How Henrietta Lacks became immortal
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She had an aggressive tumour that quickly took over her body. Less than a year after being diagnosed, she died; leaving behind a devastated husband and 6 children. She was 31 years old. But even in her death, some of her cells lived on; dividing and growing, making trillions more cells than ever existed in her body. The combined weight of these cells is now over 400 times what Henrietta Lacks weighed when she was alive.
Kerry Gordon
News | 24 April 2013
Joe Slovo High School toilets still broken
Nearly a year since we told the story of the state of toilets at Joe Slovo High School in Khayelitsha, the toilets remain broken.
Nokubonga Yawa
News | 24 April 2013
My School
Today GroundUp received this short message from Palesa Faith, a high school learner in the Eastern Cape.
Palesa Faith
Opinion | 17 April 2013
City says violence prevention efforts working, but activists sceptical
In 2006, to tackle crime in Khayelitsha, the City of Cape Town launched the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) project.
Fergus Turner and GroundUp Staff
News | 17 April 2013
Can online activism change the world?
Can the Internet and its endless opportunities for communication, debate, information, and knowledge give a voice to those who go un-heard in regards to social and political change? and how can its beneficial resources be used by those who do not have access to the Internet?
Andiswa Hala, Jonathan Dockney, Mary Fawzi, Nkosikhona Swartbooi
Opinion | 17 April 2013
“I just want to go back to South Africa. I miss it so much.”
Two Mozambican sisters living in a Child and Youth Care Centre (care centre) since 2007 were deported to their home country in January despite nine years of growing up in South Africa.
Amanda Purtell
News | 17 April 2013
Time to learn from Thatcherism & its origins
From a trade union viewpoint, Margaret Thatcher will never be mourned. But her impact on global politics and economics cannot be denied. She rode the crest of a wave of liberal economic policies that swamped the consensual balance of the post World War Two years. In the process, she highlighted as few have done before or since, the inherently hostile relationship between labour and capital.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 12 April 2013
We interview Thabo Nthethe
We interviewed Bloemfontein Celtic defender and Captain, Twenty-eight-year-old Thabo Nthethe. He also plays for Bafana Bafana.
Margo Fortune
News | 10 April 2013
Khayelitsha lights mostly on but concerning signs of decline
Following several reports published on GroundUp on the broken street light problem in Khayelitsha, particularly along Lansdowne Road, several social justice organisations protested and the City repaired the lights. In the last two weeks we have checked the street lights. While most remain on, there are signs that the situation is getting worse.
Nokubonga Yawa and GroundUp Staff
News | 10 April 2013