Shack fires are an unremitting scourge facing urban townships. In South Africa, between 2000 and 2010, over 230 000 people were made homeless by fires. Growing urban populations together with inadequate services, in particular electricity and water, means urban shack fires will continue to take their toll. There is an urgent need for effective solutions to address the major causes.
Fergus Turner
News | 5 August 2013
“I am scared. The criminal who murdered my brother is still roaming the streets,” Nonkosi Nteyi told GroundUp, obviously distressed. “Worse, he is asking people for descriptions of each of my family members. Does he want to kill us as well?”
Tariro Washinyira
News | 31 July 2013
At every railway bridge from Observatory to Rondebosch there are homeless people who occupy the subways. They come from different backgrounds and have different reasons for why they do not have homes.
Pharie Sefali
News | 31 July 2013
Do 80% of South Africans regularly consult traditional healers? Do most black South Africans choose traditional healers over medical doctors and primary healthcare facilities? The claims are false. And as we discovered, with a little sleuthing, they stem from a book published thirty years ago.
Kate Wilkinson for Africa Check
News | 31 July 2013
Jabulani Murire is a 38-year-old, married Zimbabwean man with three children. His family is struggling to survive after he became bedridden following a car accident while on duty.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 30 July 2013
Amelia Earnest met people who live on the streets of Cape Town. Some of them have been living outside since they were children. The City recently made it harder for them. Read the full story below the photographs.
Amelia Earnest
News | 30 July 2013
Next month, the Constitutional Court will hear the appeal by Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa after his application for an interdict to stop the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into policing in Khayelitsha was unsuccessful.The case is set for 6 August.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 30 July 2013
Amelia Earnest met people who live on the streets of Cape Town. Some of them have been living outside since they were children. The City recently made it harder for them. Read the full story below the photographs.
Amelia Earnest
News | 30 July 2013
Having a baby in South Africa can be dangerous. Despite a large government budget for maternal health and free maternity care in the public health system, the rate at which pregnant women die is troubling.
Kerry Gordon
News | 29 July 2013
Mr. Zolile Prusente is the curriculum specialist with the regional education department in Upington. Recently, he sent a complaint to the South African Human Rights Commission regarding a problematic shift in language policy in the past year.
Selby Nomnganga
News | 26 July 2013
Olwethu is a 14-year-old boy whose dreams have been shattered. Due to his upbringing, Olwethu is only doing Grade 2 now at 14 instead of the usual age of 8.
Pharie Sefali
News | 24 July 2013
Last year GroundUp ran a story about the Helderberg Street People’s Centre (HSPC), a soup kitchen in Somerset West. They were being forced to close down. The situation “has since gotten worse” according to chairman of the centre, Ian Greer.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 24 July 2013
On 19 July 2013, the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) hosted the Sisonke Open University Seminar on sex workers and people with disabilities. Ntokozo Yingwana, an Advocacy Officer at SWEAT, said that the seminar dealt with disability in the sex industry. She said she hoped the conference would help lift the stigma on this topic.
Jonathan Dockney
News | 24 July 2013