On Friday 27 February GroundUp published a whistleblowers' account of the state of the Free State health system. Before publishing GroundUp sent a list of questions to the Free State Department of Health and the office of Premier Ace Magashule. Here is a response written by Mondli Mvambi of the health department and Makalo Mohale of the premier's office.
Mondli Mvambi and Makalo Mohale for the Free State government
Opinion | 28 February 2015
For 21 years, the Minister of Finance has tabled budgets announcing that large amounts of money will go to social services that are meant to improve the lives of the poor. But, even the staunchest government supporter would agree that the country has not derived full benefit from this money. Year after year the Auditor General, Public Protector and others report on inefficiency, poor accounting and corruption in all categories of public spending.
Albert van Zyl
Analysis | 27 February 2015
On 17 February Equal Education hosted a talk by Benny Wenda of the Free West Papua Campaign at the Wits School of Education. He is in South Africa to spread awareness about the West Papuan fight against Indonesian colonialism and gross human rights abuses of the West Papuan people. He said he was also here to "learn how [South African] leaders fought against apartheid, for justice and against [racial] discrimination."
Joshua Maserow
Opinion | 25 February 2015
Although there is speculation that the spectre of the R12,500 a month minimum wage demand is stalking the gold mines, no mandates have yet been received by the unions involved. This pay demand came to prominence at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in August 2012. It has now developed something of an iconic status among mine workers.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 23 February 2015
The City of Cape Town has policies in place, not to make it more difficult for our residents to live dignified lives, but to ensure that land use and housing delivery is equitable. The undeniable fact is, there is limited land available. And there are many people coming into our city for a better life. So, we have to be as fair as we can.
Priya Reddy
Opinion | 20 February 2015
All kinds of nice things are being said and promises are once again being made by all the political parties around the State of the Nation speech and debate in parliament, writes Henriette Abrahams. But the reality on the ground for farm workers is very different.
Henriette Abrahams
Opinion | 20 February 2015
Zonnebloem Boys is a primary school in District 6 in Cape Town. In March, along with all South African public schools, it will hold elections to decide who will represent its parents, teachers and learners on the School Governing Body (SGB). Much is at stake in these elections: SGBs have the potential to ensure that quality education is distributed more equally across our population.
Frances Eberhard
Opinion | 20 February 2015
The Metrorail website claims that it carries up to two million passengers per day countrywide. Finding a reliable estimate of how many people commute daily using trains in the Western Cape is challenging. Estimates range from 300,000 to over 700,000. Whatever the number, a lot of people, mostly working class, depend on trains to get to and from work.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 19 February 2015
Some media houses are cheerleading for the youth wage subsidy, despite the available evidence strongly suggesting that it is already a R2bn waste of public money.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 19 February 2015
The Congress of South African Trade Unions’ argument for a national minimum wage, comprehensive social secuity, and a basic income grant was greatly strengthened by the report released by Statistics SA on 3 February 2015, which exposed the shocking extent and continued persistence of extreme levels of poverty, writes the organisation's General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
Zwelinzima Vavi
Opinion | 19 February 2015
Every cloud has a silver lining. This expression implies that there is some good in every troubled circumstance. Yet it is often difficult to find that silver lining in terms of benefits gained or lessons learned. However, in the present shambles that is the Post Office many workers and trade unions seem to have learned a valuable lesson: nationalisation — state control — does not necessarily mean any improvement.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 16 February 2015
I’ve been around recovery from addiction for over ten years. I’m in recovery myself, and I have counselled many addicts and alcoholics who have come in and out of my office. Right now I’m doing what I love the most. I’m trying to find ways to create awareness about addiction and alcoholism; problems that are destroying our society.
Ady Dodds
Opinion | 13 February 2015
President Zuma's State of the Nation Address was thin on detail. Here are a list of questions that we suggest Members of Parliament could ask, so that people living in South Africa will be better informed.
GroundUp Staff
Analysis | 13 February 2015
The annual Investing in African Mining Indaba is once again under way at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. It is a rather depressed affair this year, with an unresolved regulatory regime, looming labour disputes and an energy crisis that makes investing in South Africa look a lot less interesting than in other countries in Africa.
Melissa Fourie
Opinion | 12 February 2015
Today, Equal Education is protesting outside the Public Investment Corporation because it is an investor in the Curro private school chain. DORON ISAACS, Equal Education's Deputy General Secretary, explains his organisation's concerns with Curro.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 10 February 2015
The Q’uran and the Prophet Mohammed cannot be held responsible for the Jihadi atrocities of Boko Haram or the Islamic State groups any more than can the Christian Gospels and Jesus be held responsible for apartheid or the Ku Klux Klan. To claim otherwise is simply illogical.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 2 February 2015