Crime

Angry Masiphumelele residents to march on magistrates’ court

An uneasy calm has returned to Masiphumelele, but residents say they are preparing further protests on Friday, when a community leader charged with murder is due to appear in court.

GroundUp Staff and Bernard Chiguvare

News | 28 October 2015

Mother accuses principal of caning her son

Despite the South African Schools Act prohibiting the use of corporal punishment, caning continues in many schools. Now a Pietermaritzburg mother has had enough, and she's laid a complaint with the police against her son's school principal.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 28 October 2015

Nyanga policing: Will promises be kept this time?

In October 2012, then Western Cape police commissioner, Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer, promised that a new satellite police station would be opened in Nyanga. Three years later, the promise has not yet been kept. Nor is it clear what steps have been taken to address a multitude of problems raised by a parliamentary committee a year ago.

GroundUp staff and Tariro Washinyira

News | 28 October 2015

Xenophobic violence and looting in Grahamstown

About 500 shopkeepers and their family members who have immigrated from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Somalia have been forced to abandon their businesses and flee for their lives after they came under attack from residents in the greater Grahamstown area last week. There were more confirmed cases of looting this morning.

Hancu Louw

Brief | 26 October 2015

Masiphumelele residents angered by arrest of community leader

While the student demonstrations were taking place, the sporadic protests that have been taking place in Masiphumelele resumed in the early hours of Friday morning after a community leader was arrested.

GroundUp Staff

News | 26 October 2015

Masiphumelele residents march for peace

Over 500 residents marched and sang through the streets of Masiphumelele on Sunday in a march for peace organised by the Masiphumelele Youth Development Forum (MYDF). The march comes after weeks of violence, including murders and rapes, incidents of mob justice, a march for more policing that turned violent, and after residents held a prayer service on Thursday for a better community.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 20 October 2015

Khayelitsha activists want answers from Nhleko

Police Minister Nathi Nhleko addressed over a thousand people at an Imbizo in the Khayelitsha Stadium on Saturday. He accused the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into Policing of being politically motivated. Earlier at the same meeting, ANC Western Cape head Marius Fransman, made the same accusation.

GroundUp staff and Bernard Chiguvare

Brief | 19 October 2015

Capricorn residents accuse taxi association of inciting violence

Violence over taxi routes erupted in Cape Town’s South Peninsula yesterday morning. The South Africa Police Service (SAPS) reports that a 59-year-old taxi driver and his 20-year-old assistant were shot dead at about 5:30am this morning in Seawinds.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 15 October 2015

Masiphumelele to get more policing

Following weeks of protests demanding better policing, and a number of incidents of mob justice, a satellite police station will be opened in Masiphumelele, and seven new constables have begun working in the area.

Pasqua Heard

News | 15 October 2015

The small town whose residents live in fear for their lives

Residents of Busila near Gatyana (Willowvale) say they have lost faith in the police after two houses were set alight by unknown men in the early hours, Tuesday. Since July, four people have been killed and five houses set alight. Residents say police are failing to protect them.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 8 October 2015

Our lives are worth more than R500

“Crime is touching me; it’s eating me,” said Patricia May, standing on a stretch of vacant land between Extension 9 and Transit Camp, two neighbourhoods in the larger Grahamstown township.

Hancu Louw

News | 7 October 2015

“You are responsible for creating a historical sadness” - Archbishop

Nearly 2,000 people braved the cold and rain to join the Unite Against Corruption march to Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people participated in the main march in Pretoria. Smaller marches also took place in other cities, including Durban and Grahamstown.

GroundUp Staff

News | 30 September 2015

Uneasy calm shattered in Masiphumelele

A temporary respite from violence in Masiphumelele ended today, as police and over a thousand residents clashed. Residents blocked the road to Kommetjie with burning tyres. Police used teargas, rubber bullets and arrests to disperse the protest.

Bernard Chiguvare, Masixole Feni & GroundUp staff

News | 29 September 2015

I’ve been raped. What do I do now?

“There are so many things that rapists and communities do that feed myths and false notions about rape,” says Rape Crisis director Kathleen Dey.

Barbara Maregele

News | 28 September 2015

We’re all scared, say Blikkiesdorp residents

Blikkiesdorp residents are calling for better policing after a spike in crime in the area. Seven families have already been moved to Wolwerivier at their request by the City of Cape Town.

Barbara Maregele

News | 21 September 2015

More cops for Masiphumelele

Seven new constables will be joining Ocean View police station, which serves Ocean View, Kommetjie and Masiphumelele. This news follows a week of violence in Masiphumelele, and months of community dissatisfaction with insufficient policing in the township.

Pasqua Heard

News | 18 September 2015