In King Leopoldâs Ghost, the historian Adam Hochschild uncovers the horrors committed in the Belgian Congo in the years before and after 1900. It is a history of slavery, murder and mutilation â anyone whoâs seen the pictures of piles of cut-off hands cannot but be horrified by it.
Marcus Low
Opinion | 9 October 2015
Over the past few years, we have seen an explosion of arguments for and against gay rights in Africa. Those in favour of gay rights point out that they can help to protect sexual minorities by making discrimination illegal, in the process making societies more equitable. Those opposed to gay rights allege that homosexuality only arrived with Europeans, that gay rights are a threat to the African nation, and a threat to the heterosexual family.
Andrew Tucker
Opinion | 6 October 2015
South Africa is running out of an essential medicine for treating very sick patients with tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant bacterial infections. Many hospitals are already out of stock.
GroundUp Staff
News | 5 October 2015
Based on how much of our public space Tim Noakes and the Banting diet occupy, you might think that one of the most important nutrition problems facing South Africa is the carbohydrate vs fat intake in our diets. It just isnât.
Ashleigh Furlong
News | 2 October 2015
Virginia Sibanda, like thousands of youth across South Africa in November 2014, was hunched over a desk, pen in hand, taking her matric exams. Her years of accumulated academic trophies and certificates culminated in these papers. She had attended tutoring sessions, practiced the past exams, and had applied to universities to pursue her dream of studying medicine.
Sarita Pillay
Feature | 1 October 2015
âThere are so many things that rapists and communities do that feed myths and false notions about rape,â says Rape Crisis director Kathleen Dey.
Barbara Maregele
News | 28 September 2015
Martin Shkreli was the most hated man on the internet for a brief time this week. His company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, pushed up the price of a medicine, pyrimethamine, used to treat a life-threatening disease from $13.50 (approx R185) to $750 (approx R10,250) a pill.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 23 September 2015
The City of Cape Town has begun collecting the rubbish that has been piling up in front of people's homes in Barcelona informal settlement.
Bernard Chiguvare
Brief | 18 September 2015
People from various parts of Cape Town have rallied to help a Site C family with a disabled teenager who, like her father, has epilepsy.
Pharie Sefali
News | 17 September 2015
There are at least three clear ways in which pseudoscience or bad science can harm consumers.
Jacques Rousseau
Opinion | 16 September 2015
R2 million. Thatâs how much sport supplement company Ultimate Sports Nutrition (USN) wants consumer activist Harris Steinman to pay for calling its owner, Albe Geldenhuys, a âscam artistâ, âliarâ, âquackâ, âfraudâ and âsnake oil salesmanâ.
GroundUp Staff
News | 16 September 2015
âI have some very vivid memories of when I was really young, say four or five years old, my grandmother would dress me in womenâs clothing and say, âLook at my granddaughterâ, but also in a playful way,' says Sandile Ndelu, a transgender woman, who is a law student at UCT.
Ashleigh Furlong
Feature | 15 September 2015
Parental leave has been a trending topic this year, both globally and in South Africa. Corporations, especially global tech companies, have been making headlines as they announce expanded maternity and paternity leave: From Virgin Managementâs announcement that parents can now receive up to a year of paid shared parental leave, to Netflix announcing a year of paid maternity and paternity leave.
Czerina Patel
Analysis | 11 September 2015
“Not only does this place stink, pigs eat here as well, making the place smell even more," says Sakhumzi Kholisile of Khayelitsha informal settlement in Duncan Village, East London.
Siphesihle Matyila
News | 10 September 2015
France location in Pietermaritzburg has faced a water crisis for months. Yet, say residents, water is left to leak from broken standpipes in this area and the nearby areas of Dambuza and Machibisa.
Ntombi Mbomvu
News | 9 September 2015
After recovering from a difficult labour, Nolitha Kamana went to look for her baby in the hospital wards, only to find the child in the mortuary. Her story is one of scores collected by the Treatment Action Campaign highlighting problems in maternity and obstetrics units in Cape Town. GroundUp's Mary-Anne Gontsana spoke to some of the women.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
Feature | 9 September 2015