Housing

Evicted resident breaks down at Lwandle inquiry

Xoliswa Masakala broke into tears at the ministerial inquiry into the Lwandle evictions today as she was asked to comment on two pictures of herself which were published in the media. In one of the pictures, she is seen with her breasts and upper body completely exposed and the rest of her clothes appear torn.

Barbara Maregele

News | 29 July 2014

Montagu family on brink of losing home

Darkness falls on the Koo valley. Andries Joostenberg, 63, and his son hang up their axes, stack the last logs of cut wood and trudge indoors. The temperature drops. In the farm cottage's kitchen a family huddles in semi-darkness around a wood stove. The electricity has been cut, so too the water: final instalments in a siege designed to drive Andries off the land.

Daneel Knoetze

Feature | 25 July 2014

Makhaza’s shoddily built houses

Zone 14 residents in Makhaza are worried about the shoddy building of houses managed by the Niall Mellon Township Trust (NMTT). This has prompted the provincial Human Settlements Department to investigate after receiving numerous complaints.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 23 July 2014

SANRAL says City of Cape Town was involved in the eviction of displaced Nomzamo residents

Nomzamo informal settlement residents would have been relocated to new land years ago had the City of Cape Town not withdrawn from negotiations in 2011, attorneys for the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) told the Lwandle Inquiry yesterday.

Barbara Maregele

News | 23 July 2014

Premier called “racist girl” as tensions flare at Lwandle inquiry

Tensions flared during the second half of the Lwandle inquiry yesterday after Ses’khona leader Loyiso Nkohla referred to Western Cape Premier Helen Zille as a “racist girl”. The remark prompted an infuriated DA staffer, Jamie Turkington, to interject during Nkohla’s presentation.

Barbara Maregele

News | 22 July 2014

Ward councilor sheds light on the history of evicted Nomazo residents

A Nomzamo ward councillor told the ministerial inquiry into the Lwandle evictions how he cautioned a group of backyarders, who were tired of “unfulfilled promises” by the City of Cape Town, against settling on land owned by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL).

Barbara Maregele

News | 22 July 2014

Shacks in Masiphumelele wetland area drenched

The Masiphumele informal settlement in Fish Hoek was flooded on Thursday by heavy rains.

Zintle Swana

News | 21 July 2014

Ses’khona and ANC councillor accused of hijacking City disaster relief

Some Lwandle residents have accused Ses’khona and ANC city councillor JJ Maxheke of keeping food and other disaster relief material supplied by the City of Cape Town for Ses’khona members.

Pharie Sefali and Alide Dasnois

News | 17 July 2014

Why the sun will continue to burn in Langa

Last Wednesday, Langa erupted into massive protest that locked down the area with no way in or out of the township. To many, it seemed like the anger came from nowhere – yet frustration has been simmering here for months if not years.

Jared Sacks

Opinion | 17 July 2014