Party politics dominates Cosatu crisis

Fudging and delay. That was what emerged from last week’s eagerly awaited Cosatu press conference. As a result, the questions about the future of suspended general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and the prospect of a Special National Congress (SNC) remained unanswered.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 25 November 2013

“We’ve lost hope in our government”

Several houses in Gugulethu were damaged by the heavy rainfall this weekend. Hombazi Fiphaza, a resident from Kanana Square informal settlement, said, “We go through the same thing everytime there is heavy rainfall … What pains me the most is watching the children suffer because of it, and there is nothing you can do to protect them from it.”

Nwabisa Pondoyi

News | 21 November 2013

Muizenberg shack-dwellers flooded out of their homes

44-year-old Nomfundo (not her real name) says for the past 20 years she has lived in the informal settlement outside Capricorn, Muizenberg. She always dreads rain as it comes with the possibility of floods.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 21 November 2013

Toward a more realistic NDP - start with education and jobs

It is two years since the first authoring of the National Development Plan (NDP), and over a year since the delivery of the revised plan by the National Planning Commission (NPC). To speed up progress, we must stop squabbling over which parts of it to implement and focus initially on education and labour-intensive industries.

Ayal Belling

Opinion | 21 November 2013

Flooding in RR Section

News | 20 November 2013

No-show in RR Section by Disaster Management after flooding?

“When we called Disaster Risk Management on Saturday, they sent one man … He said he would be back in a couple of hours, with provisions for a hundred people, including sand bags and stones to protect houses from further water damage, as well as food. They never came back,” says Luthando Tokota a community advocate with the Social Justice Coalition.

Delphine Pedeboy

News | 20 November 2013

The week in political activism

This week we have reports from Abahlali baseMjondolo, People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty, Treatment Action Campaign, Women’s Legal Centre and Democratic Left Front.

Delphine Pedeboy

News | 20 November 2013

Khayelitsha Development Forum boycotts policing inquiry

The Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) says there is no need for the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into policing.

Pharie Sefali

News | 20 November 2013

Parow soup kitchen offers vital service to hungry and homeless

Louis Titus, a 60-year-old married man from Elsies River, was introduced to the Vineyard soup kitchen in Parow four months ago by a friend. Titus worked for the City of Cape Town for 20 years. He currently receives a R1,500 monthly pension. His wife is unemployed. Titus takes the food he receives home to his four children.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 20 November 2013

Can urban upgrading create safer communities?

The third lecture of this year’s Grootboom Memorial Dialogue Series took place at the Woodstock Town hall last night. Hosted by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), the dialogue explored the impact of urban design interventions on the safety and security of people living in informal settlements.

Sibusiso Tshabalala

News | 20 November 2013

Poverty and waste - the other side of Grahamstown

On the edge of the university hamlet of Grahamstown, there’s a municipal dump where people discard trash. It’s far enough out of town to not smell the stench – or for most locals not to be reminded of the haunting plight of the poor who subsist off the waste.

Mandy de Waal

Feature | 20 November 2013

A law journal for the rest of us

All people are affected by the law but few understand it. Lawyers and judges speak and write using complicated language. Nearly any non-lawyer who picks up a law journal would find it dry and unintelligible. Enter the People's Law Journal, a publication that aims to change this.

GroundUp Staff

News | 19 November 2013

How to break the backlog in primary education

Jack Lewis explains how we can quickly make radical improvements to primary school education.

Jack Lewis.

Opinion | 18 November 2013

Time for serious action on road carnage

The road crash massacre on the Moloto Road in Mpumalanga last week provides an horrific portent for the annual festive season slaughter on the highways and byways of South Africa. And the manner in which the deaths of 29 people were reported, being consigned, for the most part, to the inside pages of newspapers, reveals just how accepting the country has become of such carnage.

Terry Bell.

Opinion | 18 November 2013

Where’s Wally? Liberals in the DA

Leaders, former leaders and the main cheerleaders of the Democratic Alliance have publicly debated these last weeks about whether or not the party has betrayed its liberal tradition with its stance on black economic empowerment.

Nathan Geffen

Opinion | 18 November 2013