News

Some loyal minibus taxi users unpersuaded by MyCiti buses

Despite the long, snaking queues that form every working day, many commuters remain steadfast in using taxis as their means of transport and not the MyCiti bus.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 7 August 2015

Over 7,000 people live on the streets of Cape Town

More than 7,000 people are homeless in Cape Town and a large percentage of them are male. This is according to the City of Cape Town's Social Development and Early Childhood Development Directorate's survey.

Bernard Chiguvare and Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 6 August 2015

Spar workers dismissed after strike for longer hours

About 20 workers have been dismissed at the Philippi Plaza Mall Spar following a strike they embarked on in June.

Siphesihle Matyila

News | 6 August 2015

Stellenbosch farm communities to march against eviction notices

Families living in five state farms in Stellenbosch say they refuse to go anywhere after being handed eviction notices last month from the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works, saying they should leave their homes by end of August. The families are planning to march today to air their grievances.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 6 August 2015

The new racism? A review of Gerhard Mare’s Declassified ,¨

Ideological positions that analyse conflict in South Africa in terms of race are not in the interests of disadvantaged people, argues Jeff Rudin in this review of a new book by Gerhard Mare.


Jeff Rudin

News | 6 August 2015

Police warn of smash and grab crime in Eisleben Road in Crossroads

Police have warned motorists to be cautious on Eisleben Road and at the robots on Govan Mbeki Road in Crossroads.

Pharie Sefali

News | 5 August 2015

“Sex work should not cost me my life”

On a wet and windy Tuesday morning on the corner of Oak and Main roads in Kenilworth, people gathered to sing and dance on the pavement, many in bright orange T-shirts with the words, 'Sex work should not cost me my life' written across their fronts.

Ashleigh Furlong

News | 5 August 2015

Philippi seniors “tell it like it is” during storytelling workshop

Philippi resident Cleopatra Qukula used hand gestures and sounds as she recalled one her “most traumatising” experiences — more than 50 years ago — when she was hospitalised for three months to recover from a dog bite.

Barbara Maregele

News | 4 August 2015

GroundUp’s Masixole Feni wins photography award

Masixole Feni, GroundUp's photographer, has won the 2015 Ernest Cole award.

Text by GroundUp Staff. Photos by Masixole Feni.

News | 4 August 2015

The worst spokesman in government?

Because GroundUp is currently based in Cape Town, many of our stories deal with difficult issues for the local government here. Yet despite the often harsh criticisms of the City of Cape Town that appear on our website, the City’s media department nearly always responds to our queries professionally. The same goes for the South African Police Service.

GroundUp Staff

News | 4 August 2015

Zimbabweans fear deportation as Home Affairs bungles special permit process

The immigrant rights group People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) is concerned that hundreds of Zimbabweans are being told to leave South Africa imminently.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 4 August 2015

Taking your life in your hands on Metrorail

In the past year, 394 incidents of crime on trains were reported in the Western Cape according to Metrorail. “We are losing lives on overcrowded and dangerous trains,” said Cosatu Western Cape provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich last week at the launch of its Section 77 application to Nedlac relating to train transport in the Western Cape. A lack of security on the trains is a key concern of the campaign.

Ashleigh Furlong

News | 3 August 2015

Mitchells Plain families face winter eviction

It’s raining lightly and there’s a cold breeze as Isgak Abrahams and his two young children huddle inside the small makeshift tent they call home. The tent, built on an open field near the Kapteinsklip train station in Mitchells Plain, is made of three large blankets, cardboard boxes and plastic sheets, all held down by a few bricks.

Barbara Maregele

News | 3 August 2015

Like inhaling smoke? Ride Metrorail.

A complete disregard for the no-smoking notices and rules on Metrorail trains and at stations by many commuters poses a daily health hazard to thousands of their fellow travellers. And Metrorail appears powerless to enforce the law.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 3 August 2015

Lost belongings after evictions: a chaotic blame game

A year after their eviction from land owned by the SA National Roads Agency (SANRAL), some Lwandle residents say their possessions were never returned to them. But SANRAL says the goods were placed under the control of a community leader, and the agency is not to blame if residents did not get their belongings back.

GroundUp staff

News | 31 July 2015

“It’s no one’s dream to clean bucket toilets”

Thandekile Madikane tells his children that he works at the airport. He does not want his children to laugh at him for the job he does. But his job is vital. He is part of the city's operation to clean portable toilets.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 31 July 2015