Government

Owners of company contracted by City abscond, leaving angry unpaid workers

Workers from Skyforce General Services company say they will picket today outside the Civic Centre to complain to Mayor Patricia de Lille that they have not been paid their full salaries for months.

Pharie Sefali

News | 11 May 2015

Hangberg residents vow to fight evictions

Some Hangberg residents living in the area known as “Die Sloot” say they will not move out of their homes despite looming threats of eviction.

Barbara Maregele

News | 11 May 2015

On D-Day for public sector wage agreement, consider lopsided government salaries

Don’t blame workers for poor management. And feel some sympathy for any competent managers, whether in a large school, a government department, or parastatal who often have to deal with a legacy of maladministration, all too often accompanied by levels of corruption.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 11 May 2015

Sexologists battle over who is the real deal

Two sexology institutes in Gauteng are in conflict with one another over who is offering a legitimate services versus who is operating illegally. And experts in the field say they are both in the wrong.

Nombulelo Damba

News | 8 May 2015

Detainee tells of shocking conditions for awaiting trial prisoners

After numerous organisations wrote to the Department of Correctional Services, raising their concerns about the bad conditions in the awaiting trial section of Pollsmoor prison, GroundUp exclusively spoke to a detainee in that section, who says nothing has changed.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 7 May 2015

How Virginia de Azevedo has improved our health

Dr Virginia de Azevedo, the City Health Manager in Khayelitsha, has become a target of SAMWU strike action which affects ten City of Cape Town run clinics in Khayelitsha.

Lynne Wilkinson

Opinion | 7 May 2015

SAMWU protests against “racist, and “corrupt, City managers

Protesters ululated, clapped hands and blew vuvuzelas in the Cape Town Civic Center, when Mayor Patricia de Lille promised to investigate allegations of racism by the City of Cape Town’s line managers.

Nombulelo Damba and Bernard Chiguvare

News | 6 May 2015

Dying and the law: the Dignity SA case explained

Yesterday Judge Fabricius of the Pretoria High Court handed down an order in the case of Robin Stransham-Ford.

Timothy Fish Hodgson

News | 1 May 2015

More toilets will save South Africa money

For over five years, the Social Justice Coalition in Cape Town has called for expanding access to safe and clean sanitation facilities in Khayelitsha and other townships in the city. Despite the overwhelming need for such services, the municipal government has yet to fulfill its duties to provide them at the requisite scale.

Gregg Gonsalves, Edward Kaplan and David Paltiel

Opinion | 29 April 2015

Maggots, bodies and stench: what Khayelitsha residents say about their toilets

Last Thursday the Social Justice Coalition handed over 500 submissions, written by Khayelitsha residents, on the municipal budget to the City of Cape Town. GroundUp examined a sample of them to find out what residents are asking for.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 29 April 2015

Waiting for a Home Affairs document: seven years and counting

A 32-year-old Burundian refugee, Furaha (not her real name) has been waiting since 2008 for her refugee identity document.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 29 April 2015

Old Mutual drags its heels on Khayelitsha housing development

Old Mutual has not kept a promise to build more than 500 low cost houses and a shopping centre in Khayelitsha, though this was a condition of a 2008 deal with the City of Cape Town.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 28 April 2015

Khayelitsha residents hand over 600 submissions on City’s draft budget

About 150 Social Justice Coalition (SJC) members, supported by Ndifuna Ukwazi, formed a queue behind a toilet outside the Civic Centre and chanted struggle songs on Thursday, as they waited for their individual submissions on the City of Cape Town's draft budget for the 2015/2016 financial year to be collected.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 23 April 2015

Call for parliament to sign anti-xenophobia pledge

About 100 people marched against xenophobia in Cape Town yesterday. The protest was organised by several civil society organisation including PASSOP and Sonke Gender Justice.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 23 April 2015

Marikana residents try to occupy new land

Residents of the informal settlement in Philippi East (named Marikana by residents, after the massacre in Marikana, the platinum mining town) attempted to erect shacks next to the Stock Road Train Station yesterday, but were prevented from doing so by police. Nevertheless residents have promised to try again.

Nombulelo Damba

News | 23 April 2015

Taxi drivers burn vehicles and attack reporters in Nyanga

At least three Golden Arrow buses and a delivery vehicle were set alight in Nyanga, apparently by taxi drivers who are demanding that the City Metro Police return their cars that were impounded yesterday.

Nombulelo Damba

News | 21 April 2015