Human Rights

“Consumers in debt should ask for help” - Flemix Advocate

Consumers who are struggling to repay their loans should take the first step and ask for help, advocate Piet Louw SC told the court on Monday.

Barbara Maregele

News | 24 February 2015

“I loved my job,” says man dismissed by Independent Media

Bongani Peterson Fani says he only knows one thing that he does very well and that is delivering newspapers. Now that he is suddenly out of a job, he doesn't know where to begin looking for work.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 24 February 2015

Flemix advocate: poor should be free to make bad deals

The group of consumers who are hoping to have their emolument attachment orders (EAO) declared invalid had the freedom to choose and “to make a bad deal,” Advocate Piet Louw SC told the court on Thursday.

Barbara Maregele

News | 20 February 2015

ANC calls for “deregistration of TAC”

The ANC Youth League Free State has called for the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to be deregistered. This follows TAC's "Fire Benny" campaign, which calls for the dismissal of the province's Health MEC Benny Malakoane.

Nathan Geffen and GroundUp Staff

News | 19 February 2015

Report Flemix legal team to the law society says advocate Anton Katz

A group of creditors used “trickery” to have emolument attachment orders served on unsuspecting consumers, advocate Anton Katz told the Western Cape High court yesterday.

Barbara Maregele

News | 17 February 2015

Corruption busting vs defamation in Lowveld court case

A well-known Limpopo businessman is suing the editor of a small Lowveld newspaper, Kruger2Canyon, for R500 000 in a defamation case described by the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) as having “elements of intimidation and censorship by individuals with significant power”.

Pharie Sefali

Feature | 13 February 2015

Prejudice is one of the biggest obstacles for township wheelchair users

Left disabled by a gunshot wound in 2011, Anda Mthulu from Taiwan in Khayelitsha faces much hardship in his township, through both physical and social obstacles.

Text by Kevin Elliott. Photos by Masixole Feni.

Feature | 12 February 2015

Convicted activists vow to challenge gatherings law

A Cape Town magistrate has convicted ten activists from the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) for convening an illegal gathering. Although they were discharged with a caution, the group has vowed to appeal the conviction, and to have the Regulations of Gatherings Act declared unconstitutional by a higher court.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 11 February 2015

Call for deregistration of Jewish students receives uncompromising response from vice-chancellor

In a strongly worded response to a memorandum received from the Student Representative Council (SRC) and the Progressive Youth Alliance at the Durban University of Technology, vice-chancellor Ahmed Bawa has written that it is "outrageous, preposterous and a deep violation of our National Constitution and every human rights principle" for these organisations to have demanded the deregistration of Jewish students.

GroundUp Staff

Brief | 11 February 2015

Flamingo Crescent upgrade shows what can be done

The first few months of Margaret Papier’s stay in Flamingo Crescent, a shanty town in Lansdowne, were so rough that she considered moving back to her former home underneath Lansdowne Bridge. Now, after three years of upgrading, she and her partner have a modest yet comfortable and electrified home, with access to clean drinking water and a flush toilet outside their front door.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 11 February 2015

Curro schools and segregation: back to the future

Today, Equal Education is protesting outside the Public Investment Corporation because it is an investor in the Curro private school chain. DORON ISAACS, Equal Education's Deputy General Secretary, explains his organisation's concerns with Curro.

Doron Isaacs

Opinion | 10 February 2015

Gugulethu’s free paralegal advice centre under threat of closure

The Gugulethu Paralegal Advice Office in Gugulethu will soon be forced to close down if staff are unable to secure funding by April this year.

Barbara Maregele

News | 9 February 2015

How xenophobic violence turned Joseph Tau’s life upside down

“I heard a loud noise from the looters outside the supermarket,” recalls 76-year-old Joseph Tau. “I could hear footsteps on the roof and knew they were coming for us."

Mosa Damane

News | 4 February 2015

Sisulu drafting amendments to eviction laws

Minister for Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu is in the process of drafting amendments to eviction legislation, in line with the report of the commission of inquiry into the Lwandle evictions last year.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 4 February 2015

Most Mfuleni tent children back at school

Arrangements have been made to accommodate most of the Mfuleni learners who were using a tent as a school, according to the Western Cape Department of Education.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 4 February 2015

No room for learners: parents start school in tent

Hundreds of learners are using a tent in Mfuleni’s Bardale neighbourhood as a school after parents say they were turned away from primary and high schools in the area which are full.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 29 January 2015