How Willowvale women live in fear of rape

Willowvale resident No-Italy Gola, 54, used a machete to fight off the man who tried to rape her. Many other women have not managed to thwart their attackers in this town where at least two rapes are reported to the police each week.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 11 November 2015

Snakes in the classroom

A school caretaker falls into a pit toilet and struggles for an hour to get out; snakes invade a primary school classroom: it’s just another day in Eastern Cape schools.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 3 November 2015

Make Grahamstown a better place for all, say protesters

About 100 people gathered in front of the Grahamstown City Hall to protest against the xenophobic violence that has hit the town and surrounding townships for more than a week.

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News | 30 October 2015

Protesters at Walter Sisulu University demand reinstatement of expelled students

Police used stun grenade and spray guns to disperse a group of about 300 Walter Sisulu University (WSU) students who intended to block Oxford Road with burning tyres.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Brief | 29 October 2015

Women living in terror plan march in Grahamstown

In the blistering hot conference room of the Masifunde Education and Development Project Trust, 14 women with determined calm put together a statement: 'The police have told us that we must not go ahead with our planned protest at the City Hall on Friday as they cannot guarantee our safety. We cannot and will not back down'. The Voices of the Foreigner’s Wives represent a large number of women still too afraid to leave their homes after the spate of xenophobic violence that shook Grahamstown a week ago.

Hancu Louw

News | 29 October 2015

Fort Hare students vow to continue protests

University of Fort Hare students have vowed to continue with their #FeesMustFall protests after an exchange of letters with Vice-Chancellor Mvuyo Tom.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and Siphesihle Matyila

News | 27 October 2015

Xenophobic violence and looting in Grahamstown

About 500 shopkeepers and their family members who have immigrated from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Somalia have been forced to abandon their businesses and flee for their lives after they came under attack from residents in the greater Grahamstown area last week. There were more confirmed cases of looting this morning.

Hancu Louw

Brief | 26 October 2015

Eastern Cape building workers left high and dry

Some 20,000 building workers in the Eastern Cape are not covered by any minimum wage agreement.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and GroundUp staff

News | 21 October 2015

Fire victim’s never-ending wait for a home

Bulelwa Vianne lost her parents, her sister and her brother-in-law in a fire in 2008. She was 18. Local officials promised to rebuild her home. They haven’t kept that promise.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 12 October 2015

The small town whose residents live in fear for their lives

Residents of Busila near Gatyana (Willowvale) say they have lost faith in the police after two houses were set alight by unknown men in the early hours, Tuesday. Since July, four people have been killed and five houses set alight. Residents say police are failing to protect them.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 8 October 2015

Teaching drama in Ndevana

Mbulelo Nkwali and Zolani Seyisi had one idea when they founded Suppermix in 2008 in King William’s Town’s Ndevana settlement: to take young people off the streets. Today the film and drama company performs at weddings, church events, and the Buffalo City carnival.

Siphesihle Matyila

News | 25 September 2015

Mdantsane construction workers strike

Construction workers in Walter Sisulu in Mdantsane are refusing to work on the RDP houses being built by the municipality, claiming they are being underpaid.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Brief | 17 September 2015

Making bricks for a living

A group of young men from Ndevana location near King William’s Town have found a way to put food on their families’ tables: making bricks.

Siphesihle Matyila

News | 17 September 2015

We’ll keep fighting, say Port Elizabeth protesters

Angry residents of an informal settlement in Port Elizabeth who took to the streets on Monday have vowed to continue with their protests until they are moved to better housing nearby.

Joseph Chirume

News | 16 September 2015

This place stinks, say Duncan Village residents

“Not only does this place stink, pigs eat here as well, making the place smell even more," says Sakhumzi Kholisile of Khayelitsha informal settlement in Duncan Village, East London.

Siphesihle Matyila

News | 10 September 2015

Angry Mdantsane residents protest quality of RDP houses

Residents of Walter Sisulu in Mdantsane protested on Tuesday, claiming the RDP houses they were due to move into had not been built properly.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 9 September 2015