The 7th annual Irene Grootboom Memorial Dialogues, which explore the continuation of Cape Town’s “spatial apartheid”, are underway. On Tuesday night, the focus was on the spate of shack evictions around the city this year, and the correlation between poor, densely populated areas and traffic deaths and education outcomes.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 19 November 2014
Csaawu is facing bankruptcy for supporting farm workers dismissed after the sector’s historic strikes in 2012/13 - arguably the strongest challenge to rural labour exploitation in recent South African history. This is the story of why it is important for the union to be saved.
Daneel Knoetze
Opinion | 17 November 2014
Police commissioner Riah Phiyega commits to completing the criminal investigation into the botched SAPS Firearms Control System (FCS) by February next year. Yet, the slow pace of the investigation to date is evidenced by several details.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 14 November 2014
Following the beating up of a member of the Vrygrond Taxi Association (VTA) earlier this week, GroundUp asked the Western Cape Ministry of Transport and Public Works its views on the VTA.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 14 November 2014
Long running tensions between City of Cape Town traffic authorities and the Vrygrond Taxi Association boiled over into a roadside beating of a taxi driver in Muizenberg on Tuesday.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 13 November 2014
Four activists and farm workers, arrested two years ago while marching in the Koo valley outside Montagu, have been acquitted.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 10 November 2014
After demolishing three structures, the sheriff of the court aborted the eviction of fourteen shack dwellers in Walmer Estate late on Thursday afternoon. As the sun was setting, the households who had lost their homes were hastily erecting temporary shelter.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 6 November 2014
Chairperson of the Ses'khona People's Rights Movement, Andile Lili, is in Tygerberg hospital after being shot in his vehicle in Khayelitsha last night.
Johnnie Isaac, Daneel Knoetze and GroundUp staff
Brief | 6 November 2014
The Constitution and legislation protect vulnerable people from being evicted into homelessness. But for 14 shack-dwellers in Walmer Estate this is exactly what is happening, writes Daneel Knoetze.
Daneel Knoetze
Analysis | 3 November 2014
Cape Times opinion page editor and veteran journalist Tony Weaver has been called before a disciplinary hearing after questioning a suggestion to crop out the logo of an advertiser from a news photo of a mall robbery.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 31 October 2014
Sixteen shack-dwellers, including four children, will be left homeless when the sheriff enforces an eviction order in Walmer Estate this week.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 29 October 2014
Protesting portaloo cleaners from Siqalo informal settlement blocked Vanguard Drive during rush hour traffic on Friday morning. They claim that their health is being compromised by inadequate protective equipment and the failure of their employer to provide them with inoculation against disease - a requirement of their contracts.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 24 October 2014
Joe Slovo residents have accused Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela of changing the criteria for housing allocation at the last minute in order to deny them access to new houses. But Madikizela says even “approved” subsidy beneficiaries should not expect automatic allocation of houses.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 23 October 2014
Residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement, Langa, have been left homeless after they started demolishing their shacks under the impression that keys to new housing units would be handed over to them. The MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, has said that the shack demolitions were premature and that many of the beneficiaries are “too young” to be prioritised for housing.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 23 October 2014
After paying R340 million for a Firearms Control System that was not delivered, the SA Police Service has cancelled its contract with IT company Waymark Infotech. The botched contract is subject to a criminal investigation by the Hawks.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 21 October 2014
Pressure is mounting on the police to sort out problems with a R400 million firearms control system, ten years after the contract to develop it was signed with Pretoria-based company Waymark Infotech.
Daneel Knoetze
Feature | 17 October 2014