Health

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

The banal evil of drug pricing

Martin Shkreli was the most hated man on the internet for a brief time this week. His company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, pushed up the price of a medicine, pyrimethamine, used to treat a life-threatening disease from $13.50 (approx R185) to $750 (approx R10,250) a pill.

Nathan Geffen

Opinion | 23 September 2015

Barcelona’s garbage finally collected

The City of Cape Town has begun collecting the rubbish that has been piling up in front of people's homes in Barcelona informal settlement.

Bernard Chiguvare

Brief | 18 September 2015

Capetonians rally to help family with epilepsy

People from various parts of Cape Town have rallied to help a Site C family with a disabled teenager who, like her father, has epilepsy.

Pharie Sefali

News | 17 September 2015

The harm of quackery

There are at least three clear ways in which pseudoscience or bad science can harm consumers.

Jacques Rousseau

Opinion | 16 September 2015

USN sues consumer activist

R2 million. That’s how much sport supplement company Ultimate Sports Nutrition (USN) wants consumer activist Harris Steinman to pay for calling its owner, Albe Geldenhuys, a “scam artist”, “liar”, “quack”, “fraud” and “snake oil salesman”.

GroundUp Staff

News | 16 September 2015

Changing your gender in South Africa

“I have some very vivid memories of when I was really young, say four or five years old, my grandmother would dress me in women’s clothing and say, ‘Look at my granddaughter’, but also in a playful way,' says Sandile Ndelu, a transgender woman, who is a law student at UCT.

Ashleigh Furlong

Feature | 15 September 2015

Will SA have more parental leave soon?

Parental leave has been a trending topic this year, both globally and in South Africa. Corporations, especially global tech companies, have been making headlines as they announce expanded maternity and paternity leave: From Virgin Management’s announcement that parents can now receive up to a year of paid shared parental leave, to Netflix announcing a year of paid maternity and paternity leave.

Czerina Patel

Analysis | 11 September 2015

This place stinks, say Duncan Village residents

“Not only does this place stink, pigs eat here as well, making the place smell even more," says Sakhumzi Kholisile of Khayelitsha informal settlement in Duncan Village, East London.

Siphesihle Matyila

News | 10 September 2015

Pietermaritzburg’s leaking taps in the midst of a water shortage

France location in Pietermaritzburg has faced a water crisis for months. Yet, say residents, water is left to leak from broken standpipes in this area and the nearby areas of Dambuza and Machibisa.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 9 September 2015

“If my baby is dead, why don’t they just tell me?”

After recovering from a difficult labour, Nolitha Kamana went to look for her baby in the hospital wards, only to find the child in the mortuary. Her story is one of scores collected by the Treatment Action Campaign highlighting problems in maternity and obstetrics units in Cape Town. GroundUp's Mary-Anne Gontsana spoke to some of the women.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 9 September 2015

How poverty interferes with dreams: Andiswa Nkuphe’s story

Andiswa Nkuphe lives with her eight siblings. Their house is a shipping container. Despite good school results and ambitions of becoming a nurse, she has to take care of her siblings, because their mother has been sick for almost two years and she's been in hospital since January this year.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 8 September 2015

Conditions at Pollsmoor “profoundly disturbing”, says judge

Constitutional Court judge Edwin Cameron and his law clerks have published a scathing report of Pollsmoor Prison after visiting the remand centre — where awaiting trial prisoners are kept — and the women's centre on 23 April. Some of their findings are consistent with those reported by GroundUp in May.

GroundUp Staff

News | 4 September 2015

Buffalo City janitors have to pay for their own toilet cleaning materials

Janitors employed by the Buffalo City municipality in East London to clean toilets say they are forced to pay for cleaning materials and gloves from their own salaries.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Feature | 3 September 2015

Barcelona residents angered by piles of rubbish

Rubbish is piling up in front of people’s homes in Barcelona informal settlement near Gugulethu and the airport in Cape Town. Residents showed their displeasure this morning by dumping rubbish on the N2.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 2 September 2015

Jobs more important than smells, say Hangberg residents

The proposed closure of Oceana’s Hout Bay Fishmeal and Fish Oil Facility is worrying people of Hangberg, where many employees live.

Ashleigh Furlong

Feature | 2 September 2015