Government
Bellville South is bursting at the seams
Mercia Kleinsmith has been the councillor of Ward 9, or Bellville South, since 2009. She won a by-election following the death of her husband Glen, the day after the DA won the province in April that year. Glen had been hailed in the press as the city’s “leading drugbuster”.
Steve Kretzmann
Feature | 9 December 2015
Hope for Mtubatuba residents, after years of complaints
After years of complaining about water, electricity, sanitation, and roads, residents of KwaMsane in KwaZulu Natal say they got the attention of the authorities after their protest last month.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 9 December 2015
Students in state scheme get certificates for courses they didn’t complete
The National Rural Youth Service Corps (Narysec), set up to train unemployed young people in rural areas, seems to be in disarray in the Eastern Cape, where some students have given up hope of graduating while others say they have been given certificates for courses they did not complete.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and GroundUp staff
Feature | 8 December 2015
Pietermaritzburg municipal workers demand permanent jobs
About a hundred municipality workers on temporary contracts for the Msunduzi municipality, which includes Pietermaritzburg, downed their tools and protested outside the KaMagwayi depo yesterday. They are demanding permanent positions.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 8 December 2015
City commits to upgrading Endlovini
Residents of Endlovini — who protested three weeks ago at what they described as the empty promises of ward councillor Anele Gabuza and the City of Cape Town — might have their demands met.
Siyavuya Khaya
Brief | 7 December 2015
City steps up bus safety checks for annual exodus to Eastern Cape
The City of Cape Town will, from 10 December until Christmas Eve, step up safety checks on buses departing to the Eastern Cape. But some bus drivers are annoyed by the inconvenience this causes at the busiest time of the year.
Siyavuya Khaya and GroundUp staff
News | 7 December 2015
Masiphumelele: before and after the fire
Here are two aerial photographs of Masiphumelele's Section D and Section E informal settlements. The first was taken before Sunday morning's fire, and the second was taken after.
GroundUp staff
News | 4 December 2015
Wolwerivier school bus cancelled for 2016
Wolwerivier children may have to change schools after the bus service to their school at Vissershok was suspended, writes Daneel Knoetze, a researcher at Ndifuna Ukwazi, an organisation that recently published a report on conditions at Wolwerivier to which Knoetze contributed.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 4 December 2015
Cough up money for TB, demand protesters
“Cough up money” for tuberculosis (TB) was the main demand of over a thousand people who marched from Keizersgracht Street to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) this afternoon. The CTICC is hosting the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, the planet's main annual TB meeting.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 3 December 2015