News

City turns Khayelitsha street lights on

Night-time and Khayelitsha looks a different place to a few weeks ago. The City has repaired most of the street lights in the township's major roads; it is noticeably brighter now. Last night Mayor Patricia De Lille joined a march organised by organisations who have been demanding that the lights be repaired.

Nokubonga Yawa and Nathan Geffen

News | 12 February 2013

The poorest of the poor: The Karretjie Mense of the Great Karoo

In and around Colesberg, a small historical town on the N1 mid-way between Cape Town and Johannesburg, I met a group of impoverished sheep shearers living in abject poverty, surviving in tiny tin shacks on the verges of public roads. Only recently, in the last 15 years, have they become a settled, sedentary people.

Timothy Gabb

News | 6 February 2013

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

Will Lentegeur’s hospice be closed?

St Lukes Hospice in Lentegeur Hospital in Mitchells Plain has received notice that it will be closed. The hospice is a separate building on the hospital grounds. The provincial health department intends to replace the hospice's services in a ward in the hospital itself.

Mary-Jane Matsolo

News | 6 February 2013

How I became a polygamist

News | 6 February 2013

PE boy makes it on the American soccer scene

Twenty-year-old Kirk de Boer grew up in PE and is now playing football in Atlanta, USA. GroundUp spoke to him about his soccer career and how he started playing for Southern Poly.

Margo Fortune

News | 6 February 2013

How I became a polygamist

Mr Sithole is a very traditional man who has two wives and 19 children. Growing up he realised that his father was a polygamist, he looked at his fathers life and liked it, so when it was time for him to take a wife, he decided to have more than one.

Sthembiso Dube and Fanelesibonge Mthimkhulu

News | 6 February 2013

Boystown residents protest over housing corruption allegations

Residents burned tyres at Boystown near Crossroads in Nyanga. They complained that houses were being built without knowledge of who is going to receive them.

Mihle Pike

News | 6 February 2013

Gugs Youth perform hip hop at the Baxter theatre

Hip Hop Kaslam (which means "my location") is the name given to the first hip hop event organised in 2010. The event is returning to the Baxter Theatre on 2 March 2013.

Mary-Jane Matsolo

News | 6 February 2013

Nomlinganiselo Primary School closed off by angry parents - principal locked in

Parents protested outside Nomlinganiselo Primary school in New Crossroads, Nyanga. They also prevented kids from entering the school building on 30 and 31 January.

Mihle Pike

News | 6 February 2013

Renting out recycled bicycles

Eight years ago Bongani Ndlazi started collecting old bicycles and making them new again. He has turned his talent into a business that puts food on the table.

Nokubonga Yawa

News | 6 February 2013

Memorial for police officer shot dead in front of his house

A memorial service was held at Salvation Church in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, for Constable Ngangezwe Calvin Mkhize, who was shot at D-section, Khayelitsha, on Saturday 26 January. The shooting happened at 1am in the morning.

Mihle Pike

News | 6 February 2013

Are the lights coming back on in Khayelitsha?

Broken streetlights in Khayelitsha are at the centre of a debate between civil society activists, Premier Helen Zille, Mayor Patricia De Lille and several councillors responsible for wards along Lansdowne Road.

Nokubonga Yawa, Mihle Pike and GroundUp Staff

News | 30 January 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

Residents, Parents from Zwelitsha and Nkanini call for new school

On Friday, 25th of January, residents and parents from Zwelitsha and Nkanini gathered to protest at the legislative buildings in Wale Street, demanding a new school for their children.

Mihle Pike

News | 30 January 2013

After the fire

Families are affected by township fires. We follow the lives of these individuals as they recount their tragic stories and how they have picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives.

Chume Ntuli and Buchule Putini

News | 30 January 2013