110 learners in one class in Eastern Cape school

Equal Education has organised a two-day "solidarity visit" of schools in the Eastern Cape. Well-known South Africans, including Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and constitutional law blogger Pierre De Vos, are participating. GroundUp journalist Mary-Anne Gontsana is also taking part, reporting what she sees. Here is her first report.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 25 April 2013

MDR-TB

News | 24 April 2013

Venezuela: Lessons for South Africa

Hugo Chavez’s chosen successor Nicolas Maduro, has scraped through with a lead of 240,000 votes against the opposition of Henrique Capriles. Maduro is to lead the Venezuelan state in continuing the program of social reforms known as the Bolivarian Missions, where the state after nationalising the oil company, used that revenue for the betterment of the poorest sectors of society. Health care, housing and education are made available through the Missions.

Selby Nomnganga

Opinion | 24 April 2013

Suicidal from the stress of being unemployed

I am Sfiso Nkala. I am 40 years old and I live in Stanger in Kwazulu-Natal. I have been unemployed since 2008. As I write this I am at home thinking about how I will get to town to apply for the job I saw advertised in the newspaper. I know that once I ask someone to lend me money for transport then I have to pay it back.

Sfiso Nkala

Opinion | 24 April 2013

How do you look after an autistic child when you live in a shack?

“I have to tie his leg to the couch. If I don’t he wanders away and I have to run around the whole of RR section in search of him, giving people a description of him and asking if anyone has seen a boy resembling my son.”

Mary-Jane Matsolo

News | 24 April 2013

Joe Slovo High School toilets still broken

Nearly a year since we told the story of the state of toilets at Joe Slovo High School in Khayelitsha, the toilets remain broken.

Nokubonga Yawa

News | 24 April 2013

Bayhill tournament is “great” for Cape Town

The Bayhill soccer tournament took place over Easter weekend lasting from 28 March to 1 April 2013. The under 19 tournament was played at Erica Park by teams from different provinces. The overall tournament winners were Ajax Cape Town.

Margo Fortune

News | 24 April 2013

How Henrietta Lacks became immortal

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She had an aggressive tumour that quickly took over her body. Less than a year after being diagnosed, she died; leaving behind a devastated husband and 6 children. She was 31 years old. But even in her death, some of her cells lived on; dividing and growing, making trillions more cells than ever existed in her body. The combined weight of these cells is now over 400 times what Henrietta Lacks weighed when she was alive.

Kerry Gordon

News | 24 April 2013

My School

Today GroundUp received this short message from Palesa Faith, a high school learner in the Eastern Cape.

Palesa Faith

Opinion | 17 April 2013

City says violence prevention efforts working, but activists sceptical

In 2006, to tackle crime in Khayelitsha, the City of Cape Town launched the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) project.

Fergus Turner and GroundUp Staff

News | 17 April 2013

Can online activism change the world?

Can the Internet and its endless opportunities for communication, debate, information, and knowledge give a voice to those who go un-heard in regards to social and political change? and how can its beneficial resources be used by those who do not have access to the Internet?

Andiswa Hala, Jonathan Dockney, Mary Fawzi, Nkosikhona Swartbooi

Opinion | 17 April 2013

“I just want to go back to South Africa. I miss it so much.”

Two Mozambican sisters living in a Child and Youth Care Centre (care centre) since 2007 were deported to their home country in January despite nine years of growing up in South Africa.

Amanda Purtell

News | 17 April 2013

Time to learn from Thatcherism & its origins

From a trade union viewpoint, Margaret Thatcher will never be mourned. But her impact on global politics and economics cannot be denied. She rode the crest of a wave of liberal economic policies that swamped the consensual balance of the post World War Two years. In the process, she highlighted as few have done before or since, the inherently hostile relationship between labour and capital.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 12 April 2013

We interview Thabo Nthethe

We interviewed Bloemfontein Celtic defender and Captain, Twenty-eight-year-old Thabo Nthethe. He also plays for Bafana Bafana.

Margo Fortune

News | 10 April 2013

Khayelitsha lights mostly on but concerning signs of decline

Following several reports published on GroundUp on the broken street light problem in Khayelitsha, particularly along Lansdowne Road, several social justice organisations protested and the City repaired the lights. In the last two weeks we have checked the street lights. While most remain on, there are signs that the situation is getting worse.

Nokubonga Yawa and GroundUp Staff

News | 10 April 2013

“Cure for death discovered” - Why media reports on science are often misleading

Stories about science in the media are often misleading and over-hyped. In today's science column, Kerry Gordon discusses why.

Kerry Gordon

News | 10 April 2013