Textbook shortage causes Cape Town school’s exams to be postponed

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and Maitland High School have agreed to postpone second term exams following complaints of shortages of text books at the school.

Nombulelo Damba

News | 22 May 2015

Why mining communities will take government to court

Mining companies and the government are ignoring the interests of the communities that should be benefiting from mining, writes the author. Now civil society organisations intend to take legal action.

Christopher Rutledge

Opinion | 21 May 2015

N2 golfer joins club

Vuyo Sontsonga used to play golf between two roads, the N2 and Borcherds Quarry, nearly everyday. But now his dream of golf club membership has been realised.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 21 May 2015

Tensions escalate in school builders strike

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members encountered closed doors and security guards with dogs when they marched to the offices of Good Hope Construction (GHC) in Parow yesterday. The strikers are facing disciplinary action from GHC for alleged gross misconduct.

Nombulelo Damba

News | 21 May 2015

Cape Flats residents demand better policing

Cape Flats Concerned Residents (CFCR) protested in front of parliament yesterday morning and handed over a memorandum to the provincial and national government demanding better policing on the Cape Flats.

Armand Hough

Brief | 20 May 2015

“I burnt my client’s scalp” and other load shedding horror stories

Business owners in Langa township are fed up with load shedding. And residents complain that the rolling blackouts makes their neighbourhoods unsafe.

Pharie Sefali

News | 20 May 2015

“After we treat them, they say you kwere kwere”

Burundian nurse Elvira Modesero was a victim of the xenophobic violence that took place in Kwazulu-Natal in April. She told her story to Doctors Without Borders (MSF). This is an edited and shortened transcript of her interview.

Elvira Modesero, as told to Doctors Without Borders

News | 20 May 2015

Worker killed as NUM strike enters fifth week

About 174 construction workers involved in building schools in the Western Cape have been on an unprotected strike for nearly five weeks. One person died when violence broke out between the strikers, who are members of the National Union of Mineworkers, and security guards.

Nombulelo Damba

Feature | 19 May 2015

When will the trains run on time?

City Press reported on Sunday the names of some people involved in a R51 billion PRASA tender for new train coaches. These included businessmen with close ties to the ANC, such as Thalente Myeni, son of Dudu Myeni who is the chairperson of SAA, as well as Pearl Zuma, a distant cousin of the president.

Text by GroundUp Staff. Photos by Masixole Feni.

News | 19 May 2015

Living in a bathroom for 20 years

Nomusa Mthembu, 57, has been living in a bathroom in Thornville, Pietermaritzburg, for more than two decades.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 19 May 2015

Mfuleni vegetable garden gives people dignity

It's all smiles and happiness as five men and women go about their work at the Bambanani Food Garden. Project manager Theresa Falatsa explains that it is passion that drives them.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 19 May 2015

Awful stench overwhelms neighbourhood

The smell from blocked drains and stagnant water in Philippi Temporary Relocation Area is so bad, that some residents hardly leave their houses.

Nombulelo Damba

Feature | 18 May 2015

“This is what Pride should be!” - Gays and lesbians march through Khayelitsha

Several hundred people participated in the Khumbulani LGBTI Pride march in Khayelitsha on Saturday.

Pharie Sefali

Brief | 18 May 2015

Gay sangomas demand recognition

It’s hard being gay and a sangoma, traditional healer Michael Khumalo told a workshop organised as part of the Khumbulani Pride events in Cape Town last Thursday.

Pharie Sefali

News | 18 May 2015

Athlone residents oppose informal settlement upgrade

Some residents of the predominantly coloured lower-middle class suburb of Belgravia Estate in Athlone are opposed to an upgrade of the neighbouring predominantly black informal settlement of Vygieskraal.

Barbara Maregele

News | 18 May 2015