Weekly newsletter 02 - 06 June 2014: Lwandle community homes demolished and other stories

6 June 2014 | News

Lwandle

Lwandle residents to move to new SANRAL-owned land

Hundreds of Lwandle residents whose homes were demolished earlier this week will be moved to new SANRAL-owned land next week.

Barbara Maregele

Evicted woman: \xe2\x80\x9cI came to Cape Town to give my children a better future\xe2\x80\x9d

News: Veronica Lujabe moved to Cape Town from Lesotho because she wanted a better future for her children. This week her house in Lwandle was demolished.

Pharie Sefali

Miserable day for people who lost homes, but baby rumoured to be dead is alive

News: It\xe2\x80\x99s cold and raining in Cape Town tonight. Ice particles formed on the ground outside the Nomzamo Community Hall in Strand where hundreds of residents, whose homes were demolished over the last two days, are sheltering.

Pharie Sefali and GroundUp staff

Videos from Strand demolitions

News: Here are two short video clips from the demolitions of people's homes that took place in Strand yesterday.

Adam Armstrong

Accusations fly as Strand homes demolished

Featured Story: \xe2\x80\x9cThe law is the law\xe2\x80\x9d said a spokesman for the South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) yesterday as hundreds were left homeless in the rain after the demolition of their shacks on SANRAL-owned land near Strand.

Barbara Maregele and Adam Armstrong

Community desperate as their homes are demolished

News: Hundreds of people were left homeless at Nomzamo settlement in Strand on Tuesday. Shacks were smashed down while their owners watched.

Pharie Sefali and Adam Armstrong

Reports

Khayelitsha commuters unite to tackle Metrorail

News: A group of Khayelitsha residents are preparing to confront Metrorail with their complaints about the train system.

Joy Shan

Angy Peter trial: Court allows dying man's remarks

News: Remarks made by Rowan du Preez accusing accusing activist Angy Peter and her husband of necklacing him, will be admitted into evidence, the Cape High Court ruled this morning.

Barbara Maregele

First green bakery in Khayelitsha opens

News: Lufefe Nomjana used to bake 25 loaves of spinach bread a day and walk up to 25 kilometres to distribute them. Now he has launched the first green bakery in Khayelitsha, Espinaca Innovations.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Sewage from blocked Khayelitsha toilets overflows into family\xe2\x80\x99s yard

News: A Khayelitsha mother fears her children\xe2\x80\x99s health is at risk as the sewage from the newly installed toilets metres from her home constantly overflows into her yard.

Barbara Maregele

Photo stories

Floods as storm hits Cape Town

Photo story: Low lying areas of Squalo on Vanguard Drive, close to Mitchell's Plain, flooded yesterday. The heavy downpours reminded Capetownians why the Mother City was named “The Cape of Storms”. Click any photo to start a slideshow.

Armand Hough

Water

Photo story: For many Cape Town residents, getting clean water is a daily effort. And in some parts of the city, polluted canals run alongside people's houses. Click any photo to start a slideshow.

Masixole Feni

Opinion

Cape Town\xe2\x80\x99s informal settlements the same, despite facelift

Opinion: Ruth Massey recently undertook doctoral research in Cape Town\xe2\x80\x99s Makhaza and New Rest settlements. Here, she shares her concerns about the way informal settlements are being managed.

Dr Ruth T. Massey

Fix our healthcare system so that we may live!

Opinion: Access to the Constitution and constitutional education in isiXhosa is not an an added extra\xe2\x80\x94it is a constitutional right, argue Tim Hodgson and Mluleki Marongo.

Tim Hodgson and Mluleki Marongo

Unions get back to democratic basics

Opinion: Misunderstanding and confusion about the platinum sector pay issue persists. And much of the media is to blame for repeating, without analysis, the public relations spin of the mining companies.

Terry Bell

Brief

Calm returns to Ocean View after violent protests

Brief: Calm has returned at Ocean View following violent protests, which erupted on Thursday over the Mountain View Housing Project.

Johnnie Isaac

Interview

An interesting life: a chat with World War II veteran Simmy Lewis

Interview: Simmy Lewis is 96 and a South African veteran of World War II. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day, GroundUp spoke to Lewis about the war, his views on race and living with increasing frailty.

Introduction written by Nathan Geffen, Camera and video editing by Neo Sithole