News

Township beauty pageants: empowering or sexist?

Township beauty pageants are extremely popular. On Saturday Sexee Simplicities ran a pageant in Du Noon. But are these competitions sexist and demeaning or do they actually empower women?

Mihle Pike and GroundUp staff

News | 5 December 2012

Councillor spends nine days in prison for “doing his job”

Anele Yawa is a proportional representative councillor in Uitenhage. In August he spent nine days in prison. He alleges his only crime was to do his job.

Mary-Jane Matsolo

News | 5 December 2012

Asylum seekers struggle as FNB freezes their accounts

Asylum seekers in Cape Town are struggling because their First National Bank (FNB) accounts have been frozen. The bank insists on seeing unexpired asylum documents every three to six months to keep bank accounts active. Many asylum seekers have to wait up to six months for their documents to be approved by Home Affairs and end up not being able to provide the documents FNB insists upon.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 5 December 2012

GroundUp TV

News | 5 December 2012

South African students at forefront of massive astronomy project

Mpati Ramatsoku and Moses Mogotsi are two South African PhD students who are being funded to work on one of the most exciting science projects of the decade: the Square Kilometre Array.

Tessa Gooding

News | 4 December 2012

Waldorf school to open in Masiphumele

Siyakhula Waldorf Primary School will open in Masiphumele township near Fish Hoek, Cape Town, in January 2014.

Tessa Gooding

News | 28 November 2012

Delft clinic and community members caught in SANCO squabble

An internal squabble in the South African National Civics Organisation (SANCO) in Delft spilled over into the streets earlier this month.

Mihle Pike

News | 28 November 2012

Months in prison without a bail hearing

If you are arrested in South Africa, even if you are innocent, expect to spend months and maybe years in prison before being released. The law says that if you are arrested you should appear before a court within 48 hours or be released. The courts have also ruled that bail hearings are urgent. Yet the police, prosecutors, magistrates and judges often ignore these rights.

Mary-Jane Matsolo

News | 28 November 2012

Musical talent lives on the steet

Frieda Darvel, 27 years old from Kensington lives on the streets of Cape Town. Her singing voice has landed her an opportunity with a Swedish Gospel choir.

Margo Fortune

News | 28 November 2012

Anger builds as mother searches for her son

16 December will mark three years since Siyamthanda Mndayi, an Ocean View boy with Down’s syndrome went missing from his home. His distraught mother has not given up hope of finding him.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 28 November 2012

Lakay: “Never give up on your dream”

Anridge Junaid Lakay is 22 years old and plays centre mid-field for first division team Vasco Da Gama.

Margo Fortune

News | 28 November 2012

Becoming a good player doesn’t happen overnight

Isma-Eel Stanfield is only 20 and plays striker for Cape Town All Stars in the second division. On Sunday they beat FC Tygerberg and Isma-Eel scored two goals.

Margo Fortune

News | 21 November 2012

Department of Coffee launches!

We have previously told you about Khayelitsha's first coffee shop: Department of Coffee. On 17 November they had an official launch at the Khayelitsha Mall.

Nokubonga Yawa

News | 21 November 2012

“This project has changed our lives in a big way. We now have the opportunity to work and run our own businesses.”

Township is a non-profit organisation that is creating jobs and providing opportunities for people living in Cape Town’s townships.

Janine Fortuin

News | 21 November 2012

Young entrepeneur delivers medicines in Khayelitsha

Sizwe Nzima is just 21 years old but he has already co-founded a business called Iyeza Express that delivers chronic medicines by bike to patients who are unable to stand in long queues at clinic pharmacies.

Mihle Pike

News | 21 November 2012

Altercation highlights farm tensions

An argument between a farmer and two employees has spiralled out of control. The story shows the kinds of problems fuelling the current farm tensions in the Western Cape.

Tessa Gooding and Margo Fortune

News | 21 November 2012