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

How poverty interferes with dreams: Andiswa Nkuphe’s story

Andiswa Nkuphe lives with her eight siblings. Their house is a shipping container. Despite good school results and ambitions of becoming a nurse, she has to take care of her siblings, because their mother has been sick for almost two years and she's been in hospital since January this year.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 8 September 2015

Buffalo City janitors have to pay for their own toilet cleaning materials

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

South Africa’s 5 million working poor

Every day millions across South Africa do arduous work in jobs that cannot keep them and their dependants out of poverty. These are the “working poor” and according to a new study, there are about five and half million of them.

Gilad Isaacs

Opinion | 25 August 2015

UCT and transformation

In April and May 2015 we published a five-part series on UCT and transformation:

By

Feature | 1 June 2015

Big dreams for Port Elizabeth cooperative for people with disabilities

A Port Elizabeth cooperative run by people living with disabilities is looking for funds to launch a business.

Joseph Chirume

News | 10 April 2015