The timing, duration and intensity of the long strike on the platinum belt were fuelled by a familiar South African problem: persistent and very high inequality.
Gilad Isaacs
Opinion | 1 July 2014
Breathing air that does not damage health is one of the most important constitutional rights. But some municipalities on the polluted Mpumalanga Highveld are battling to enforce the Air Quality Act, writes Robyn Hugo.
Robyn Hugo
Opinion | 1 July 2014
Most women don’t go far in boxing, but Zodumo Ndude from Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay did not let that stop her. Today she is a referee and a judge.
Siyabonga Kalipa
News | 1 July 2014
HIV-positive Zuziwe* from Nyanga is worried about how she is going to survive this winter because she says she doesn’t have enough food or blankets for her children.
Pharie Sefali
News | 1 July 2014
Gilad Isaacs underestimates the scale of AMCU's victory. His analysis offers an indicator of winner/loser based on contrasting the final settlement with the initial demand and initial offer. But this is arbitrary.
Peter Alexander
Opinion | 30 June 2014
Every morning at the TCI Apparel factory in Epping, shop steward Mymoena Williams writes down the names of the textile workers who arrive late. In this notebook are entire pages filled with employees being late for the same reason: the trains.
Joy Shan
News | 30 June 2014
The South African economy is facing a rocky period. But don’t blame the platinum strike or the union or workers involved. That labour dispute was a symptom, not the cause, of problems that had developed outside of the control of the workers.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 30 June 2014
During apartheid, a nuclear weapons programme at Pelindaba used workers from nearby settlements. Decades have gone by and millions of rands have been spent on investigations, yet questions remain and hundreds of workers who claim to have become ill after exposure to hazardous material are still fighting for compensation.
Mandy de Waal and Jon Pienaar
Feature | 27 June 2014
Junior Nsamia Mayema, 25, of Democratic Republic of Congo and Flavirina Naze, 32, from Burundi are refugees and activists. They have endured both xenophobia and homophobia. It has also been challenging for them to integrate with the South African lesbian and gay community.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 27 June 2014
Hopes are high for 49 students from 20 different African countries who graduated with a master’s degree in Mathematics in Cape Town this week. The students – from countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa – completed their studies at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) located in Muizenberg.
Yazeed Kamaldien
News | 27 June 2014
From 4 to 8 July, Cape Town will host the first ever War Resisters International Conference to be held in Africa. The Pan-African conference will bring together representatives of grassroots movements from over 25 African countries.
Shireen Mukadam
News | 27 June 2014
Chippa United, recently promoted to the Premier Soccer League team, held the first of its open trials on 25 June. Over 100 players from around the Cape and the country made their way to the Philippi stadium, home of the Chilli Boys as Chippa United is affectionately known.
Siyabonga Kalipa
News | 27 June 2014
Last week, GroundUp witnessed law enforcement officers confiscating the fruit of two street vendors on the corners of Belmont and Main Road, Rondebosch. They are among thousands of informal vendors breaking city bylaws to sell their goods at traffic lights and intersections across the City in order to make their daily living.
Barbara Maregele and Adam Armstrong
News | 26 June 2014
After the historic five-month long platinum strike, mineworkers and corporate executives are retreating to their tin shacks and BMWs respectively. The country is left wondering: who won?
What the increases mean for the lives of the workers and the fortunes of the platinum producers is difficult to quantify. However, it is possible to compare the implications – for workers and company costs – of the various offers, demands and the final settlement.
Gilad Isaacs
Analysis | 26 June 2014
Residents of Site B in Khayelitsha were shocked and angered after the body of a baby was found in a toilet last week. The tiny body lay between pieces of paper inside the bucket system toilet.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 26 June 2014
On 24 June, Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa, in conjunction with the Mail & Guardian and SECTION27, hosted a breakfast seminar in Johannesburg on journalism and social justice in the country’s mainstream media.
Joshua Maserow
News | 26 June 2014
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I wish to commend the universities in the Western Cape who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza, as … Read more
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