Local government
Drought and debt for Northern Cape small farmers
In the middle of a drought, small scale subsistence farmers on the outskirts of Paballelo in the Northern Cape are facing a bill of R1.3 million for water.
Selby Nomnganga
News | 5 December 2013
Young artists say no support from local government
GroundUp met with a group of young hip-hop and spaza music makers. The group complain that they have been at it for three years, but don’t get any support from local businesses and government.
Pharie Sefali
News | 4 December 2013
“We’ve lost hope in our government”
Several houses in Gugulethu were damaged by the heavy rainfall this weekend. Hombazi Fiphaza, a resident from Kanana Square informal settlement, said, “We go through the same thing everytime there is heavy rainfall … What pains me the most is watching the children suffer because of it, and there is nothing you can do to protect them from it.”
Nwabisa Pondoyi
News | 21 November 2013
No-show in RR Section by Disaster Management after flooding?
“When we called Disaster Risk Management on Saturday, they sent one man … He said he would be back in a couple of hours, with provisions for a hundred people, including sand bags and stones to protect houses from further water damage, as well as food. They never came back,” says Luthando Tokota a community advocate with the Social Justice Coalition.
Delphine Pedeboy
News | 20 November 2013
Dozens of unpaid asbestosis claims leave sick workers unsupported for years
Cassiem Mohammed is a 70-year-old retired boiler cleaner from the now-closed Athlone Power Station (APS). He was diagnosed with asbestosis (fibrosis of the lung) in the mid-1990s from exposure to asbestos while he was working at the APS.
Jonathan Dockney
News | 13 November 2013
Striking parking attendants allege they have not been paid since 2009
Rene Mayinga from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is on strike. He claims his employer, Street Parking Solution (SPS), which won a tender in July 2008 from the City of Cape Town to collect parking fees in the CBD, has not been paying him since 2009.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 21 October 2013
SJC activists arrested during protest outside Mayor’s office
Several Social Justice Coalition (SJC) members who chained themselves to railings at the Civic Centre in Cape Town this morning vowing they would not budge until Mayor Patricia de Lille addressed them, were arrested and held at Caledon Square Police Station. They have not yet been charged.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 11 September 2013
No tap and one toilet
A fed-up Khayelitsha resident is anxious to know why the City of Cape Town is not making any provision for water and sanitation on her street.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 28 August 2013
Follow-up on Khayelitsha streetlights
In February, GroundUp published a report on the issue of street lights in Khayelitsha, in particular on Lansdowne Road and Mew Way. Activist organizations -- the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Equal Education (EE) -- held a march on 4 February in Khayelitsha.
Thandile Majivolo
News | 22 August 2013