“The condition that these people live in is uncalled for,” says Ward 52 Councillor Mayenzeke Sopaqa. He is describing a derelict area in Section 18, Langa, known as Emaholweni, established 45 years ago in what has become a no-man’s-land, all but abandoned by the authorities.
Photos by Masixole Feni and Liza Kettil.Text by Thembela Ntongana
News | 19 November 2015
Tempers flared last night in Endlovini in Khayelitsha, with angry residents burning portable toilets and blockading the road in a protest over housing.
Siyavuya Khaya
News | 17 November 2015
Police used rubber bullets and stun grenades today against waste pickers protesting at a dump site in Pietermaritzburg against plans to stop them collecting on the site.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 11 November 2015
Angry residents of an informal settlement in Port Elizabeth who took to the streets on Monday have vowed to continue with their protests until they are moved to better housing nearby.
Joseph Chirume
News | 16 September 2015
“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
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
A few kilometres away from five newly built houses, 46 year old Thokozani Zondi lives in a wooden house in Nhlazatshe in Pietermaritzburg and shares a pit toilet with neighbours.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 31 August 2015
The Khayelitsha Green Point White Hall was packed on Saturday as residents came to air their grievances at a community hearing on sanitation and housing issues in the area. The community hearing was based on the findings of a social audit conducted with support from the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) between 4 and 14 August.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 25 August 2015
The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) has been at the forefront of two campaigns in recent years: improved toilet provision and better policing in Cape Town's townships. GroundUp did an in-depth interview with the organisation's Axolile Notywala.
GroundUp Staff
News | 21 August 2015
Masixole Feni, GroundUp's photographer, has won the 2015 Ernest Cole award.
Text by GroundUp Staff. Photos by Masixole Feni.
News | 4 August 2015
Thandekile Madikane tells his children that he works at the airport. He does not want his children to laugh at him for the job he does. But his job is vital. He is part of the city's operation to clean portable toilets.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 31 July 2015
Fifty-three year old Annacleta Zungu, who has only one leg, uses a plastic bag as a toilet at night because she is afraid to use the pit toilet outside her Pietermaritzburg house. Zungu, who is diabetic, lost her leg last year.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 22 July 2015
A battle over jobs at Mawose Cleaning Services, contracted by the City of Cape Town to clean Barcelona informal settlement, sparked a protest which cut off a section of the N2 highway on Sunday night.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 20 July 2015
The City of Cape Town and residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa will meet this week to discuss the installation of additional taps in the area.
Barbara Maregele
News | 24 June 2015
At 4am on Wednesday, Cape Town police used teargas and rubber bullets to prevent a group of about 50 residents from Barcelona informal settlement dumping buckets full of human waste onto the N2 highway. Residents said their buckets have not been collected or cleaned for the past four months.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
News | 18 June 2015
The Wetlands informal settlement of Masiphumelele is home to over 20,000 people. It is a jumble of corrugated iron shacks and electrical wires. The smell of sewage and rubbish fills the air. Among the many problems its residents face are a lack of toilets and taps for water.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 11 June 2015