Ex-gang member turns life around

Suzanne, 25 years old of Kalksteen, is an ex-gang member and drug addict who is now inspiring young women in her community.

Margo Fortune

News | 20 February 2013

Off the Grid

News | 14 February 2013

Wages in the clothing industry in South Africa

This is a debate between Professors Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings and the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU).

GroundUp Staff

News | 14 February 2013

Allegations of abuse in clothing factories

Workers in Kwazulu-Natal clothing factories have made allegations of abuse against factory owners in affidavits provided to GroundUp.

Issa Saunders

News | 13 February 2013

Early ANC election salvoes backfire

The government has loosed off the first major salvoes of the 2014 election campaign
— and all of them have backfired. That is one labour movement view of three
official announcements over the past ten days.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 13 February 2013

Continued existence of shacks is a real scandal

Yet another shack fire has devastated the BM section of Khayelitsha. On New Years morning fires raged through the community, leaving about 4,000 people homeless and killing at least four. The responses from authorities to what has now become a routine occurrence in the area have been mixed.

Ben Fogel

Opinion | 13 February 2013

Nyanga residents march against man who posted nude pictures of woman on Facebook

A group of women marched to a house in Mau-Mau, Nyanga, to confront a man they accuse of posting nude pictures of a woman, his girlfriend, on Facebook.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 13 February 2013

Girl killed by train during gang fight

On 7 February a teenage Khayelitsha girl, Siyamthanda Mdunyelwa, was hit by a train while crossing the railway at about 7:30pm in order to escape from the police who were breaking up a gang fight.

Mihle Pike

News | 13 February 2013

Refuge for homeless boys opening in D-section Khayelitsha

A new refuge has opened in Khayelitsha D-section that will accommodate young homeless boys in and around Cape Town.

Mihle Pike

News | 13 February 2013

Ocean View man explains how he lives “Off the grid”

Ricardo Fortune explains how he has freed himself of Eskom and gone off the grid to power his house.

Janine Fortuin and Neo Sithole

News | 13 February 2013

Amanda Maboza: Poet from Gugulethu

Amanda Maboza is a 19-year-old poet, from the dusty streets of Gugulethu. A team consisting of her and five other youths from Cape Town's townships came 20th in a poetry competition in California in July 2012.

Margo Fortune

News | 13 February 2013

Do you love or hate Valentine’s Day?

We asked people what they think of Valentine's Day.

Nokubonga Yawa

News | 13 February 2013

Immigrants establish support project for women

Evelyn Handiseni founded a support project called Divine Caring Hands in 2012. The idea was born from her desire to help women who face challenges similar to those she has faced in her own life.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 13 February 2013

City turns Khayelitsha street lights on

Night-time and Khayelitsha looks a different place to a few weeks ago. The City has repaired most of the street lights in the township's major roads; it is noticeably brighter now. Last night Mayor Patricia De Lille joined a march organised by organisations who have been demanding that the lights be repaired.

Nokubonga Yawa and Nathan Geffen

News | 12 February 2013

The poorest of the poor: The Karretjie Mense of the Great Karoo

In and around Colesberg, a small historical town on the N1 mid-way between Cape Town and Johannesburg, I met a group of impoverished sheep shearers living in abject poverty, surviving in tiny tin shacks on the verges of public roads. Only recently, in the last 15 years, have they become a settled, sedentary people.

Timothy Gabb

News | 6 February 2013

Libertas Flats in Parow are a human pig sty

On Thursday morning I went to see Libertas Flats in Klosser Street, Parow. This block is a human pig sty. It is filthy and stinks. There are leaking ceilings and walls that seem to have been painted a century ago. Many flats are without water and electricity.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 6 February 2013