News

City and Blikkiesdorp residents fail to see eye-to-eye

“Residents of Blikkiesdorp do not trust the City [of Cape Town government],” says a Blikkiesdorp leader, Jerome Daniels. A meeting on Thursday night highlighted the ongoing tensions between this community and the City.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 27 July 2015

Strange beds

The homeless in Cape Town find refuge wherever they can and sometimes in the most surprising spaces. Where they sleep is often precarious and exposed to various hazards from bad weather and pollution to criminals or people who don't want them around. Although mostly transient, homeless people will often stay in the same place, wherever it is they have managed to carve out a shelter for themselves. Some homeless people have lived in a suburb or street for longer than many residents who live there in brick and mortar buildings.

Pictures by Masixole Feni.Text by Brent Meersman

News | 24 July 2015

Protest turns ugly and mayor snubs memorandum

On Thursday, following protests at Sobantu in Pietermaritzburg on Monday police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse angry residents blocking road access to the township. This came after Msunduzi Municipality refused to accept the hand over of a memorandum from the residents.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 24 July 2015

Khayelitsha residents stuck with severe lack of police resources

Eleven months after the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into policing released its finding that the South African Police Service (SAPS) allocation of resources was unfair and irrational, the situation has hardly improved. Khayelitsha residents still suffer from a severe lack of police resources and there are still reports of poor communication and distrust between the police and the community.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 23 July 2015

How I was “ransomed” hitching back from Zimbabwe

A freelance reporter for GroundUp found himself all but held hostage on his way back hitchhiking from Zimbabwe.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 23 July 2015

Seedtime: An Omar Badsha Retrospective

Seedtime is an impressive retrospective exhibition of works by South African artist, photographer and former political activist, Omar Badsha, spanning a period of 50 years.

GroundUp Staff

News | 23 July 2015

Amputee uses a plastic bag for a toilet

Fifty-three year old Annacleta Zungu, who has only one leg, uses a plastic bag as a toilet at night because she is afraid to use the pit toilet outside her Pietermaritzburg house. Zungu, who is diabetic, lost her leg last year.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 22 July 2015

Scene of a murder, Hout Bay’s “white house, could be demolished

The controversial “white house” in Hout Bay, scene of the murder earlier this month of a Congolese resident, could be demolished in August, says Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 22 July 2015

SASSA beneficiaries still struggling with illegal deductions

Diena Twala, a 71-year-old grandmother from Mbekweni says illegal deductions for airtime and electricity from her South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) account are still ongoing despite countless attempts to have it stopped.

Barbara Maregele

News | 22 July 2015