Changing your gender in South Africa

“I have some very vivid memories of when I was really young, say four or five years old, my grandmother would dress me in women’s clothing and say, ‘Look at my granddaughter’, but also in a playful way,' says Sandile Ndelu, a transgender woman, who is a law student at UCT.

Ashleigh Furlong

Feature | 15 September 2015

Delft residents without water for weeks

Faulty water meter devices have left residents living in the newly built Delft Symphony Precinct housing development without water for weeks.

Barbara Maregele

News | 15 September 2015

Watch out for more bad news on the economy

The recent volatility on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and in the rand are symptoms of the way ruling classes around the world have tried to deal with the crisis in capitalism that surfaced in the 1970s and has now engulfed China too, writes Shawn Hattingh.

Shawn Hattingh

Opinion | 15 September 2015

Historic pigeon race unites fanciers

At dawn on Saturday 12 September more than 15,000 homing pigeons were released from Hanover in the Northern Cape, kicking off the largest single pigeon race in South African history. The birds burst into the air and began circling to orientate themselves. Within ten minutes they had vanished, setting off on the 600 km journey home.

Kimon de Greef

Feature | 14 September 2015

Zimbabweans in SA feel pinch of weak rand

Zimbabweans living in South Africa are feeling the pinch of the steep fall of the rand against the US dollar. Because they are earning rands, they are able to send less money home.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 14 September 2015

We need more murals on rape - Makhaza resident

Following the creation in 2013 of a mural about abuse of women, Makhaza residents have suggested other murals should be built focusing on rape.

Pharie Sefali

News | 14 September 2015

Act now to protect Western Cape’s bees

South Africa’s R7 billion a year fruit industry is threatened with potentially massive job and financial losses. It is a looming crisis that calls for urgent and comprehensive action at government level before the threat, still restricted to the Western Cape, spreads. It is also something that highlights the integrated nature of the modern economy.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 14 September 2015

Keep fish factory open, demand Hout Bay residents

About 100 people marched through the streets of Cape Town on Friday against the possible closure of Oceana's Hout Bay Fishmeal Factory.

Barbara Maregele

News | 11 September 2015

Zimbabwean teachers in Northern Cape are desperate following months without pay

Fanuel (not his real name) teaches at a high school in Gaetsewe District in Northern Cape Province. He says he was last paid in June 2015 because his Zimbabwe Special Permit (ZSP) renewal application to the Department of Home Affairs is still pending. He appears to be one of dozens of foreign nationals in a similar position.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 11 September 2015

Will SA have more parental leave soon?

Parental leave has been a trending topic this year, both globally and in South Africa. Corporations, especially global tech companies, have been making headlines as they announce expanded maternity and paternity leave: From Virgin Management’s announcement that parents can now receive up to a year of paid shared parental leave, to Netflix announcing a year of paid maternity and paternity leave.

Czerina Patel

Analysis | 11 September 2015

Open Streets comes to Bellville

The Open Streets concept, which originated in Colombia, is coming to Bellville. Open Streets Co-founder and Director Marcela Guerrero Casas explains why her organisation has chosen Bellville.

Marcela Guerrero Casas

News | 11 September 2015

City programme helps homeless rebuild their lives

Khulu* lived on Table Mountain for two years, eating in soup kitchens, until he found work sweeping streets as part of a programme run by the City of Cape Town and Khulisa Social Solutions. Today he has a job and owns a wendy house in Khayelitsha.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 10 September 2015

Helping Andiswa

On 17 August we reported how a 43-year-old woman — who we called Andiswa — was left disabled after an especially brutal rape. Readers asked how they could help. We're pleased to report that Iliso Care Society is helping out.

GroundUp Staff

Brief | 10 September 2015

Pietermaritzburg’s leaking taps in the midst of a water shortage

France location in Pietermaritzburg has faced a water crisis for months. Yet, say residents, water is left to leak from broken standpipes in this area and the nearby areas of Dambuza and Machibisa.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 9 September 2015

“If my baby is dead, why don’t they just tell me?”

After recovering from a difficult labour, Nolitha Kamana went to look for her baby in the hospital wards, only to find the child in the mortuary. Her story is one of scores collected by the Treatment Action Campaign highlighting problems in maternity and obstetrics units in Cape Town. GroundUp's Mary-Anne Gontsana spoke to some of the women.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 9 September 2015

Rocking the Daisies puts township artists on the map

This year for the first time the celebrated Rocking the Daisies festival will showcase DJs from Khayelitsha, Langa and Gugulethu on a new stage, adding colour to what has seemed in the past to be a mostly ‘white’ lineup.

Zethu Gqola

News | 8 September 2015