GroundUp Newsletter 28 March 2014: Metrorail promises R233 million to upgrade its services and other stories

28 March 2014 | News

Featured Story

Commission hears from emotional cop about systemic failures in investigating rape and murder

This morning, 27 March, the Khayelitsha Commission into policing had a short adjournment to allow an officer time to compose herself after she was overwhelmed with emotion while giving evidence.

Adam Armstrong

News

Khayelitsha Commission told by SAPS Major General convicted criminals come out of prison gangsters

News: On 28 March, Major General Peter Jacobs, the Provincial Head of Crime Intelligence, gave evidence at the Khayelitsha Commission about visible policing.

Adam Armstrong

NEHAWU protests in City

Brief: About 1,000 to 1,500 members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union marched through town this morning, to the offices of the Western Cape government.

GroundUp Staff

Senior SAPS members betray personal and institutional prejudices

News: As the O\xe2\x80\x99Regan-Pikoli Commission of Inquiry\xe2\x80\x99s first round of public hearings draw to a close, the commissioners are hearing the testimonies of high-ranking SAPS members at cluster, provincial and national level.

Richard Conyngham

Evicted Soko African Market traders struggling to get back in business

News: Two years after eviction from Soko African Market next to Greenmarket Square, former traders say their businesses have collapsed and they are struggling to survive.

Tariro Washinyira

Postcards with a social edge

News: Seven women from Makhaza, Khayelitsha, are making a living out of their photography. They take pictures with iPhones, upload them on social networks, and sell the images as postcards.

Dumisani Dabadini

Police major general believes Khayelitsha police have enough resources

News: On March 26, the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry heard testimony from Major General Renee Fick. To some, it didn\xe2\x80\x99t seemed Fick was speaking about the same Khayelitsha as the one the commission has heard about so far.

Adam Armstrong

Metrorail promises R233 million to upgrade its service

News: At a press conference today, 25 March 2014, Western Cape Provincial Metrorail regional manager Mthuthuzeli Swartz said the rail company is on the verge of an upgrade revolution.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Police operating with 33% less than they need

News: On March 25, Brigadier Leon Rabie told the Commission of Inquiry into Policing that if the proposed second station in Harare, Khayelitsha, went ahead, the SAPS would be \xe2\x80\x9crobbing Peter to pay Paul\xe2\x80\x9d.

Adam Armstrong

SAPS brigadier withdraws 'offensive' statement at Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry

News: Testimony at the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into policing continued on Monday 24 March with Brigadier Mlenga and General Goss. Mlenga wrote in his affidavit to the commission \xe2\x80\x9cpeople are living as animals\xe2\x80\x9d.

Adam Armstrong

Theatrical fairy tales come true in Khayelitsha

News: A variety of theatre troupes showcased their talents in the streets of Khayelitsha with the first instalment of a new festival. It was a promising start on limited means.

Dumisani Dabadini

Fighting the white plague

News: Today is World TB Day. More people die of tuberculosis in South Africa than from any other disease. The HIV epidemic is to a large degree responsible for that. Dealing effectively with the one epidemic typically improves the outcomes of the other.

GroundUp Staff

Opinion

Should you spoil your ballot?

Opinion: The campaign now underway to encourage a protest against government by spoiling ballots has been left far too late, especially if the object is to build a coherent and mass, grassroots campaign to promote some kind of alternative.

Terry Bell

Mediation is an Honourable Profession

Opinion: In an unequal society where conflict between employers and employees is inevitable, the role of mediators who help to minimise the damage to protagonists and to society at large, is an honourable one. Such is the role of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Terry Bell

Activist Beat

The week in political activism - March 26, 2014

Activist Beat: This week we cover the TAC\xe2\x80\x99s march on Khayelitsha Hospital and an alert put out by Lawyers for Human Rights on the unconstitutionality of draft immigration regulations.

Brent Meersman

Book Review

Hear me alone: an extract from Thando Mgqolozana\xe2\x80\x99s current novel

Book extract: Thando Mgqolozana\xe2\x80\x99s literary novel, an otherworldly retelling of the Nativity story, makes a deep, unforgettable impression.

Thando Mgqolozana

Music

Cape Town Jazz Festival workshop in Gugulethu

News: As the city prepares for the annual Cape Town Jazz Festival on 28 and 29 March, Gugulethu was treated to a preview of what to expect at the event.

Mary-Anne Gontsana