Articles for Mary-Anne Gontsana

Elections: what people are saying

GroundUp spoke to people about the elections, asking whether they would vote, who they would vote for and why. This is the first of a series GroundUp will be running.

Mary-Anne Gontsana and Pharie Sefali

News | 16 April 2014

Cape Town Jazz Festival workshop in Gugulethu

As the city prepares for the annual Cape Town Jazz Festival on 28 and 29 March, Gugulethu was treated to a preview of what to expect at the event.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 28 March 2014

Metrorail promises R233 million to upgrade its service

At a press conference today, 25 March 2014, Western Cape Provincial Metrorail regional manager Mthuthuzeli Swartz said the rail company is on the verge of an upgrade revolution.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 25 March 2014

Commuters fed up with Metrorail train delays

Since last week, Metrorail trains on the Khayelitsha line have been repeatedly delayed and even cancelled due to an “infrastructure problem” in Cape Town. Commuters want to know when it will end.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 20 March 2014

Residents complain of potholes in Khayelitsha

What started out as just a tweet from a frustrated Khayelitsha resident, has now put the spotlight on potholes.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 19 March 2014

Gugulethu youth organisation on a mission to turn church library into public library

Gugulethu based community organisation, Township Youth Movement (TYM), have taken it upon themselves to open a second public library in the township.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 18 March 2014

Attitudes to pets have changed significantly in recent years in Khayelitsha

Started by a community member 17 years ago, Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha now treats up to 1,000 animals a month.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 17 March 2014

Former gang member calls for the army to pacify the Cape Flats “civil war”

Former gang member Mervin Lewis says what is happening in Mitchells Plain, Manenberg, Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu is not a gang fight, but a low intensity civil war.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 12 March 2014

Manenberg community taking back their streets

Manenberg is a township in the Cape Flats outside Gugulethu. The apartheid government originally created it to relocate Coloured families who had been forcibly removed from their homes. Today it often makes the news because of gang violence.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 28 February 2014

Red tape blocks Khayelitsha small businesses

Entrepreneurs from two successful businesses in Khayelitsha are frustrated with the red tape that is blocking their businesses from growing.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 12 February 2014

Mother and daughter: alive, productive and healthy on antiretrovirals

Nandipha Madolo, from Khayelitsha’s Litha Park, has experienced much in her life, with HIV playing a major part. She watched her brother die from meningitis due to HIV. Her HIV-positive husband abused her. Her youngest daughter contracted HIV, and Madolo found out that she too was HIV-positive. But today Madolo has a healthy daughter, a steady job, and she is a public speaker.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 29 January 2014

Khayelitsha refuse collectors angry at working conditions

Since starting in November, some Khayelitsha refuse collectors say they still haven’t received uniforms or protective gear to wear while doing their jobs. Their employer says it is all lies.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 22 January 2014

Mshengu toilets down again

Mshengu’s blue chemical toilets have once again toppled over in Khayelitsha’s BM Section causing residents to defecate in the bushes.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 15 January 2014

Fears of surge in Manenberg gang violence

Some Manenberg residents are worried that gang violence has started again in their area, with two people allegedly shot and killed on Saturday.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 11 December 2013

Over R1 billion in fund - yet apartheid victims still await compensation

The President’s Fund was established in 2003 under President Thabo Mbeki to compensate apartheid victims. It has accumulated over a billion rands. Nevertheless, many apartheid victims who were identified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to receive compensation from this fund, have still received nothing. Some have died waiting.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 5 November 2013

The Gugulethu Seven remembered 27 years later

Mandla Mxinwa, Jabulani Miya, Themba Molefi, Christopher Piet, Zola Swelani, Zabonkwe Konile and Zandisile Mjobo -- the Gugulethu Seven -- will once again be honoured for the role they played in the struggle against the apartheid regime.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 15 October 2013