6 December 2013
Nelson Mandela has died. He inspired and led the struggle for freedom and against the oppression of apartheid. GroundUp interviewed Zackie Achmat about Mandela. In the 2000s, Achmat led the struggle for life-saving medicines for people with HIV. GroundUp Staff
News: In the middle of a drought, small scale subsistence farmers on the outskirts of Paballelo in the Northern Cape are facing a bill of R1.3 million for water.
Selby Nomnganga
News: GroundUp met with a group of young hip-hop and spaza music makers. The group complain that they have been at it for three years, but don\xe2\x80\x99t get any support from local businesses and government.
Pharie Sefali
Activist Beat: This week we report on a petition to impeach the President, norms and standards for schools, TAC's march in Limpopo and the Cape Town Informal Settlements Coalition.
Brent Meersman and GroundUp staff
News: On 24 November, 17-year-old Musa Batyi was found at Better Life, Philippi, in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed once. He was in excruciating pain and losing blood. A short while later he died.
Nwabisa Pondoyi
News: At a mass meeting on 28 November 2013, academics and activists from dozens of organisations, social movements, and local citizen groups from eight provinces came together as Awethu!. Koketso Moeti
Opinion: Frightening memories of the 16-year-long civil war have reignited in the minds of Mozambicans as tensions between RENAMO and FRELIMO reach a new high.
Fabio da Graca
Opinion: While there are significant unmet health needs in many parts of South Africa, they are particularly acute in historically disadvantaged rural areas.
Tom Yates
Opinion: One element lacking in the current debates about what is going on in Cosatu is any sense of recent history. Because there is nothing really new in the current spate of political bloodletting, in the bitterness and the backstabbing.
Terry Bell
Book extract: Nthikeng Mohlele first came to national attention with his debut novel, “The Scent of Bliss” (Kwela, 2008). His new novel, “Small Things”, published earlier this year (2013), will not disappoint his admirers.
Nthikeng Mohlele
Roberto Millan
