Human Rights
Cato Manor’s struggle against state repression
Cato Manor has a long history of struggle and repression. Women have often been in the forefront of these struggles. This history is well known in Durban. Many families from KwaMashu have roots in Cato Manor. KwaMashu was created to house some of the people forcibly removed from Cato Manor under the Group Areas Act. They were taken from land in the city where they had some autonomy and moved out of the city to a segregated township under strict control of the apartheid state.
Ndabo Mzimela
Opinion | 8 September 2015
Is the sale of sexual favours work?
What is work? This question came very much to the fore over the past week after Amnesty International, called for “sex work” to be decriminalised. The international human rights organisation made the call after a two-year investigation into the “sex industry”. It came shortly after two local gender equality and human rights groups also called for law change.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 7 September 2015
Human Rights Commission turns spotlight on business
Human rights violations in the workplace are a growing issue says Karam Singh, Western Cape manager of the SA Human Rights Commission, which is focusing on human rights in business in 2015-16.
Barbara Maregele
News | 7 September 2015
Conditions at Pollsmoor “profoundly disturbing”, says judge
Constitutional Court judge Edwin Cameron and his law clerks have published a scathing report of Pollsmoor Prison after visiting the remand centre — where awaiting trial prisoners are kept — and the women's centre on 23 April. Some of their findings are consistent with those reported by GroundUp in May.
GroundUp Staff
News | 4 September 2015
Langa housing: it’s separate development all over again
The reason for the recent protests by Langa residents is the delay in answers to complaints and demands handed peacefully over to the Mayor’s office on the 26 July 2015.
Vusi Mandindi
Opinion | 4 September 2015
Buffalo City janitors have to pay for their own toilet cleaning materials
Janitors employed by the Buffalo City municipality in East London to clean toilets say they are forced to pay for cleaning materials and gloves from their own salaries.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
Feature | 3 September 2015
Jobs more important than smells, say Hangberg residents
The proposed closure of Oceana’s Hout Bay Fishmeal and Fish Oil Facility is worrying people of Hangberg, where many employees live.
Ashleigh Furlong
Feature | 2 September 2015
Refugee amendment bill is a mistake
The phrasing of the Refugee Amendment Bill calls into question the commitment of the Department of Home Affairs to uphold its obligations under the UN Refugee Convention, write Aleck Kuhudzai and Deborah Won of the Agency for Refugee Education, Skills Training and Advocacy (ARESTA).
Aleck Kuhudzai and Deborah Won
Opinion | 2 September 2015
Church group assists overcrowded city shelter
It's 7:30 on Monday evening and the Youth Solutions Africa shelter for the homeless in Salt River is abuzz.
Barbara Maregele
News | 2 September 2015