We’re like cockroaches to the City, say Johannesburg residents
The corridors are long and institution-like, lined by doors. Light peeks in through the staircase windows, but the corridors are dark, despite it being 10AM on a bright Johannesburg day.
Sarita Pillay
Feature | 20 November 2015
University residences close early
The deadlines for students at the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology to vacate their residences came and went this week with many students refusing to leave.
Thembela Ntongana, Ashleigh Furlongand Tariro Washinyira
News | 19 November 2015
Living in cardboard shacks … inside a hostel
“The condition that these people live in is uncalled for,” says Ward 52 Councillor Mayenzeke Sopaqa. He is describing a derelict area in Section 18, Langa, known as Emaholweni, established 45 years ago in what has become a no-man’s-land, all but abandoned by the authorities.
Photos by Masixole Feni and Liza Kettil.Text by Thembela Ntongana
News | 19 November 2015
Time to get tough with schools which discriminate against pregnant schoolgirls
A total of 20,833 school-going girls fell pregnant in South Africa in the 2013-14 year, according to official statistics. A staggering 717 of them were at primary school.
Chandre Stuurman and Demichelle Petherbridge
Opinion | 19 November 2015
Imizamo Yethu residents rebuild after fire
Imizamo Yethu residents who fell victim to a fire that razed numerous shacks and left families homeless a week ago are busy rebuilding their homes after getting some assistance from the City of Cape Town. Shacks belonging to South Africans and Zimbabweans just 200 metres away from Hout Bay police station were burnt to ashes.
Bernard Chiguvare
News | 18 November 2015
Report details “state of crisis” in schools for visually impaired children
Schools for the visually impaired are in such a "state of crisis" that their students suffer "fundamental impairment of their human dignity”. This is according to SECTION27’s Left in the Dark report, which was released today, detailing extensive research into the conditions in 22 schools for the visually impaired.
Ashleigh Furlong
News | 18 November 2015
Time to demand equal rights for blind people
Being blind or visually impaired means many things in life are simply much more difficult than what they are for other people. Some of these things we can do something about, others we can’t. There are two fundamentally different ways for society and governments to respond to this unpleasant reality. The one option is pity and non-integration - the other is to forget about pity and to take practical steps to make things as equal as possible so that blind people can integrate into society.
Marcus Low
Opinion | 18 November 2015
Endlovini residents accuse councillor of breaking promises
Tempers flared last night in Endlovini in Khayelitsha, with angry residents burning portable toilets and blockading the road in a protest over housing.
Siyavuya Khaya
News | 17 November 2015
Insurance shock for parents of disabled Khayelitsha teenager
The parents of disabled Khayelitsha teenager Siphokazi Rululu took out an insurance policy in May last year to cover funeral expenses if they lost their daughter. When Siphokazi died last week, her mother Nomveliso Rululu was horrified to find that the insurance company would pay out R2,000 instead of the R12,000 they had been expecting.
Siyavuya Khaya
News | 17 November 2015