Over 500 residents marched and sang through the streets of Masiphumelele on Sunday in a march for peace organised by the Masiphumelele Youth Development Forum (MYDF). The march comes after weeks of violence, including murders and rapes, incidents of mob justice, a march for more policing that turned violent, and after residents held a prayer service on Thursday for a better community.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 20 October 2015
UCT students uniting under the banner of #feesmustfall and #UCTshutdown protested today against the 10.3% fee increase for 2016. The students demanded an emergency meeting with the university council and a meeting between all vice-chancellors in the country, the Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene and the Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande, to discuss university fees.
Ashleigh Furlong
News | 19 October 2015
When other kids their age are at school learning, Thandeka Plaatjies, aged 10, helps her mother with chores and plays with her siblings – Thandiswa, age nine, and Luthando, age seven – outside their home in Westlake township.
Thembela Ntongana
News | 19 October 2015
In 2012 South Africa’s social grant and pension payment system changed in two important ways: Firstly, administration and payment was outsourced by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to a single private company called Cash Paymaster Services (CPS); secondly, and as a result, all social grants began to be paid directly into specifically-created bank accounts for every beneficiary.
Ben Stanwix
News | 16 October 2015
Allowing the miners in the landmark silicosis case to act as a class on behalf of other miners would be contrary to the interests of justice, lawyers for the gold mining companies argued yesterday.
Lwandile Fikeni
News | 16 October 2015
On Thursday, over 1,000 people attended a silent protest held by the Black Sash at St George's Cathedral, Cape Town. A similar protest was held at Mopanye Mall, Soweto, in which 120 people attended. There was also a picket, held with the Right2Know, on Tuesday outside the Mitchells Plain Sassa Office. The protests are part of the Black Sash and partners’ 'Hands off our grants' (HOOG) campaign.
Pasqua Heard
News | 15 October 2015
Violence over taxi routes erupted in Cape Town’s South Peninsula yesterday morning. The South Africa Police Service (SAPS) reports that a 59-year-old taxi driver and his 20-year-old assistant were shot dead at about 5:30am this morning in Seawinds.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 15 October 2015
Lawyers for the mining companies have begun to set out their case in the South Gauteng High Court, which is hearing an application from mineworkers to be allowed to claim for damages due to exposure to silica dust on behalf of a bigger group of affected mineworkers.
Lwandile Fikeni and GroundUp staff
News | 15 October 2015
Following weeks of protests demanding better policing, and a number of incidents of mob justice, a satellite police station will be opened in Masiphumelele, and seven new constables have begun working in the area.
Pasqua Heard
News | 15 October 2015
Thembela Nkwalase, a single mother of five, has been employed as a cleaner at the Australian-owned Tormin mineral sand mine on the west coast since December last year.
Barbara Maregele
News | 15 October 2015
Communities struggling for adequate housing should do their own surveys of what they need, members of various communities told the land justice conference in Cape Town on 13 October.
Barbara Maregele and Ashleigh Furlong
News | 14 October 2015
People facing eviction needed knowledge of the laws and their rights, a member of the South Road community told the urban land justice colloquium on 13 October.
Barbara Maregele and Ashleigh Furlong
News | 14 October 2015
Bangumzi Balakazi, from Peddie in the Eastern Cape, was among the former gold miners sitting in the South Gauteng High Court this week as the landmark silicosis court case got underway.
Lwandile Fikeni and GroundUp staff
News | 14 October 2015
Grace Mkhize, 78, lives with three orphaned granddaughters and their three children in a mud house in Willowfontein, Pietermaritzburg. For seven years she has been waiting for a new house.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 13 October 2015
Loud reggae, pop and kwaito are some of the genres of music that compete with each other as you wander through the market at Cape Town central station taxi rank. Customers bustle through the rows of white container stalls, selling cheap snacks, fashionable clothing, haircuts and more. Among the many women entrepreneurs offering beauty services in the market is Odette Motema. She runs a hair and nail salon.
Text by Pasqua HeardPhotos by Juliette Garms
News | 13 October 2015
Parents of children at Parliament Primary School, Mfuleni, set up to accommodate children who had been learning in a tent, have demanded that the principal be dismissed.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 13 October 2015