Politics

Mixed reaction to Malema’s parliamentary performance

Capetonians who voted for the Economic Freedom Fighters have mixed feelings about the performance of Julius Malema during his first week in parliament.

Pharie Sefali and Johnnie Isaac

News | 24 June 2014

Malema should learn black consciousness is a philosophy of love not hatred

Che Guevara famously said that: "At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love." Black Consciousness itself is guided by the feelings of love; it is a philosophy of love. This was central to some of the philosophy on which the movement was founded such as the work of people like James Cone and Paulo Freire.

Ayanda Kota

Opinion | 23 June 2014

Protests at State of the Nation address

Over 50 protesters huddled behind barricades outside parliament on 17 June before President Jacob Zuma arrived to deliver the State of the Nation address that opened South Africaā€™s fifth parliament.

Lara Sokoloff

News | 18 June 2014

Minister Ramathlodi: more of the same, or the same, just more?

In the mining villages of Ga-Pila where Anglo Platinum continues to profit from land grabbed from the traditional communities just west of Mokopane, the appointment of the new Minister of Mineral Resources, Advocate Ngoako Ramathlodi, has been met with a sense of betrayal.

Christopher Rutledge

Opinion | 16 June 2014

Accusations fly as Strand homes demolished

ā€œThe law is the lawā€ said a spokesman for the South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) yesterday as hundreds were left homeless in the rain after the demolition of their shacks on SANRAL-owned land near Strand.

Barbara Maregele and Adam Armstrong

Feature | 4 June 2014

Community desperate as their homes are demolished

Hundreds of people were left homeless at Nomzamo settlement in Strand on Tuesday. Shacks were smashed down while their owners watched.

Pharie Sefali and Adam Armstrong

News | 4 June 2014

Unions get back to democratic basics

Misunderstanding and confusion about the platinum sector pay issue persists. And much of the media is to blame for repeating, without analysis, the public relations spin of the mining companies.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 2 June 2014

Eastern Cape voters explain why they voted the way they did

Three weeks after the general election, results are still being digested. GroundUp went to the Eastern Cape, to the rural settlement of Tsolo near Mthatha, and asked how and why people voted the way they did.

Pharie Sefali

News | 23 May 2014

Myths about the election

From a perusal of social media and certain sections of the commentariat (on both the Left and Right) one wouldnā€™t know that an intelligent South African electorate just handed the ANC a convincing victory in an overwhelming peaceful, free, fair and democratic election.

Gilad Isaacs

Opinion | 14 May 2014

The voting is over “ā€ Forward to new battles

The voting is over, the counting complete ā€” and there have been no major surprises. But for many it will be recriminations rather than celebrations that will follow what will almost certainly be regarded as a watershed election, signalling changes to come.

Terry Bell

News | 12 May 2014

ANC hands out t-shirts to voters in queues - parties cry foul

GroundUp witnessed ANC officials handing out t-shirts to people waiting to vote in Mfuleni. This happened at several polling stations. ANC officials actively canvassed voters to support the ANC.

Johnnie Isaac

Brief | 7 May 2014

IEC official fired in Mfuleni

An Independent Electoral Commission official working at the ward 108 voting tent in Mfuleni has been dismissed after disappearing for more than an hour without reporting.

Johnnie Isaac

Brief | 7 May 2014

I get upset when people say they not going to vote

Some of my friends from university say that they are not going to vote because they do not see what difference the vote will make. They say politicians are corrupt.

Pharie Sefali

Opinion | 7 May 2014

I will be heard

I was born into a new South Africa. At a time when the promise of a country, free from any prejudice, was enough to win the majority vote during the first democratic elections.

Barbara Maregele

Opinion | 7 May 2014

Abahlali’s decision ‘unfortunate’ - Unemployed People’s Movement

Ayanda Kota, organizer of the Unemployed Peopleā€™s Movement, says that Abahali baseMjondoloā€™s decision to endorse the DA is ā€˜unfortunateā€™.

Sibusiso Tshabalala

News | 5 May 2014

Why Abahlali endorsed the DA: S’bu Zikode speaks to GroundUp

On 2 May 2014 Abahlali baseMjondolo (ABM) --a social movement of shack dwellers-- endorsed the Democratic Alliance (DA) for the 2014 general elections. Abahlali baseMjondolo are better known for their protests against unlawful evictions and their advocacy for public housing and urban land for the poor. Sibusiso Tshabalala of GroundUp spoke to Sā€™bu Zikode, leader of Abahlali baseMjondolo, to find out why they took this decision.

Sibusiso Tshabalala

News | 5 May 2014