Human Rights

Getting community service for lawyers right

A new law is intended to make it easier for poor people to get decent legal representation. But there is much to be done to make it work, writes Liat Davis.

Liat Davis

Opinion | 13 October 2014

How an Ebola clinic works

“So just think of the one who is about to die, trapped behind hundreds of walls sizzling with heat, while at the same time, there are all those people, on the telephone or in cafes …” - The Plague by Albert Camus.

Kathryn Stinson

Opinion | 13 October 2014

How I crossed the border illegally

Every day, hundreds of Zimbabweans cross the Beit Bridge border across the Limpopo River into South Africa - some of them illegally. GroundUp reporter Tariro Washinyira joined them.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 13 October 2014

Hangberg man to sue police

The man assaulted by police at his home in Hangberg last week is preparing to bring a civil claim against the police. Meanwhile, Hout Bay’s police commissioner has said that neither he nor his staff knew of the covert operation by the National Intervention Unit.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 10 October 2014

SJC trial: “We wanted the City to see we were serious”

Emotions ran high in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday as Social Justice Coalition’s(SJC) general secretary, Phumeza Mlungwana, was cross-examined about last year’s protest on the steps of the Cape Town Civic Centre.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 8 October 2014

Lwandle commission recommends reforms to prevent illegal evictions

The Commission of Inquiry into the Lwandle evictions has recommended changes to legislation to prevent illegal evictions in future.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 8 October 2014

Week in activism

This week we look at the SERI’s workshop on law related to eviction, the social dialogue for the gay and lesbian community, TAC’s march for better services and IOM’s public debate on human trafficking.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 8 October 2014

SJC members defend civic centre protest

Protests are a way to be heard and not just an event, Social Justice Coalition general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana told the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Mary-Anne Gontsana and Lea Bork

News | 7 October 2014

Dressing “sexy” to get a lift to school

Many Mfuleni learners walk to and from school in Khayelitsha every day, but some have found their own mode of transport: they show their bodies to persuade drivers to give them money for transport or a lift.

Pharie Sefali

News | 7 October 2014

SA’s nuclear shame

After decades of fighting for compensation, workers from Pelindaba employed in the apartheid nuclear programme have caught the attention of Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela. The workers allege that they were exposed to chemicals and radiation that made them sick. They want Madonsela to bring their lengthy struggle for compensation to a close.

Mandy de Waal

News | 3 October 2014

Activists to Sonnenberg: City must engage constructively on sanitation

Yesterday the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) published a social audit of the state of municipal public toilets in Khayelitsha. Councillor Ernest Sonnenberg responded. This is a reply by the SJC's Axolile Notywala and Dustin Kramer to Councillor Sonnenberg.

Axolile Notywala and Dustin Kramer

Opinion | 2 October 2014

Yom Kippur fast for Gaza

A group of South African Jewish men and women have dedicated their Yom Kippur fast to the people of Gaza, and are using the religious celebration as a platform to raise money for the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP).

Daneel Knoetze

News | 2 October 2014

Khayelitsha toilets: the battle for information

Information concerning contracts signed by local authorities should be much more freely available, says Social Justice Coalition spokesman Axolile Notywala.

GroundUp staff

News | 2 October 2014

The week in activism

This week we look at Sonke’s call on government to support an important medical trial and the court ruling in the Limpopo foreign traders’ case brought by Lawyers for Human Rights.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 2 October 2014

Media reports on protest action lack depth and context — media monitor

Palls of thick smoke hung over the N2 mid-September 2014, after protesters from the farming town of Grabouw, some 20 kilometres from Gordon’s Bay, barricaded the national highway with burning tyres. Rubber bullets flew and canisters of teargas exploded as the police met protesters head on.

Mandy de Waal

Analysis | 30 September 2014

Apartheid geography and murder in Cape Town

Building a socially and racially integrated Cape Town will decrease our murder rate and other violent crime, writes Zackie Achmat.

Zackie Achmat

Opinion | 30 September 2014