In the winter of 2014 I interviewed six young men who lived on the streets of Cape Town’s Central Business District.
David Cowan
Opinion | 28 April 2015
Old Mutual has not kept a promise to build more than 500 low cost houses and a shopping centre in Khayelitsha, though this was a condition of a 2008 deal with the City of Cape Town.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 28 April 2015
Six years ago, 51-year-old Nomonde Siyaka transformed her family's home in Langa into a two-storey traditional African food restaurant.
Barbara Maregele
News | 16 April 2015
After having half his salary deducted every month for over a year to pay for furniture which he did not buy, a Nyanga man has now been refunded.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 15 April 2015
Management of the R60 million Langa Junction complex has promised to make information available to angry residents who have complained about a lack of transparency in the building and leasing of the 5,000 square metre space.
Pharie Sefali and Nombulelo Damba
News | 14 April 2015
Nearly six months ago Helena Davids was coerced into taking out additional life cover by an agent representing the 1Life company.
Barbara Maregele
News | 13 April 2015
Khayelitsha residents who applied for funds from the Khayelitsha Motsepe Foundation in 2013 might have to wait months for the money, says the head of the Motsepe Foundation in the Western Cape, Steve Mashalane.
Nombulelo Damba
Feature | 8 April 2015
Nomsa Vumazonke buys two loaves of bread every day. She lives in Philippi with her three children and four grandchildren, and after making sandwiches for them says there is nothing left for her to eat. "Bread is too expensive. It's very hard. I have to buy bread for my children," she says.
Ben Stanwix
Feature | 1 April 2015
Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa persists in referring to the mess that is Eskom as “a challenge”. He did so in his Q&A session in parliament last week. But the situation at Eskom is perhaps the greatest crisis ever to face our fragile, non-racist democracy, especially given the global economic climate.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 23 March 2015
Wednesday was Budget day in South Africa, an annual event for the state. But for most citizens, budget day is every day or, if they a slightly luckier, a weekly or monthly calculation to try to remain at least afloat economically. So what happened last week, along with the plaudits and the protests reflected in the media, will not cause any excitement for more than half the population.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 3 March 2015
For 21 years, the Minister of Finance has tabled budgets announcing that large amounts of money will go to social services that are meant to improve the lives of the poor. But, even the staunchest government supporter would agree that the country has not derived full benefit from this money. Year after year the Auditor General, Public Protector and others report on inefficiency, poor accounting and corruption in all categories of public spending.
Albert van Zyl
Analysis | 27 February 2015
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene will present the budget speech to Parliament today. GroundUp spoke to several social movements and leading civil society organisations to find out what they would like him to address.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 25 February 2015
Consumers who are struggling to repay their loans should take the first step and ask for help, advocate Piet Louw SC told the court on Monday.
Barbara Maregele
News | 24 February 2015
Some media houses are cheerleading for the youth wage subsidy, despite the available evidence strongly suggesting that it is already a R2bn waste of public money.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 19 February 2015
The annual Investing in African Mining Indaba is once again under way at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. It is a rather depressed affair this year, with an unresolved regulatory regime, looming labour disputes and an energy crisis that makes investing in South Africa look a lot less interesting than in other countries in Africa.
Melissa Fourie
Opinion | 12 February 2015
The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) extravaganza got underway last week as 700 private jets whizzed into the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos. This is a gathering where the heads of immensely rich corporations wine, dine, bribe and bully various power brokers and wannabe tycoons to do their bidding and to adopt policies that suit the corporate world.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 26 January 2015