Police deny immigrants right to appear before a magistrate

On 13 August 2015, Potchefstroom police station cells security officer Buisanang Malefane told GroundUp on the phone that Malvern and Hamilton Mugwagwa, who are in their custody, have no right to appear before a magistrate because they are unlawfully in the country. They were arrested on 5 August 2015 at a roadblock in Potchefstroom on their way from Cape Town back to Zimbabwe.

Tariro Washinyira

Brief | 14 August 2015

City cannot continue to ignore the crisis at Wolwerivier

There is a deepening crisis of overcrowding, joblessness, insecurity and general destitution at Wolwerivier relocation camp. The community have explained their experiences, along with a call for engagement and support, in writing to the City of Cape Town. Their letter was ignored.

Daneel Knoetze

Opinion | 14 August 2015

Blikkiesdorp: what’s the plan?

Evictions are a daily part of living on the margins in South Africa. This week, residents were evicted from a block of flats in Berea, Johannesburg. Authorities descended early on Wednesday morning on the flats where hundreds are people are living. Their personal belongings – including fridges, clothes and computers – were left outside in the street. Where do such people go? In Cape Town, they have been sent to a place called Blikkiesdorp.

Alison Tilley

Opinion | 13 August 2015

Deaf man’s long wait for RDP house

When Zandisile Khobeni (61) received a letter showing that his housing subsidy application had been approved in 2011, he was over the moon with joy. He didn't know that four years later he would still be waiting for a house, even as the other people in his street received their RDP houses.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 13 August 2015

Phiyega must go, say activists

The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) have called for the resignation or dismissal of national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, saying she has failed the people of Khayelitsha and poor people in South Africa as a whole.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 12 August 2015

Community steps in to help family with epilepsy

Residents in Khayelitsha came out in their numbers at the weekend to celebrate the donation of a wheelchair and food parcel to a father and daughter who have epilepsy.

Pharie Sefali

News | 12 August 2015

Moneyline to be taken to Consumer Tribunal for reckless lending

The National Credit Regulator has referred financial company Moneyline to the National Consumer Tribunal for reckless lending to recipients of child grants.

Pharie Sefali

News | 12 August 2015

Education Department promises to place over 300 Dunoon students

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has promised to register all Dunoon students who are yet to be placed in schools by tomorrow (Wednesday, 12 August).

Barbara Maregele

News | 11 August 2015

Playing games with the rights of women

Every year as August dawns there is a media ritual about women’s rights and, on August 9, a positive rash of declarations of intent and remembrances about the 1956 anti-pass march of the women on Union Buildings. But while institutionalised apartheid has gone, the position of women in South Africa and around the world remains demonstrably unequal and, in some cases is worse now than it was 20 or more years ago.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 11 August 2015

Not enough cops here, says head of Ocean View police

“I was walking at 5am to catch a taxi to go to work. Three people with their faces covered surrounded me and put me in the middle,” says Robert Makhoza, a resident of Masiphumelele.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 11 August 2015

Phiyega rejects recommendations of O’Regan Inquiry

Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega has “denied, disputed or redirected to the [Western Cape Provincial Government and City of Cape Town]” every recommendation of the O’Regan Commission of Inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha.

GroundUp Staff and Bernard Chiguvare

News | 7 August 2015

Civil society comes out for Public Protector

About 100 people gathered in front of parliament today to say “enough is enough” to government corruption as the deadline is reached for the submission by the parliamentary ad hoc committee on Minister of Police Nathi Nhleko’s report which said that President Jacob Zuma does not have to pay back the money he used for security upgrades to his Nkandla home.

Siphesihle Matyila and Brady Nevins

News | 7 August 2015

South African blind women in action

Fifteen years ago, Sandra Dreyer was forced to leave her job as an educator after she lost her sight to age-related macular degeneration. Today, she is the head of the Training, Education and Development department at the Cape Town Society for the Blind (CTSB).

Brady Nevins and Barbara Maregele

News | 7 August 2015

Early childhood development: the children can’t wait

Scientists, economists, policy makers and child-rights advocates agree: there is growing scientific evidence that investment in early childhood development is the most cost-effective route to the sustainable development of children and their communities.

Patricia Martin

Opinion | 7 August 2015

Some loyal minibus taxi users unpersuaded by MyCiti buses

Despite the long, snaking queues that form every working day, many commuters remain steadfast in using taxis as their means of transport and not the MyCiti bus.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 7 August 2015