Articles for Matthew Hirsch
“We are failing them” SASSA staff tell minister
Minister of Social Development Dina Pule acknowledged the need for more staff and empathised with workers’ frustrations at SASSA’s Bellville office
Brief | 13 August 2026
R6.8-million spent a month on empty police headquarters in Pretoria
And SAPS is paying nearly R40-million a month to rent premises in the city centre
Brief | 13 August 2026
Immigrant traders see their livelihoods destroyed by March and March
Traders with documents and permits chased away, leaving Bellville bus terminus market almost empty
Text by Matthew Hirsch. Photos by Ashraf Hendricks.
News | 11 August 2026
No-shows at parliamentary briefing on Tafelberg
Provincial government and Social Housing Regulatory Authority fail to attend
Brief | 5 August 2026
Court to rule on fate of families occupying Cape Town buildings
Over 150 people face eviction from three abandoned buildings in Hope Street
Text by Matthew Hirsch. Photos by Ashraf Hendricks.
Feature | 25 July 2026
Has the army deployment in Cape Town made communities safer?
Parliament gears up for inquiry into gang violence next month
Feature | 21 July 2026
Mandela Day: Capetonians take a stand against xenophobia
Nelson Mandela: “As Africans, especially as those who benefited from African solidarity, we cannot be unmoved by the plight of our brothers”
News | 18 July 2026
Last immigrant families leave from Cape Town repatriation site
Hundreds of people board 13 buses from Epping
Brief | 7 July 2026
Epping refugee centre closes after thousands repatriated but hundreds remain
To see this as “voluntary repatriation” is to turn a blind eye to the fear and hurt, says church leader
News | 6 July 2026