Siphokazi Rululu (14) and her father, Ayanda Qhara, both suffer from chronic epilepsy. Her mother leaves for work in a restaurant chain kitchen at 6am and returns at 7pm four-days a week. Siphokazi’s sister, who is seven years old, must sometimes care for her family during these times.
Pharie Sefali
News | 9 June 2015
This past weekend in gang-plagued Manenberg, a number of shootings took place once again in what community members refer to as one of those “worse weekends”.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 8 June 2015
It is almost a week since violence between Marikana and Lower Crossroads residents in Cape Town erupted leaving a trail of destruction. Four Burundians, bystanders caught up in the devastation, are now struggling to pick up their lives.
Bernard Chiguvare
News | 8 June 2015
After struggling for 14 years to get a recording deal, three blind performers from Cape Town will finally launch their CD next month.The three call themselves Treasured Voices. They sing gospel jazz. They say when they sing, people forget that they are blind.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 8 June 2015
No arrests have yet been made following the death of construction worker Melikhaya Pisana during the strike at Good Hope Construction.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 5 June 2015
South Africa needs black people to donate their bone marrow. According to the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) there are more than 67,000 donors and only 4,100 are black.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 5 June 2015
Five teenagers from Khayelitsha are preparing to embark on a journey to Sweden to take part in an international programme.
Jon Adam Chen
News | 4 June 2015
When Manie Louw took over a farm outside Paternoster last year his neighbours warned him about three things: stock theft, jackals, and pied crows. Louw, a 53 year-old sheep farmer from Calvinia, grew up raising livestock, and thought himself familiar with the risks of the trade. He brought 42 aging Dorper ewes to the coast with him, hoping to fatten them for slaughter on the farm’s Strandveld vegetation. “I didn’t know what people meant about the crows,” he said.
Kimon de Greef
News | 4 June 2015
On 2 and 3 June a year ago the residents of Lwandle Strand were evicted from the SANRAL-owned land that they were occupying. Besides losing their homes, many also lost their belongings. Yesterday, the evicted residents of Lwandle protested despite heavy rains, demanding to be listened to about their problems.
Pharie Sefali
News | 3 June 2015
On Tuesday, the murder trial of artist Zwelethu Mthethwa finally began after numerous postponements. Mthethwa is accused of killing Nokuphila Kumalo, a sex worker, and kicking her with his booted feet. Mthethwa is pleading not guilty to the charge which has a minimum sentence of 15 years.
Ashleigh Furlong
News | 3 June 2015
As Cape Town weather gets worse, some Grade R learners from Mfuleni are being taught in a cold leaking shack with just one toilet, because there is insufficient space for them in a proper school.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 3 June 2015
Richard Ngcongolo is one of thousands of informal settlement residents across Cape Town whose homes are left waterlogged by heavy rainfall during the winter months. Ngcongolo, a resident of Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay, huddles around a small paraffin heater while three large plastic buckets fill with water dripping through the roof of his two-room shack.
Barbara Maregele
News | 3 June 2015
Being accepted in South Africa is hard for foreigners, say Ethiopians living in Cape Town.
Christine Ayela
News | 2 June 2015
Philippi has been struck by violence this past week. At least three people have died, including 68-year-old Karel Dilgee who was struck by a stone while driving. There have also been five attempted murders and two houses destroyed by fire. Several cars and at least one Golden Arrow bus have been set alight. Ten people have been arrested, charged with public violence. Residents from neighbouring areas, Marikana and Lower Crossroads, have been fighting with each other. What is causing the violence between these communities?
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and GroundUp Staff
News | 1 June 2015
On Monday the murder trial of renowned artist Zwelethu Mthethwa was postponed again in the Western Cape High Court. Mthethwa is accused of murdering Nokuphila Kumalo, 23, who was a sex worker in Woodstock, on 14 April 2013.
Ashleigh Furlong
News | 1 June 2015
Violence has erupted between residents of Lower Crossroads and the Marikana settlement in Philippi East. Today police shot rubber bullets and stun grenades at a group of protesters from Lower Crossroads apparently to prevent them attacking Marikana.
Nombulelo Damba
News | 29 May 2015