Every month, money is deducted from the accounts of hundreds of beneficiaries of social grants without their permission. The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) is working to get the money refunded. But according to the Black Sash, the system Sassa has set up does not work.
GroundUp Staff
Feature | 7 October 2015
The South African governmentâs massive social security payment system is managed by a subsidiary of Net1, a company listed on stock exchanges in the United States and Johannesburg.
GroundUp Staff
Feature | 7 October 2015
Some social grant beneficiaries are so deeply in debt that much of each monthâs grant goes to paying back a loan.
GroundUp Staff
Feature | 7 October 2015
It’s 6:30am on a cold Wednesday morning and about 50 people, mostly women with babies, are already queuing outside the South African Social Security Agency office in the Delft library to apply for their child support grants.
GroundUp Staff
Feature | 7 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
It was a weekend of flaring emotions and violence at Wolwerivier relocation area. On Friday, residents protested against the Cityâs relocation of strangers into empty units sought by the community to alleviate the overcrowding at the settlement. Rubber bullets were fired into crowds containing mostly women and children. People were arrested and beaten when they refused to disperse.
Daneel Knoetze
Feature | 21 September 2015
Simphiwe Mabuwa (45) goes beyond the call of duty as a Big Issue and Funny Money salesman at the intersection between Newlands Avenue and Dean Street in Newlands. Over the five years he has worked in the area, he has also taken on the role of community watchman and good friend to many passers-by.
Pasqua Heard
Feature | 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
At dawn on Saturday 12 September more than 15,000 homing pigeons were released from Hanover in the Northern Cape, kicking off the largest single pigeon race in South African history. The birds burst into the air and began circling to orientate themselves. Within ten minutes they had vanished, setting off on the 600 km journey home.
Kimon de Greef
Feature | 14 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
Some of the top companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange are flouting environmental laws and not telling their shareholders, according to a study by the Centre for Environmental Rights.
Alide Dasnois
Feature | 8 September 2015
Janitors employed by the Buffalo City municipality in East London to clean toilets say they are forced to pay for cleaning materials and gloves from their own salaries.
Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
Feature | 3 September 2015
The proposed closure of Oceanaâs Hout Bay Fishmeal and Fish Oil Facility is worrying people of Hangberg, where many employees live.
Ashleigh Furlong
Feature | 2 September 2015
âThey promised us that we would stay for a short period of time. They didnât keep their promise,â says Amelia Nono, who came to Intersite, a temporary relocation area (TRA) in Langa, nine years ago.
Ashleigh Furlong
Feature | 18 August 2015
Six Zimbabwean men have accused a Stikland trucking company of dismissing them for having joined the Motor Transport Workersâ Union of South Africa (MTWU). They accuse the company of exploitation and ill treatment, and claim they are owed pay.
Tariro Washinyira
Feature | 6 August 2015
Little by little, the management of compensation for sick and injured workers is being shifted from the state to the private sector â and in view of the problems in the Workersâ Compensation Fund, this may not be a bad thing, writes Pete Lewis.
Pete Lewis
Feature | 5 August 2015