Society
The People’s Paper: Reflections on another world, not so long ago
The offices of a community newspaper were burned to the ground in October 1985. It was situated opposite the Grand Parade and next to Cape Town’s historic City Hall. A few weeks earlier three of the newspaper’s employees were taken into detention by apartheid security police who swooped on their homes in the dead of night, armed to the teeth.
Mansoor Jaffer
News | 5 June 2013
Controversial youth website dodges censorship
“Outoilet” is an Afrikaans word meaning “old toilet”, but it also refers to a cellphone chat site, aimed mainly at Cape Flats youth. Its URLs are blocked by several service providers, but the site frequently re-emerges with different URLs.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 22 May 2013
Get Up, Stand Up, Fight like Lerato
On Friday Judge Phalatsi ordered that 13-year old Lerato Radebe be immediately readmitted to her school in Welkom. Every morning since 26 February Lerato was removed from her classroom and marched to the staff-room where she was made to spend the school day sitting idly. This was done because Lerato, whose family is Rastafarian, wears dreadlocks in her hair.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 20 May 2013
“˜Prodigal daughters’ speak out at Franschoek literary festival
The exile experience of women in the liberation movements — a largely neglected aspect of recent South African history — will feature this year at the Franschhoek Literary Festival in a discussion involving the octogenarian feminist writer, Lauretta Ngcobo.
Terry Bell
News | 16 May 2013
Interview with Lauren Beukes
Cape Town-based writer Lauren Beukes won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award for her novel Zoo City. Her new novel, The Shining Girls, is receiving rave reviews and is set to make best-seller lists around the world. Marcus Low talked to her about her writing and about the links between speculative fiction and real-world social issues.
Marcus Low
News | 15 May 2013
Creating the Cape Cultural Collective
The Cape Cultural Collective (CCC) is as strange and unusual as it is interesting and inspirational. It began in 2007 when a small group of anti-apartheid activists, musicians, and poets decided to start a movement promoting social change in communities through artistic projects. Since then, it has grown into a large network of talented performers discussing important South African issues through song, dance, poetry, or whatever art engages and entertains their audiences.
Margo Fortune
News | 8 May 2013
How do you look after an autistic child when you live in a shack?
“I have to tie his leg to the couch. If I don’t he wanders away and I have to run around the whole of RR section in search of him, giving people a description of him and asking if anyone has seen a boy resembling my son.”
Mary-Jane Matsolo
News | 24 April 2013
The grant that changed my life
South Africa's social grant system is sometimes criticised as financially unsustainable and fueling dependency, but people such as Maureen Philander from Delft provide an example of how social assistance can transform lives. She shares her story with us.
Maureen Philander
Opinion | 6 March 2013
Legal and illegal drag racing in Cape Town
Police say they are taking steps to combat illegal drag racing activities in light of the growing popularity of the dangerous sport.
Janine Fortuin
News | 20 February 2013