Life-saving AIDS medicine out of stock in Gauteng

Hospitals throughout Gauteng ran out of essential medicines in recent weeks, including a life-saving drug for people with AIDS called amphotericin B.

Daneel Knoetze and GroundUp staff

News | 9 December 2014

Csaawu launches campaign to save it from bankruptcy

Farmworkers union Csaawu has launched an online crowd-funding campaign to save it from bankruptcy.

Daneel Knoetze

Brief | 8 December 2014

Fishing the Black River

News | 8 December 2014

Residents blame Eskom and Zuma for fire that leaves dozens homeless

Residents of Kanana informal settlement in Gugulethu have blamed power cuts for a fire that left over a hundred people homeless on Friday evening.

Johnnie Isaac

News | 8 December 2014

UCT’s muddled minimum wage

Josh Budlender and Johan Lorenzen argue that the reasons given by the University of Cape Town (UCT) for the minimum wage of outsourced workers in 2015 do not make sense.

Josh Budlender and Johan Lorenzen

Analysis | 8 December 2014

Why domestic workers keep fighting

Nearly 17 years ago, sitting behind a slightly battered desk in Cape Town’s Salt River, Myrtle Witbooi told me that the dream of domestic workers being “treated like other workers” would not die. “We want a living wage and proper hours. It is a dream…but we will get there,” said the woman who, in Cape Town in 1965, convened the first organisational meeting of domestic workers.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 8 December 2014

Moving up in Joe Slovo

Approved Joe Slovo housing beneficiaries, who were deemed to be “too young” by government to receive houses in October, this week moved into their new units at the N2 Gateway development. Other families, who remain behind in the informal settlement, and who are now being moved to make space for the next phase of the housing development, remain unhappy.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 5 December 2014

Aftermath of a shack fire

With summer heat and seasonal gale force southeaster winds, it is a time of high risk for shack fires. There were 123 fires in the past month in informal settlements in the Western Cape. This December, load shedding may well be adding to that risk. GroundUp visited a family in the aftermath of a recent shack fire to see how they are coping.

Pharie Sefali

News | 5 December 2014

Hundreds of extended public works employees picket in city centre

Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees came in their hundreds to picket outside the City of Cape Town offices in the Civic Centre on Thursday. They were demanding permanent employment. Protesters went to several entrances to the building while waiting for their representatives who were meeting with the City officials.

Johnnie Isaac

Brief | 4 December 2014