GroundUp News: Pentech residents want a school as promised to them

Residents of Pentech in Belhar are threatening court action to stop a state housing project, saying they need a school that was promised to them years ago; community and faith leaders meet to try prevent anti-immigrant march in Dunoon; 970 affordable homes to be built at Salt River Market by August…

GroundUp News: Fishing community challenge West Coast oil exploration

Small-scale fishing cooperatives and environmental organisations are seeking to overturn government approval granted for a 3D seismic survey off the West Coast; immigrants in Overstrand region fear for their lives; Gugulethu residents roll up sleeves and clean up illegal dumping sites. Lester Kiewi…

GroundUp News: ConCourt rules on private health provision

ConCourt rules that private health providers don’t need government permission to operate; farmworkers describe spending night on rooftops after flooding; government might finally be heeding calls for Cape Town military land to be released for housing. Africa Melane speaks to Masego Mafata of Ground…

GroundUp News: Taxi operators call for relief as fuel prices hit hard

Taxi operators are feeling the impact of the high fuel prices and seeking any form of relief while passengers fear a fare hike is coming; families in Khayelitsha have finally been relocated after weather delays and protests; a paraplegic man will finally receive care after a protracted legal battle…

GroundUp News: SASSA pilots new system in bid to shorten queues

In a bid to shorten queues, the SASSA office in Bellville is currently piloting a new system; the City of Cape Town is trying to relocate families living on top of sinkholes caused by a collapsing sewer pipe in Khayelitsha. Lester Kiewit speaks to Masego Mafata of GroundUp News about these stories.…

GroundUp News: City of Cape Town wants to make the registration process easier for ECDs

Aware of the bureaucracy involved, the City of Cape Town has started to make the process for registering Early Childhood Development centres easier so that they can apply for a national subsidy; the mystery surrounding the arrest of Chinese fishing trawlers; a North West school is collapsing with t…

GroundUp News: JSC overturns tribunal ruling on Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge

The Judicial Service Commission has overturned an earlier ruling by a tribunal which had found Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge not guilty of sexual harassment; a UCT study has found that many dead caracals had suffered internal bleeding from ingesting rat poison; Fisantekraal community …

GroundUp News: Government bid to contain growth of Knoflokskraal settlement

The Department of Public Works is finalising a High Court submission to try and contain the burgeoning, self-proclaimed Khoisan settlement called Knoflokskraal in Grabouw in the Elgin Valley; Sheriff enforces court order against former Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters at her home on behalf of #Un…

GroundUp News: Backyard housing tensions, torture case setback, and life in Lesotho’s caves

Editor Barbara October joined Lester Kiewit to highlight three of GroundUp’s feature stories this week, starting in Ravensmead where backyard dwellers say they are being overlooked in the City of Cape Town’s latest housing project, raising concerns about fairness in allocation. The conversation the…

GroundUp News: Cape High Court intervenes in sensitive medical case

The Cape High Court recently had to intervene in a medical case where doctors needed to amputate both legs of a child in order to save her life, but was met with opposition by her parents on religious and cultural grounds; Postbank is to resume with the rollout of black cards for grant payments; Ac…