News

Sunday Times editor ‘was a spy’

One of the most successful agents of the apartheid state was the editor in chief of the country’s leading Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Times. This claim is contained in a book by veteran journalist John Matisonn to be released this week.

Terry Bell

News | 30 November 2015

Twitter war between activists and City over Wolwerivier

A spat erupted on Twitter this week when Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) director Zackie Achmat accused City of Cape Town’s Benedicta van Minnen of being ‘a liar’ and ‘one who holds black people in contempt’.

Barbara Maregele

News | 27 November 2015

Survey shows how unsafe Khayelitsha residents feel

Most of the Harare, Khayelitsha, residents who participated in a survey campaign launched by Rape Crisis this week as part of 16 Days of Activism believe that robbery and housebreaking are the main problems in the area.

Barbara Maregele

News | 26 November 2015

Zimbabwean consular official pelted with plastic bottles

Supporters of the main Zimbabwean opposition party threw plastic bottles at a Zimbabwean consular official today after marching on the consulate to hand over a memorandum.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 25 November 2015

Khayelitsha residents protest after Metrorail cuts electricity connections

Angry residents of Khayelitsha Site C blocked railway tracks and roads, and burned tyres today after their electricity connections were cut by a Metrorail team.

Siyavuya Khaya

News | 25 November 2015

Residents in Khayelitsha take on Big Five

Tensions are high in Isiqalo informal settlement after violent clashes between residents and former community leaders who have refused to step down.

Siyavuya Khaya

News | 25 November 2015

Home Affairs detentions challenged in Concourt

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court will hear the matter between Minister of Home Affairs v Rahim and Others, concerning the detention of foreign nationals in places that are not designed as immigration detention facilities, such as police holding cells. The Legal Resource Centre (LRC) will appear on behalf of People against Suffering and Oppression (PASSOP).

Tariro Washinyira

News | 25 November 2015

Mitchells Plain marches against violence

About 150 people from Mitchells Plain, supported by many organisations, marched against gender-based violence to start the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign.

Ashraf Hendricks

News | 25 November 2015

Audit finds serious problems at Wolwerivier. But will City listen?

Overcrowding, high unemployment rates and fire safety are just some of the concerns raised by a social audit of Wolwerivier, a low-cost housing project north of Cape Town.

Barbara Maregele

News | 24 November 2015

We will close the N2, threaten fed-up residents

More than 1,000 residents of KwaMsane in Mtubatuba, KZN, took to the street last week to demand services. After years of fruitless complaints and meetings, the protesters plan to close the N2 on Thursday.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 23 November 2015

Khayelitsha commuters blast Metrorail

Khayelitsha residents are fed up with the poor public transport servicing the township, especially Metrorail. Activist organisation, Public Transport Voice (PTV), held a public meeting on Saturday at Masibambane Hall in Harare to voice their concerns.

Siyavuya Khaya

News | 23 November 2015

Meet the Senegalese man who teaches South Africans how to make and sell crafts

Seeing how many unemployed young people there are in Imizamo Yethu informal settlement, Moustapha Fall, originally from Senegal, decided to teach them craft skills.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 23 November 2015

Masiphumelele gets mobile police station

Hundreds of residents from Masiphumelele, Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg gathered in Masiphumelele High School for the handing over of a mobile police station.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 20 November 2015

School boarders develop their own online kiosk

Three students from the Cape Academy of Maths, Science and Technology have set up an online kiosk for boarders who struggle to access basic necessities while in residences at schools.

Pasqua Heard

News | 20 November 2015

University residences close early

The deadlines for students at the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology to vacate their residences came and went this week with many students refusing to leave.

Thembela Ntongana, Ashleigh Furlongand Tariro Washinyira

News | 19 November 2015

Living in cardboard shacks … inside a hostel

“The condition that these people live in is uncalled for,” says Ward 52 Councillor Mayenzeke Sopaqa. He is describing a derelict area in Section 18, Langa, known as Emaholweni, established 45 years ago in what has become a no-man’s-land, all but abandoned by the authorities.

Photos by Masixole Feni and Liza Kettil.Text by Thembela Ntongana

News | 19 November 2015