Articles for Tariro Washinyira

Libertas Flats in Parow are a human pig sty

On Thursday morning I went to see Libertas Flats in Klosser Street, Parow. This block is a human pig sty. It is filthy and stinks. There are leaking ceilings and walls that seem to have been painted a century ago. Many flats are without water and electricity.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 6 February 2013

Man loses use of hand at work, but can’t get compensated

A Zimbabwean man, Farai Chawasema, who lost all use of his hand in an injury at work on 29 November last year, is accusing his employer, Patrick Pieterse, of Pat's Engineering and a medical practitioner, Ajmal Ikram, of Melomed Gatesville Medical Centre, of failing to get him workman's compensation.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 30 January 2013

Nightmarishly difficult for some refugee children to go to school

More than 20 refugees' children in Cape Town could not be enrolled in schools early this year due to the lack of asylum documents. The refugees have approached several schools in Western Cape but were turned down.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 23 January 2013

For Zimbabweans, festive season travel is no holiday

Two Zimbabweans who went home for the festive season explain how it was more challenging than they imagined, both financially and crossing the border.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 16 January 2013

Zimbabwean bystander sues cops for lost eye

A Zimbabwean man who lost an eye when police fired a rubber bullet towards him during the De Doorns farm worker protests is suing the South African Police Service (SAPS) for damages. 25 year old Passmore Mandhlaami, a Good Hope farm employee, said he was caught in the crossfire. He was not participating in the strike.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 19 December 2012

High crime rate in Netreg and Bonteheuwel scares the community

Netreg and Bonteheuwel residents say they are terrorised by the high crime and killings rates in their communities. Police investigations into crime are hard to carry out since no one is brave enough to act as a witness or provide evidence.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 12 December 2012

Patients without toilets at Tygerberg Hospital

Patients and visitors to one of the Western Cape's biggest referral hospitals, Tygerberg, were recently stranded as most of the toilets especially on the Ground floor and 6th floor were not working and locked. It was extremely difficult to find a toilet to relieve yourself.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 12 December 2012

Asylum seekers struggle as FNB freezes their accounts

Asylum seekers in Cape Town are struggling because their First National Bank (FNB) accounts have been frozen. The bank insists on seeing unexpired asylum documents every three to six months to keep bank accounts active. Many asylum seekers have to wait up to six months for their documents to be approved by Home Affairs and end up not being able to provide the documents FNB insists upon.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 5 December 2012

Farm conflict: thousands of people could not access medicines

During the farm violence in De Doorns and other parts of the Western Cape over the last few weeks, thousands of public health system users could not get their medicines because health facilities closed down.

Kate Stegeman and Tariro Washinyira

News | 21 November 2012