDoH) has sent out a circular nationally to all doctors, nurses and pharmacists informing them of a shortage of a paediatric anti-AIDS drug called nevirapine, used to prevent HIV infection in the newborn children of mothers with HIV.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 2 September 2014

Circumcision just got easier

In a bid to get thousands of men in the Western Cape circumcised, the national department of health (NDoH) officially cut the ribbon to launch the new mobile theatres which will be going around the Cape’s remote areas, to get males circumcised.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 1 September 2014

School transport a nightmare

Every day hundreds of parents depend on private transport operators to get their children to school and back home. The quality of service varies. GroundUp found some disturbing stories.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 27 August 2014