Shackdwellers from the original settlement in Marikana, Philippi, are celebrating a court interdict which will protect them from being arbitrarily evicted “through the back door”. Interdicts secured by landowners and municipalities are supposed to prohibit further settlement. Yet they are often so vague that they allow for people who have already settled to be removed.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 1 December 2014
The police, civil society and Khayelitsha community activists are beginning to work together to give effect to the commission of inquiry into policing's recommendations. Here's an update on progress so far, and plans for next year.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 28 November 2014
Angy Peter, her husband Isaac Mbadu, Azola Dayimani and Christopher Dina will not get prison sentences. They have also been given bail. Dayimani and Dina were released today. Peter and Mbadu are expected to be released from Pollsmoor tomorrow.
GroundUp Staff
News | 27 November 2014
“No more lip services, we want action. No more boardroom activism, no more!” shouted thousands of activists as they marched to parliament today.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 27 November 2014
A man was injured when police fired rubber bullets at a crowd of about a thousand asylum seekers earlier today at the Home Affairs Temporary Refugee Centre on Cape Town’s foreshore. Witnesses say that a nine-month-old baby was also injured.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 27 November 2014
The criminal justice system had failed by releasing Rowan du Preez, the court heard yesterday in the trial of Angy Peter and three others for du Preez’s murder.
Johnnie Isaac
News | 27 November 2014
Lack of mattresses, a leaking roof, lack of hot water and insufficient access to medical treatment: Pollsmoor’s facility for awaiting trial prisoners has been slammed by civil society organisations for what they call “several concerns regarding conditions of detention at the facility.”
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 27 November 2014
The increase in minimum wages for domestic workers of R1 an hour is not enough, says Myrtle Witbooi, general secretary of the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU).
Thembela Ntongana
News | 26 November 2014
Lulamile Witbooi lost his legs in a train accident in 1991. Today he runs the “Corner Market”, a thriving fruit and vegetable shop in Zwezwe, Khayelitsha.
Joyce Xi
News | 26 November 2014
This week, witnesses began testifying in the sentencing hearing of Angy Peter, Isaac Mbadu, Azola Dayimani and Christopher Dina.
Johnnie Isaac
News | 25 November 2014
At least 40 Zimbabwean informal traders fear they may lose their livelihoods after delays in getting informal trading permits from Fezeka City Council offices in Gugulethu.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 25 November 2014
Mahlubandile Mdingi lay dead for seven hours on a street corner in Bardale extension, Mfuleni, before the health department’s pathology services took his body away.
Johnnie Isaac and GroundUp staff
News | 25 November 2014
Thirteen workers from a farm in Philippi have accused their employer of contract breaches, unfair dismissal and abuse. But farm owner Edgar Meyer denies the allegations, and says that the proper dismissal process was followed.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 24 November 2014
The Helderberg Street People’s Centre (HSPC), a soup kitchen for the poor in Somerset West, has been given notice by the City to quit its premises by 31 January 2015.
Katy Scott
News | 24 November 2014
On Thursday, residents of Marikana informal settlement’s Rolihlahla Park section welcomed a Western Cape High Court postponement of an eviction hearing. The court ordered that the City of Cape Town compile an audit of the households living on the erf in question to determine who will need emergency temporary accommodation if an eviction order is granted.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 21 November 2014
On Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba announced that Zimbabweans intending to travel home for the festive season will be able to do so even if their permits have not been issued.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 21 November 2014