Human Rights
Gay and not free in South Africa
A gay man from the DRC claims the Congolese community in South Africa will not rest until they kill him. Junior Miteo Kalonji, 34, wept hard as he talked about his life. GroundUp had to stop the interview three times when he broke down.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 19 August 2014
Marikana massacre remembered in city centre
About 50 members of several social movements marched on Parliament and the Cape Town police station today in memory of the 34 miners killed by police at Marikana two years ago.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 15 August 2014
Ehrenreich’s Facebook post “idiotic and against the traditions of Cosatu”
An eye for an eye and the whole world would be blind, the Mahatma famously said.
Brent Meersman
Opinion | 14 August 2014
Philippi eviction: Sheriff contradicts City’s JP Smith
The City of Cape Town's version of the evictions in Philippi East on 11 August has been contradicted by police and the SA Board of Sheriffs. The Board denies that any of its officials were involved in dozens of shack demolitions off Symphony Way in Philippi. The evictions were carried out by the City's Law Enforcement, police say.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 12 August 2014
Massive Cape Town march in solidarity with Gaza
Tens of thousands of people marched through Cape Town city centre this morning in solidarity with the people of Gaza, and opposing Israeli military action.
GroundUp Staff
News | 9 August 2014
Massive Cape Town march in solidarity with Gaza
Tens of thousands of people marched through Cape Town city centre this morning in solidarity with the people of Gaza, and opposing Israeli military action.
GroundUp Staff
News | 9 August 2014
Expropriate the suburbs, say activists
Tracts of private suburban land will have to be expropriated by the state at below market value if spatial apartheid in South African cities is to be reversed. The property clause in the Constitution can be interpreted in a revolutionary manner to allow for this. Expropriated land, subsidised by existing government property, should be used to provide housing for shackdwellers from the city fringe, so that informal settlements can be less dense and upgraded. These were the concluding opinions in a roundtable discussion on the Urban Land Question in the Cape Town CBD on 7 August.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 8 August 2014
SA shackdwellers protest against evictions in Austria
On 6 August, shackdweller movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) marched on the the Austrian honourary consul in Durban to protest the eviction of squatting “comrades” under way in Vienna. This, in reciprocation of months of solidarity and support from people and organisations based in Europe and the United States for AbM.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 6 August 2014
Rwandans remain divided - even in South Africa
20 years after the Rwandan genocide, the political intrigues and legal ambiguities of its aftermath are still being played out in South Africa among the expat community. Requests from Kigali for the extradition of several Rwandans living in South Africa heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
Lara Sokoloff
News | 5 August 2014