Weekly newsletter 12-16 May 2014: Questions and answers about being tried for murder in SA and other stories

Featured Stories

Guide to being tried for murder in South Africa

Perhaps you have been following the Angy Peter murder trial closely. Or maybe you have been watching the Oscar Pistorius one. Like us, you have lots of questions about how our legal system works. We asked a lawyer to answer them.

GroundUp Staff

City boots refuse removal contractor

The removal of waste at informal settlements across Cape Town will soon be conducted by new contractors.

Barbara Maregele

O\xe2\x80\x99Regan compares distribution of police resources to apartheid

News: Jean Redpath, a criminologist at the University of Western Cape, was the first person to testify in the second phase of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry, which started at Lookout Hill this morning. Redpath argued that the formula used to calculate police resource allocation is irrational.

Adam Armstrong

Photo story

Township toilets: a photo essay

Photo story: Masixole Feni is a young photographer from Mfuleni. His photos capture the difficulties of township life. Click on any photo to start the slideshow.

Masixole Feni

Reports

Angy Peters case: a trial within a trial

News: The case against Social Justice Coalition (SJC) activist Angy Peters and three others on trial for the kidnapping and murder of a Mfuleni man 18 months ago, was postponed today.

Barbara Maregele

Arrests not enough to end police corruption says expert witness

News: This morning the Khayelitsha Inquiry into policing heard testimony from Dr Liza Grobler about corruption in SAPS.

Adam Armstrong

Angy Peter trial: Police head says \xe2\x80\x9cstupid mistakes\xe2\x80\x9d made

News: The trial of Social Justice Coalition leader Angy Peter and her husband Isaac Mbadu continued yesterday in the Cape High Court after a week\xe2\x80\x99s postponement.

Simone Haysom

Frayed tempers at Khayelitsha Inquiry as O\xe2\x80\x99Regan and Arendse spar

News: Phase 2 of the Inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha is underway under tight time constraints.

Adam Armstrong

Expert witness: SAPS must be held accountable for how they spend their budget

News: Police oversight should be extended to include how SAPS spends their budget. This was the testimony of Sean Tait, coordinator of the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, at the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry this morning.

Adam Armstrong

Teaching Khayelitsha children computer skills

News: Sibongile Mbele is an Information Technology (IT) specialist from Khayelitsha. He owns a business that assists people in the township mostly with computer problems. At the same time, he tutors young people from ages five to fifteen.

Pharie Sefali

Skateboarding will hopefully make Nyanga's kids safer

News: Nyanga is one of the most dangerous townships in the country. It leads the country in number of murders per capita. But Nyanga youth are trying to change the image their township.

Siyabonga Kalipa

Opinion

Empty promises or promising new beginnings? South African government launches three-year gay rights campaign

Opinion: Things are looking up, right? Just days ago, our beloved Caster Semenya was in the headlines of none other than the Daily Sun, not because her gender or hormone levels were, once again, put under a degrading spotlight, but because she had announced her soon-to-be marriage to her girlfriend.

Laura Pascoe

Risking their lives is a daily routine for Kossovo residents

Opinion: The people of Kossovo exist on the margins of unguarded train tracks. Their children are at risk. A lack of service delivery and poor sanitation makes dire conditions worse.

Dudumalingani Mqomboti

Myths about the election

Opinion: From a perusal of social media and certain sections of the commentariat (on both the Left and Right) one wouldn\xe2\x80\x99t know that an intelligent South African electorate just handed the ANC a convincing victory in an overwhelming peaceful, free, fair and democratic election.

Gilad Isaacs

UNHCR responds to Delphine Pedeboy

Opinion: Here is a response to Delphine Pedeboy\xe2\x80\x99s criticisms of the UNHCR published on 13 May 2014.

Tina Ghelli

How the UN in Cape Town deals with refugees: an insider\xe2\x80\x99s account

Opinion: Delphine Pedeboy interned with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) earlier this year. It was a frustrating experience, for her but even more so for the refugees she dealt with.

Delphine Pedeboy

The voting is over \xe2\x80\x94 Forward to new battles

Editorial: The voting is over, the counting complete \xe2\x80\x94 and there have been no major surprises. But for many it will be recriminations rather than celebrations that will follow what will almost certainly be regarded as a watershed election, signalling changes to come.

Terry Bell

Arts

Scholarship offered for future music producer

Review: The Black Coffee Foundation, Bridges for Music and the School of Audio Engineering Institute (SAE) have partnered up to launch a scholarship for people with disabilities. The launch took place at SAE\xe2\x80\x99s Cape Town campus at the Woodstock Exchange.

Dumisani Dabadini

Brief

Kaprino\xe2\x80\x99s Express hosts live music

Brief: On Friday night, musicians Saalim Ismail, Itu Kubeka and Jarrad Racket shared their music at an intimate dinner with family, friends and fellow entertainers at newly-opened Kaprinos Express in Green Point.

Dumisani Dabadini

Sport

Langa rugby club holds on against CPUT

News: Busy Bees Rugby Club of Langa hosted Cape Peninsula University for Technology (CPUT) on Saturday. Both teams are in the City Region League and hope to be promoted to the higher Super C league.

Siyabonga Kalipa

Mandalay women\xe2\x80\x99s hockey team holds their own despite challenges

News: The newly opened Hockey Turf in Langa stadium was put in action this past weekend. Mandalay Girls Hockey Club hosted the Ou Ballies Hockey Club from Bellville.

Siyabonga Kalipa

Cartoon

A-Who-C

Roberto Millan