This week we have reports on civil society’s response to the budget and a documentary hosted by Sonke Gender Justice.
Compiled by Brent Meersman
News | 26 February 2014
On January 17, Anthea Qonga was told by South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) officials at the Mitchell’s Plain branch that she cannot receive her grant money because its managers were unavailable to sign the papers.
Pharie Sefali
News | 20 February 2014
The 2014 national and provincial elections are around the corner. You will have the chance to vote for the national assembly and your provincial legislature. What is a provincial legislature and how does it work? In this sequel to our article on holding local government accountable, Fergus Turner explains.
Fergus Turner
News | 19 February 2014
Colonel Michael Reitz, station commander of Lingelethu West, one of Khayelitsha’s three police stations took the stand at the inquiry into policing yesterday. He was the first witness for SAPS to give testimony.
Adam Armstrong
News | 14 February 2014
The police should hold a formal ceremony to apologise to some of the victims of poor policing in Khayelitsha, Zackie Achmat has suggested.
Adam Armstrong
News | 13 February 2014
Entrepreneurs from two successful businesses in Khayelitsha are frustrated with the red tape that is blocking their businesses from growing.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 12 February 2014
Ma Gladys Mphepho hovers over a pot on a two plate cooker in her shack in Papamani, an informal settlement outside of Grahamstown. “We do not have dignity,” she says, stirring the rice, flavoured with beef stock, that is her family’s Sunday lunch. “We do not know what it means to have dignity. Forget about any question of dignity,” says Mphepho.
Mandy de Waal
News | 5 February 2014
For three days, the Khayelitsha Commission has heard from various bodies responsible for oversight and cooperation with the police. Their testimonies have not inspired confidence.
Adam Armstrong
News | 5 February 2014
Hearings and submissions of oral evidence started at the Commission of Inquiry in Khayelitsha today. The hall at Lookout Hill was packed with member of the Social Justice Coalition, residents of Khayelitsha, academics and journalists.
Adam Armstrong
News | 23 January 2014
Opening statement on behalf of the complainant organisations at the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha and a breakdown in relations between the community and police in Khayelitsha.
Peter Hathorn, Ncumisa Mayosi, Michael Bishop
Opinion | 23 January 2014
Civil servants are failing poor people like Cassiem Mahommed and many others. The decline of our civil service is one of the most important political problems facing South Africa.
GroundUp Editor
News | 14 January 2014
Do any of the members of the ANC's 1997-2002 NEC now regret the way they heckled and jeered Madiba at an NEC meeting in March 2002?
Roy Jobson
Opinion | 12 December 2013
In his 2004 Nelson Mandela lecture Desmond Tutu bravely suggested that an “uncritical, sycophantic, obsequious conformity” constituted a threat to democracy in South Africa. He said that “too many are foolhardy and opt for silence to become voting cattle for the party.”
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 12 December 2013
South Africa’s anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programme is often hailed as one of the most important public health successes. It is the world’s largest ARV programme, with over two million patients initiated on treatment. But it has serious problems: many patients often go without medicines because of stockouts.
Koketso Moeti
News | 28 November 2013
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, is expected to adopt minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure at the end of this week.
GroundUp Staff
News | 27 November 2013
Untested nonsense medicines and adverts to buy them are prolific. But after years of chaos in the alternative medicine market, it seems the Department of Health (DOH) is intent on fixing the mess.
Kevin Charleston
Opinion | 26 November 2013