After four nights sleeping in the open, families in Military Heights informal settlement near Lavender Hill have started rebuilding the homes destroyed by a fire last weekend. Some were robbed by gangsters as they tried to salvage their belongings after the fire.
Siyavuya Khaya
Brief | 10 December 2015
The plight of the De Waal Drive families threatened with removal by the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements struck a chord with many Capetonians. But the same process is happening, away from public scrutiny, in other parts of the city, writes Daneel Knoetze of Ndifuna Ukwazi.
Analysis | 10 December 2015
The City of Cape Town is negotiating with a private owner to buy land in Klipheuwel and install services for families living in the informal settlement.
Bernard Chiguvare
News | 10 December 2015
After years of complaining about water, electricity, sanitation, and roads, residents of KwaMsane in KwaZulu Natal say they got the attention of the authorities after their protest last month.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 9 December 2015
Residents of Endlovini â who protested three weeks ago at what they described as the empty promises of ward councillor Anele Gabuza and the City of Cape Town â might have their demands met.
Siyavuya Khaya
Brief | 7 December 2015
Here are two aerial photographs of Masiphumelele's Section D and Section E informal settlements. The first was taken before Sunday morning's fire, and the second was taken after.
GroundUp staff
News | 4 December 2015
About 300 Mfuleni backyarders marched yesterday to the office of the Western Cape MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, to hand over a memorandum about housing in the area.
Bernard Chiguvare
Brief | 3 December 2015
Masiphumelele, scene of a devastating fire last weekend, is to get its own fire station. Community leaders have welcomed the news, but expressed surprise that they were not consulted.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 3 December 2015
A group called Lungelo Lethu Human Rights Foundation is preparing a class action suit against the four major banks for what it says are the unlawful evictions of thousands of South Africans from their homes.
Ciaran Ryan
Feature | 2 December 2015
The court hearing of Hangberg resident Santonio Jonkers will be prioritised next year, says Magistrate Wezile Rixana. Jonkers is accused of contravening a 2011 High Court interdict that prevented anyone from building new structures on the Sentinelâs firebreak above Hangberg in Hout Bay.
Barbara Maregele
Brief | 2 December 2015
Nolufefe Mhlangeni lost her mother and her two-year-old daughter in a fire in Masiphumelele in 2013. On Sunday, she lost her home.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 30 November 2015
Who is responsible for Blikkiesdorp? This question has been coming up in response to work in the community by the Open Democracy Advice Centre.
Alison Tilley
Opinion | 30 November 2015
Distraught residents wander amongst the ash, corrugated iron, rubble and smoke of Section D in Masiphumelele, a township in Cape Town's south peninsula. In the last few hours, thousands have lost their homes and possessions. Two fire engines stand at the edge of the burnt areas.
GroundUp Staff
Brief | 29 November 2015
A spat erupted on Twitter this week when Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) director Zackie Achmat accused City of Cape Townâs Benedicta van Minnen of being âa liarâ and âone who holds black people in contemptâ.
Barbara Maregele
News | 27 November 2015
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
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