Here are two aerial photographs of Masiphumelele's Section D and Section E informal settlements. The first was taken before Sunday morning's fire, and the second was taken after.
GroundUp staff
News | 4 December 2015
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 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 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
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
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, 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
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
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 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
Young children and teenagers packed Khayelitsha's Mew Way Hall to the brim today. They were entertained by the Zip Zap Circus and the Jazzart Dance Theatre. But besides having a day of fun, they also learnt about HIV and how to stay healthy, whether or not infected by the virus.
GroundUp Staff and Bernard ChiguvarePhotos by Masixole Feni
News | 1 December 2015
Waste pickers at a Pietermaritzburg dumpsite say they have to compete with municipal officials who have also started picking up materials from the site.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 1 December 2015
Mahlubini Junior Secondary School near Cofimvaba has close to 300 students, no electricity in the classrooms and no running water.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 1 December 2015
Grade 11 student Achuma Mjikeliso was among a few dozen members of Equal Education protesting outside the Eastern Cape Education Department in King William’s Town yesterday. Her main complaint: leaking roofs in her classroom.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 1 December 2015
Nolufefe Mhlangeni lost her mother and her two-year-old daughter in a fire in Masiphumelele in 2013. On Sunday, she lost her home.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 30 November 2015
Who is responsible for Blikkiesdorp? This question has been coming up in response to work in the community by the Open Democracy Advice Centre.
Alison Tilley
Opinion | 30 November 2015
I am 18 years old. I was doing Grade 12 last year and I have been waiting for an unabridged certifi… Read more
What is the point of this letter when you provide info and still your pension is frozen? Seems to m… Read more
It's honestly disheartening to read such sad news about people taking advantage of the system. … Read more
As a pensioner for the past 14 years, I am flabbergasted that I was told "the credit bureau investi… Read more
Fidelity is also helping other unemployed firefighters to be useful and employed. I don’t know why … Read more