“My son will graduate because of the money from the waste pickers”
It may not seem like much to others, but the money she makes from selling food to waste pickers at the New England Road dumpsite in Pietermaritzburg has allowed 45-year-old Gugu Yengwa to pay for her son’s education at the University of KwaZulu Natal.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 4 December 2015
Wolwerivier school bus cancelled for 2016
Wolwerivier children may have to change schools after the bus service to their school at Vissershok was suspended, writes Daneel Knoetze, a researcher at Ndifuna Ukwazi, an organisation that recently published a report on conditions at Wolwerivier to which Knoetze contributed.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 4 December 2015
Cough up money for TB, demand protesters
“Cough up money” for tuberculosis (TB) was the main demand of over a thousand people who marched from Keizersgracht Street to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) this afternoon. The CTICC is hosting the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, the planet's main annual TB meeting.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 3 December 2015
Mfuleni backyarders protest over housing list dispute
About 300 Mfuleni backyarders marched yesterday to the office of the Western Cape MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, to hand over a memorandum about housing in the area.
Bernard Chiguvare
Brief | 3 December 2015
Man wrongly detained by Home Affairs describes ordeal
A Zimbabwean man, detained in the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp even though his passport allowed him to be in South Africa, has been released. GroundUp told his story on 25 November. He was released two days later.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 3 December 2015
Masiphumelele to get its own fire station
Masiphumelele, scene of a devastating fire last weekend, is to get its own fire station. Community leaders have welcomed the news, but expressed surprise that they were not consulted.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 3 December 2015
Residents fight back against banks’ eviction tactics
A group called Lungelo Lethu Human Rights Foundation is preparing a class action suit against the four major banks for what it says are the unlawful evictions of thousands of South Africans from their homes.
Ciaran Ryan
Feature | 2 December 2015
National Minimum Wage: Cosatu calls for R4,125 to R5,276 a month
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
Delays “unacceptable” says attorney in Hout Bay firebreak case
The court hearing of Hangberg resident Santonio Jonkers will be prioritised next year, says Magistrate Wezile Rixana. Jonkers is accused of contravening a 2011 High Court interdict that prevented anyone from building new structures on the Sentinel’s firebreak above Hangberg in Hout Bay.
Barbara Maregele
Brief | 2 December 2015