News

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

Two massive medicine trials will change the way HIV is treated

Results of two large medicine trials, known as START and TEMPRANO, published this week show that the health of people with HIV will benefit from starting antiretroviral treatment earlier. These findings are a climax of a bit more than three decades of research on this relatively new disease.

Nathan Geffen

News | 22 July 2015

Police don’t give us back our goods after a raid, say traders

Vendors at the Cape Town taxi rank complain that they do not get their goods back after a police raid.

Pharie Sefali

News | 21 July 2015

Money lender targets social grant beneficiaries

At the weekend the Methodist Church in Nyanga near the taxi terminus operates as a church. But on weekdays it is the scene of a money lending business, with dozens of people queuing for loans from Moneyline Financial Services, a subsidiary of NET1, the company that pays social grants on behalf of the South African Social Security Agency.

Pharie Sefali

News | 21 July 2015

Unhappiness with electricity costs ignites protests in Pietermaritzburg

On Monday, the Sobantu community in Pietermaritzburg took to the streets with burning tyres demanding that a prepaid electricity system rolled out in April 2014 be removed from their homes. Residents say the march came about because Msunduzi Municipality failed to attend a meeting with the residents as planned.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 21 July 2015

Mother of two disabled children barely coping

Nomahlubi Mbulu is 47. She lives in a house in Old Crossroads. She has three children, a 12-year-old girl, a 17-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old son. Her last born, Lilitha, and her eldest, Sibusiso, are both disabled. She is struggling to cope.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 21 July 2015

Dispute over jobs sparks protest in Barcelona informal settlement

A battle over jobs at Mawose Cleaning Services, contracted by the City of Cape Town to clean Barcelona informal settlement, sparked a protest which cut off a section of the N2 highway on Sunday night.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 20 July 2015

No more fish at “snoek point,

The fish seller at “snoek point” has been told by City authorities to move away from the busy road intersection of Spine and Eisleben Roads in Mitchell’s Plain.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 17 July 2015

How Constitutional are the regulations on public gatherings?

Lobbyists and civil organisations who attended the City of Cape Town's information session on public gatherings this week believe that applying for permission to march is unconstitutional.

Barbara Maregele

News | 17 July 2015

MyCiTi buses phase out taxi services on West Coast

Minibus taxi services along the west coast are being displaced by the MyCiTi bus system. According to the City, 229 taxis have already been removed. By the end of August, no taxi services will be licensed to operate on MyCiTi bus routes in the Tableview and Dunoon area with the exception of the Ysterplaat Taxi Association which will operate until its licences expire. These are set to expire between 2016 and 2018.

Mariska Morris

News | 17 July 2015

Swanepoel yindoda!

Skin colour is a thing of the past, says a white man from East London, Gonubie area, who recently entered manhood in the Xhosa tradition.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 16 July 2015