GroundUp Newsletter 11 April 2014: Can the Seriti Commission into Arms Deal succeed and other stories

11 April 2014 | News

Reports

20 years later, Rwandans still struggling to reconcile

News: Rwandan Hutu cousins, Hakizimana and Kwizera (not their real names), aged 30 and 35, believe the 1994 genocide story is told in a partisan manner, and they say the reconciliation and unity policy is government imposed.

Tariro Washinyira

Official threatens to withhold disability grant

News: Nyanga resident Violet Mkhape, 45, has been waiting for eight months for her monthly disability grant - and one official told her she wouldn\xe2\x80\x99t get it because she told her story to GroundUp.

Pharie Sefali

Metrorail warns commuters in attempt to stop deaths on its network

News: Following two deaths in April, Metrorail security services have been told to take strong action against any commuter found riding outside the trains.

Fergus Turner

Elections 2014

Election special: What the DA promises Cape Town's majority

Interview: In the run-up to the May 7 elections, GroundUp asked a set of questions to leading Western Cape representatives of the Democratic Alliance, the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters. Here is our interview with Masizole Mnqasela, MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Member of the DA Federal Council and a Khayelitsha Constituency Head.

Pharie Sefali

Election special: ANC says it will win back the people\xe2\x80\x99s \xe2\x80\x9ctrust\xe2\x80\x9d

Interview: In the second of three interviews in the run-up to the May elections, Vuyiso Tyhalisisu, ANC secretary in the Cape Town metro, answers GroundUp's questions.

Pharie Sefali

Election Special: EFF promises to double social grants if elected

Interview: In the third of three interviews ahead of the May elections, GroundUp asked Veronica Mente, the coordinator of EFF in the Western Cape, some questions.

Pharie Sefali

Election debate in Khayelitsha

News: On April 10, at Lookout Hill, Khayelitsha, representatives of the ANC, DA, EFF, and Agang SA spoke about their parties\xe2\x80\x99 policies. But the debate ended, before many questions could be asked.

Craig Oosthuizen

Activist Beat

The week in political activism

Activist Beat: This week we cover a helpful guide to whistleblowing from Corruption Watch and a further victory for informal traders who were unlawfully removed by the City of Johannesburg.

Brent Meersman

Opinion

Where do political parties stand on health issues?

Opinion: The People\xe2\x80\x99s Health Manifesto is an initiative of the Treatment Action Campaign. With elections upon us, the TAC wanted to know what political parties proposed to do for healthcare. They put 11 questions to them. This is what they discovered.

Brent Meersman

Strike focus must be on jobs, not wages

Opinion: A crunch point has this week been reached in the platinum sector. Stockpiles are all but exhausted and striking miners are starving. In normal circumstances this would be the time when compromise is reached, a matter of who blinks first.

Terry Bell

Mobile phone rates and putting people before profits

Opinion: You\xe2\x80\x99ve probably heard the news that MTN and Vodacom have gone to court to stop new regulations. The court ruled that the regulations should go head. What does this mean for the people\xe2\x80\x99s right to communicate?

John Haffner

Kramer has it wrong says City

Opinion: Paul Boughey, chief of staff to the executive mayor of Cape Town, takes issue with Dustin Kramer's article on GroundUp.

Paul Boughey

EFF is not a left alternative

Opinion: This was written in September 2011 when Julius Malema was still riding high in the ANCYL. However, the arguments made are, I think vindicated by the subsequent emergence of the EFF. Anyone who thinks the EFF represents a Left alternative is badly \xe2\x80\x94 and dangerously \xe2\x80\x94 mistaken. I put it out again now because it appears that there are still some otherwise sensible comrades who are considering a vote for the EFF. WASP, for all its faults, is at least a Left bet.

Terry Bell

Books

Hani\xe2\x80\x99s murder: an attempt to assassinate a country\xe2\x80\x99s future

Book extract: 10 April marks the 21st anniversary of Chris Hani\xe2\x80\x99s murder. His death left a nation wondering what its future would have been like had he lived.

Brent Meersman

Our Kind of People

Review: In Our Kind of People, novelist Uzodinma Iweala reflects on the damaging misconceptions which shape the way the world sees HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Joshua Maserow

Arts

Artists and publicists making media synergy

Interview: Artists are by nature creative, but many struggle to take their talent to the public. A good publicist might be a wise investment.

Dumisani Dabadini

Big year for Aka and Da L.E.S

Review: Since partnering up with Da L.E.S, Kiernan Forbes, whose stage name is AKA, has been headlining more gigs now than ever before, not only for his strikingly unconventional Kanye-esqe style and entourage, but mainly for his lyrics.

Zethu Gqola

Mamela Nyamza: dancing in Singapore, Cairo and Berlin

News: Mamela Nyamza started dancing at the age of eight at Zama dance school in Gugulethu in the late 1980s. Today she is a highly acclaimed choreographer and performer.

Pharie Sefali

Sport

Metropolitan U19 Premier Cup: Beacon Spurs bite the Chilli Boys

News: In preparation for the Metropolitan U19 Premier Cup, Beacon Spurs from Mitchell's Plain took on Chippa United, last year's Premier Cup participants at Philippi stadium. Spurs used the game to try out new combinations before the big tournament on Easter weekend.

Siyabonga Kalipa