Activists have accused government officials of turning a blind eye to a pattern of environmental violations at the Tormin dune mine on the West Coast – including a “catastrophic” cliff collapse – after state departments failed to act on a string of letters, objections and a formal appeal.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
Feature | 11 December 2015
Police cases against three Tormin mine managers, one of whom was accused of driving into and knocking over a mineworker during a strike, have all been withdrawn.
Barbara Maregele
Feature | 11 December 2015
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
The American writer and humourist Mark Twain once wrote, following an erroneous report of his death, that it was an exaggeration. The same can be said about Cosatu.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 7 December 2015
At Cosatu’s 12th national congress, delegates resolved to support a call for a national minimum wage of between R4,125 and R5,276 a month. Here is an edited summary of the congress declaration.
Cosatu
Analysis | 2 December 2015
“The ANC came before democracy.” This statement by President Jacob Zuma was obviously incorrect since the concept of democracy pre-dated the formation of the ANC in 1912 by about 2,500 years.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 30 November 2015
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting a social dialogue between business, labour and other constituencies over setting a national minimum wage (NMW). This is the final installment of a three part series by two University of Cape Town professors.
Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings
Analysis | 26 November 2015
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting a social dialogue between business, labour and other constituencies over setting a national minimum wage (NMW). This is the second of a three part series by two University of Cape Town professors. Part one looked at South African minimum wage-setting in comparative context. Here they discuss the relationship between minimum wages and employment.
Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings
Analysis | 25 November 2015
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting a social dialogue between business, labour and other constituencies over setting a national minimum wage (NMW). Minimum wages currently vary from sector to sector. A NMW would set a national wage floor applying to all workers irrespective of existing collective agreements and sectoral wage determinations. What level should the NMW be? This is the first of a three part series by two University of Cape Town professors.
Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings
Analysis | 24 November 2015
Police used rubber bullets and stun grenades today against waste pickers protesting at a dump site in Pietermaritzburg against plans to stop them collecting on the site.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 11 November 2015
A gyrocopter overflying the embattled MSR Tormin mine near the remote West Coast town of Vredendal was shot at last month, according to a witness who reported the alleged incident to the local police.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 6 November 2015
Representatives of the Amadiba community in the Eastern Cape have accused Australian company Mineral Commodities, part owner of the Tormin mine on the West Coast, of lying to its shareholders.
GroundUp Staff with AmaBhungane
News | 6 November 2015
Bongani Fani, the newspaper deliveryman dismissed by Independent Newspapers, has accepted an award of R34,000 (the equivalent of three-months gross pay) after a hearing at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). It took seven months to reach the settlement for an amount slightly less than the R40,000 his lawyer had asked for.
Bernard Chiguvare
News | 30 October 2015
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has agreed, in principle, to employ its workers directly, and charges were dropped against 23 protesters. But at Wits, students and reporters were intimidated by protesters. Here are reports of today's protest activities from Cape Town, East London and Johannesburg.
GroundUp staff
News | 28 October 2015
Moedie Motlanke, 53, who works for a catering company which has a contract with the University of Cape Town, has been involved in the student protests since they began last week.
Ashleigh Furlong and Pasqua Heard
News | 27 October 2015
As the judges of the South Gauteng High Court prepare their findings in the massive silicosis class action case, Pete Lewis reflects on the failure of the compensation system to protect black mineworkers from the disease, condemning them to poverty and destitution.
Pete Lewis
Analysis | 27 October 2015