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Housing activists under threat in Thembisa

Daring to question the botched relocation of shack dwellers from one settlement to another has brought Abahlali members to the attention of hitmen and the metro police.

Maru Attwood
Photographer:
Illustrator: Anastasya Eliseeva
30 June 2022

Izishoshovu zokuhlaliswa kwabantu zisengozini eThembisa

Ngenxa nje yokuba nesibindi sokubuza ngokungaphumeleli kohlelo lokutholelwa indawo entsha kwabantu abahlala emikhukhiwni besuswa kwenye sekufake amalungu Abahlali baseMjondolo enkingeni yokuzingelw…

Maru Attwood
Photographer:
Illustrator: None
30 June 2022

Overworked Eastern Cape education assistants unpaid

Young people hired under the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative in the province are teaching classes without supervision and some have not been paid last months’ stipends.

Anna Majavu
27 June 2022

Fleurhof housing no safe haven for the elderly

The development, touted as one of South Africa’s premier integrated residential projects, is failing to live up to the expectations of residents, who complain about shoddy workmanship.

Oupa Nkosi
27 June 2022

High court finds protest fee unconstitutional

The Johannesburg high court has ruled that the City of Johannesburg charging convenors a levy to provide traffic control and policing during demonstrations violates the right to protest.

Musawenkosi Cabe
24 June 2022

Castle of no hope for Cape Town’s homeless

After City officials seized tents, clothing, medication and other belongings during a so-called clean-up operation, the future of those living outside the castle is uncertain.

Matthew Hirsch
Photographer:
Illustrator: None
13 June 2022

Kaapstad-metro se optrede laat haweloses sonder hoop

Die toekoms is onseker vir tentbewoners naby die kasteel nadat die metro hulle skuilings, klere, medikasie en ander besittings tydens ‘n sogenaamde skoonmaakoperasie gekonfiskeer het.

Matthew Hirsch
13 June 2022

Comair’s grounding just the latest blow for workers

The airline has been in business rescue for two years without a sign of relief for employees who have felt the stress of reduced pay, insecure jobs amid retrenchments and a heavy workload.

Anna Majavu, Sazi Bongwe and Maru Attwood
9 June 2022

Mom’s determination forces police to act

The murders of three women in the Western Cape might have remained unsolved if the mother of one of the victims did not go to extraordinary lengths to have the prime suspect arrested.

Nadine Theron
8 June 2022

Makhanda mourns the death of Fundile ‘Jeff’ Budaza

Disgust at rampant corruption in the Makana municipality took centre stage at the funeral of one of its brave officials who fought the criminality he saw around him, and was likely killed for it.

Anna Majavu
7 June 2022

Switchover to new HIV drug is not all smooth sailing

Three years after the health department started providing antiretroviral drug dolutegravir, close to 3.2 million people are taking it. But switching all these people has been a massive undertaking.

Elri Voigt
7 June 2022

Liyaphela ithemba kwabakha-hlanyezwe yizikhukhula nomlilo eThekwini

Izakhamizi zasemijondolo yaseSiyathuthuka sezibhekane nezimo eziningi ezingezinhle ezibashiye bengenamizi, zaqeda nangamaphupho ekusasa elingcono.

Nomfundo Xolo
3 June 2022

Flood and fire victims in Durban are fast losing hope

The traumatised residents of Siyathuthuka shack settlement have now faced several calamitous events that have destroyed their homes, their dreams and any prospects of a dignified life.

Nomfundo Xolo
3 June 2022

Activists under threat from surveillance

Members of social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo allege that the state monitors their phones and emails, tracking their movements and putting them in constant danger.

Naledi Sikhakhane
3 June 2022

Pain management for children is falling short in SA

The majority of healthcare workers in a survey said children’s pain was not being adequately treated. Too few pain clinics, an overburdened system and a lack of medication all contribute.

Elsabé Brits
1 June 2022

Frantic water scramble as Gqeberha’s Day Zero looms

Impoverished residents in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro are spending stressful days trying to get enough water for their households as well as their gardens and livestock.

Anna Majavu
1 June 2022

The Rea Vaya dream hobbles on

In its latest guarantee, Johannesburg’s transport department says that the next leg of the city’s public bus system will be operational by September.

Dennis Webster
30 May 2022

Government support the only way, says taxi industry

The price of petrol continues to rise but commuters cannot afford a ticket hike and minibus, metered taxi and e-hailing drivers are still struggling with Covid setbacks.

Musawenkosi Cabe
30 May 2022

Ukwesekwa wuhulumeni yiyona kuphela into engasisiza manje, kusho abemboni yamatekisi

Intengo kaphethiloli nodizili iyaqhubeka nokunyuka kodwa abagibeli ngeke bakukhone ukwenyuka kwemali yokugibela ekubeni abamatekisi basazama ukuzithintitha ngemuva kokuphazamiseka okudalwe yiCovid.

Musawenkosi Cabe
30 May 2022

Eastern Cape healthcare workers stretched too far

In an apparent bid to save money, the province terminated the contracts of thousands of workers and refused to fill vacant posts, leaving clinics woefully understaffed.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
26 May 2022

Die gesondheidskrisis in die Noord-Kaap verdiep

Die regering se verwaarlosing van gesondheidspersoneel, ‘n onvoldoende begroting en die wêreldwye tekort aan verpleegsters maak die situasie vir werkers en pasiënte onhoudbaar.

Anna Majavu
25 May 2022

We are not disposable, say healthcare workers

The Gauteng health department’s budget has been slashed in half, resulting in nurses who worked through the pandemic sitting at home while 10 000 posts are vacant.

Thabo Molelekwa
24 May 2022

‘Day Zero in Nelson Mandela Bay is metro’s fault’

The collapse of water infrastructure in the Eastern Cape’s largest municipality has left residents angry as their taps are dry while water runs down the streets.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
23 May 2022

Sri Lanka is on the brink

Civil unrest in the South Asian island nation is poised to worsen as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa refuses to step down and furious protesters show no sign of relenting.

Haris Zargar
23 May 2022

‘Our bones buried under the Constitutional Court’

Meet some of the people who have held the steps of the apex court for more than three weeks, sleeping out in the cold to demand reparations for apartheid crimes.

Dennis Webster
20 May 2022

Inclusive education unrealised after 21 years

Published in 2001, the white paper for inclusive education is yet to be passed into law, leaving disabled learners without access to schools and with little legal recourse.

Zandile Bangani
17 May 2022

Shack dwellers face wrath of Pimville residents

Growing frustration over high levels of crime, especially electricity cable theft, has resulted in the Chicken Farm community being blamed amid a rise in xenophobia.

Oupa Nkosi
17 May 2022

DRC queer rights activist forced to go into hiding

The Congolese advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights has been living in fear after spurious charges of ‘promoting homosexuality’ led the police to her door.

Carl Collison
16 May 2022

Slain eKhenana activist Nokuthula Mabaso remembered

A leader of the commune’s food sovereignty projects, the fearless Mabaso had given most of her adult life to the struggle for land and dignity.

Nomfundo Xolo
13 May 2022

Neighbours reach out to help homeless flood victims

In community shelters all over the eThekwini metro, kind-hearted residents who have very little themselves manage to find ways to help their stricken neighbours.

Naledi Sikhakhane
12 May 2022

Pupils leave dysfunctional eSwatini schools for SA

Many parents near the border have sent their children to South African schools after the pandemic and mass protests disrupted local classes.

Cebelihle Mbuyisa
11 May 2022

No money to pay you, apartheid survivors are told

Activists demanding reparations for apartheid crimes finally met with the justice minister, who informed them that the TRC list of beneficiaries will not be expanded.

Dennis Webster
11 May 2022

Sand dams boost food security in rural Zimbabwe

In hot and arid parts of the country, this method of water abstraction from sandy riverbeds is helping villagers to grow their vegetable gardens all year round.

Kudzanai Musengi
10 May 2022

Failed reparations a ‘betrayal’, says leading expert

More than two decades after she helped draft the TRC’s recommendations, human rights lawyer Yasmin Sooka throws her support behind apartheid survivors getting compensation.

Dennis Webster
6 May 2022

‘The floods are a real call to conscience’

The deluge in KwaZulu-Natal is part of unpredictable weather patterns that will only worsen in cities with infrastructure already failing. Society needs to rally for change now.

Greg Ardé
6 May 2022

Abahlali activist is killed at home in eKhenana

Nokuthula Mabaso is the second activist to be assassinated in this Durban commune in two months.

Nomfundo Xolo
6 May 2022

Cosatu’s ‘successful’ Workers’ Day rally

Kicking the president out of the federation’s main rally shows how tired workers are of the government protecting the private sector while claiming to be on the side of the working class.

Magnificent Mndebele
5 May 2022

Worker compensation yet to be put into practice

Two workplace incidents show that although domestic workers are legally covered by the compensation act, a lack of follow-through makes it almost impossible to claim.

Zandile Bangani
5 May 2022

Long wait continues for apartheid reparations

People who are now elderly and suffered terrible losses at the hands of South Africa’s white minority regime are determinedly waiting to be heard.

Dennis Webster
4 May 2022

No escaping the ‘river of death’

Bodies are still missing after heavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal caused massive flooding. Now distraught families are left to pick through the wreckage of their lives.

Nomfundo Xolo
4 May 2022

Burials bring more pain for Durban flood victims

For impoverished families who have not received the promised government assistance for funerals, burying their loved ones has been yet another difficult and heartbreaking challenge.

Naledi Sikhakhane
29 April 2022

A sangoma campaigns to protect intersex newborns

A Johannesburg healer and birth attendant fights tirelessly to change the way communities perceive intersex babies, who are sometimes strangled after they are born.

Carl Collison
28 April 2022

The men of Nelson Mandela Drive

Workers sit along Mahikeng’s main road day in and day out, hoping to be hired for odd jobs, while the government fails consistently to address the issue of unemployment.

Gopolang Botlhokwane
28 April 2022

eSwatini teachers’ union leader comes under fire

The police refuse to bite the bullet in their questionable persecution of the man fighting a wider battle for living wages for public servants. Instead, they aimed gunfire at his house.

Pavan Kulkarni
25 April 2022

Abanye bashonile, abanye basinda ngokulambisa kuhlasele izikhukhula ezishiye kukhalwa emijondolo

Babonga ukuthi basaphila, yize ukushona kwabasondelene nabo nomkakhelwane, nobuhlungu ababhekane nabo besinda ngokulambisa bebhekene ngqo nokufa kubashiye nezilonda, kodwa manje izakhamizi ezihlwem…

Chris Makhaye
21 April 2022

Death, and survival, haunt stricken shack dwellers

Glad to be alive but burdened by the deaths of loved ones and neighbours as well as the trauma of their own narrow escape, Durban’s impoverished residents must pick up where the floods left off.

Chris Makhaye
21 April 2022

‘Lord, have you abandoned KwaZulu-Natal?’

Reeling residents now face water shortages after the floods ripped up pipes and washed away roads and bridges so water tankers can’t reach them.

Greg Ardé
20 April 2022

Transgender refugees train their eyes on the future

With employment opportunities especially scarce for transgender and gender-diverse refugees and migrants, a Johannesburg skills development programme equips them with versatility and hope.

Carl Collison
20 April 2022

Easter rains expose Joburg’s rapid sinking into decay

In impoverished neighbourhoods to the south of the city, the devastation of heavy rains is all too familiar. So is the reality that not much ever gets done to mitigate it.

Dennis Webster
19 April 2022

Diepsloot migrant family distraught and unbelieving

The wife and four children of Mbodazwe Banajo “Elvis” Nyathi, who was brutally killed in a xenophobic attack, are reeling from the shock, while other migrants live in fear.

Jan Bornman
14 April 2022

Diepsloot migrant family distraught and unbelieving

The wife and four children of Mbodazwe Banajo “Elvis” Nyathi, who was brutally killed in a xenophobic attack, are reeling from the shock, while other migrants live in fear.

Jan Bornman
14 April 2022

Small businesses die tragic slow death in eMvelo

The Covid-battered economy of this Mpumalanga town is taking another hit as the local municipality imposes electricity shutdowns because of a lack of sufficient supply.

Magnificent Mndebele
14 April 2022

Floods bring catastrophic personal losses and costs

In addition to damaging public infrastructure, the floods in KwaZulu-Natal have devastated the lives of shack dwellers and township residents, many of whom now have to start over while grieving.

Nomfundo Xolo
13 April 2022

Sri Lanka’s financial crisis fuels political unrest

The island nation is facing unprecedented upheaval as a growing economic crisis sparks anti-government protests in the streets and calls for the president to resign.

Haris Zargar
13 April 2022

No ends meat: South Africans go without

With food and petrol prices rocketing, impoverished people sacrifice nutritious food for starches that keep them full, leaving children malnourished and adults prone to disease.

Naledi Sikhakhane
13 April 2022

Axed airline employees pay the price for corruption

More than three-quarters of workers at South African Airways Technical have been retrenched, to devastating effect. The few who kept their jobs now have to fight for better conditions.

Magnificent Mndebele
13 April 2022

Financial aid schemes hinder graduates’ job search

Impoverished students suffer the consequences when the National Student Financial Aid Scheme fails to pay universities, which then withhold academic records.

Zandile Bangani
12 April 2022

Frustration reigns outside home affairs

A lack of communication, lengthy queues, limited opening hours, apathetic officials, a dysfunctional website, systems offline… the Department of Home Affairs is unable to serve the people.

Oupa Nkosi
11 April 2022

Promises at hearings on July riots ring hollow

For the communities still reeling from the devastating effects of last year’s turmoil, the president’s testimony and the undertakings he made hold no hope for either peace or justice.

Nomfundo Xolo
8 April 2022

Often without water and long without hope

Many Eastern Cape villages populated by impoverished Black people do not have a reliable water supply. Successive ANC governments have done nothing to change this, worsening poverty and illness.

Anna Majavu
7 April 2022

Justice for gender-based violence is ‘a fairy tale’

There is a backlog of cases in the courts and the police remain ill-equipped to deal with reports or the victims of assault.

Sazi Bongwe
7 April 2022

Paraffin: destructive, expensive but essential

As fuel prices continue to rise, so too does the price of paraffin. People who are most dependent on it, especially in shack settlements, have to pay more for that which kills them.

Dennis Webster
6 April 2022

Xenophobia and the rise of fascist rhetoric

Government ministers and political leaders are going along with extremist Nhlanhla ‘Lux’ Dlamini in blaming migrants for the country’s problems. More violence will surely follow.

Jan Bornman
6 April 2022

In workers versus Amazon, David beats Goliath

The multi-billion dollar company spent millions to stop its labour force from unionising, but failed. Amazon workers now have their first union. Next step: contracts.

Natalia Marques
4 April 2022

Migrants’ anguish amplifies as xenophobes plot

Operation Dudula’s launch in Durban was temporarily halted, but it is imminent and migrants are living in fear of more xenophobic violence coming their way soon.

Greg Ardé
4 April 2022

Sibongile Mani is a scapegoat, says student movement

The student who spent NSFAS money paid erroneously into her account faces five years in prison, but her supporters say the company responsible for the error is making an example of her.

Anna Majavu
30 March 2022

Mineworkers who have paid the price

Paralysis, tuberculosis and silicosis are just some of the tragedies that befall miners in South Africa, but mine owners have been reluctant, at best, to do the right thing.

Naledi Sikhakhane
28 March 2022

African expats say Ukraine is racist, but it’s home

Africans who have built their lives in Ukraine over many years reflect on their experiences in their adopted country, and what was waiting for them as they fled to Poland to escape the war.

Alex Čizmić
24 March 2022

Apartheid persecutors deserve at least a sullied name

Neil Aggett and Ahmed Timol’s families have the closure they sought. But with many TRC-related cases outstanding, more must be done before the perpetrators die.

Tymon Smith
18 March 2022

Fire hell in Hwange scars young victims for life

Children are bearing the brunt of underground coal fires in Zimbabwe, and with little help from the government or mining companies, their families must carry the burden.

Farai Shawn Matiashe
16 March 2022

Impasse between Clover and workers heads to court

Unions representing striking employees say they will seek recourse in the labour court as none of the interventions to resolve the deadlock between them and the dairy company has borne fruit.

Magnificent Mndebele
15 March 2022

Impasse between Clover and workers heads to court

Unions representing striking employees say they will seek recourse in the labour court as none of the interventions to resolve the deadlock between them and the dairy company has borne fruit.

Magnificent Mndebele
15 March 2022

Schoolchildren call for safer school transport

Learners from the schools affected by a taxi accident in which nine children died used the funeral service to plead with the education department and parents to keep them safe.

Zandile Bangani
14 March 2022

The Gauteng health department has no plan

There is a chronic shortage of staff at Baragwanath training hospital and patient care is declining, yet the provincial government is letting hundreds of temporary Covid workers go.

Nation Nyoka
11 March 2022

Gqeberha shop owners fear the rise in xenophobia

Migrants with businesses in the city and surrounding areas say being targeted by politicians and the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is putting lives and livelihoods at risk.

Joseph Chirume
11 March 2022

One speaks for many: ‘I just want to be employed’

Trying to escape deepening poverty and continuing unemployment, graduates in Kutlwanong in the Free State have fallen for a scam promising job opportunities in return for money.

Naledi Sikhakhane
10 March 2022

Tuberculosis: South Africa’s forgotten killer

Sidelined during the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s deadliest disease has been working under cover.

Dennis Webster
10 March 2022

University of Pretoria workers want equality

The institute discriminates between long-time workers and those insourced in 2016, say workers. If this does not change within the promised six months, they will strike again.

Zandile Bangani
10 March 2022

Ayanda Ngila’s murder devastates eKhenana

The men who killed the Abahlali baseMjondolo activist in broad daylight have left a violent mark, particularly on the settlement’s young residents. It will not easily be forgotten.

Nomfundo Xolo
9 March 2022

ANC must lose power, say grassroots organisations

The governing party has been criticised for abandoning the impoverished in favour of naked greed and avarice judging by their presidential candidates ahead of the elective conference.

Anna Majavu
9 March 2022

PhD student cracks high-dimensional quantum code

Isaac Nape from the University of the Witwatersrand is getting accolades from scientists in the field of quantum optics for a ground-breaking technique that holds untold promise.

Adrian Ephraim
9 March 2022

ANC must lose power, say community organisations

The ruling party’s leadership race ahead of its elective conference in December is proving once again that it has abandoned the impoverished in favour of naked greed and avarice.

Anna Majavu
9 March 2022

Marital rape lawsuit unsettles India’s men

The law that allows husbands to rape their wives without fear of prosecution is being challenged. Angry men are threatening a marriage strike while the state remains reluctant on legal reform.

Haris Zargar
8 March 2022

Marital rape lawsuit unsettles India’s men

The law that allows husbands to rape their wives without fear of prosecution is being challenged. Angry men are threatening a marriage strike while the state remains reluctant on legal reform.

Haris Zargar
8 March 2022

Sazi Bongwe

Sazi Bongwe, born and raised in Johannesburg, is an 18-year-old incoming student at Harvard University. He aims to position himself at the forefront of youth-led social discourse, primarily by foun…

jason
4 March 2022

Neil Aggett’s death was not a suicide

Judge Motsamai Makume’s long-awaited judgment at the reopened inquest into the 1982 death of the trade unionist places blame squarely at the feet of the security police.

Tymon Smith
4 March 2022

Blame games on high and ugly scars at the bottom

Inquiry hears counter-accusations from those in power who should have protected citizens during the July riots, while those who still suffer the consequences speak of their enduring loss.

Nomfundo Xolo
2 March 2022

Outcry as LGBTQIA+ people excluded from Census 2022

Queer rights activists push for more inclusive surveys as Statistics South Africa comes under fire for conflating gender and sex in the major census it conducts every 10 years.

Carl Collison
1 March 2022

Izakhamizi zaseJika Joe ‘ziyihlohle umunwe esweni ingwenya’ zifuna ukunakwa

Le ndawo eyimijondolo eseMgungundlovu isiphenduke isibonelo sokudembesela kwezikhulu nokuphila ngendlela engabafanele abantu. Kodwa manje izakhamizi sezijikile, sezithole indlela yokwenza izikhulu …

Greg Ardé
24 February 2022

Jika Joe residents poke the eye of the crocodile

The Pietermaritzburg shack settlement is a monument to ineptitude and inhumanity. Now, residents have found their power and are using it to force authorities to address their needs.

Greg Ardé
24 February 2022

Women and ‘three nos’ chart Sudan’s future

Facing violence, detention and death under military control, protesters are organising in localised and sectoral resistance committees calling for and conceiving a shift to civilian rule.

Nation Nyoka
24 February 2022

Urban farm brings hope, but it’s a daily battle

Members of a farming cooperative in Tembisa are trying to change their impoverished circumstances by turning unused land into a thriving agricultural project.

Naledi Sikhakhane
22 February 2022

No justice for Limpopo whistle-blowers

Four activists who exposed corruption in the province were killed in 2019. Three people have been arrested, but those who allegedly orchestrated the assassinations remain at large.

Magnificent Mndebele
22 February 2022

The impact of Charlotte Maxeke’s delayed opening

Ten months after a fire caused significant damage to the Johannesburg hospital, the government has hit the reset button on repairs, leaving the staff and their patients at a loose end.

Ufrieda Ho
22 February 2022

Zimbabwe’s midwives supplement ailing health system

As Zimbabwe’s public healthcare system continues to crumble, many pregnant women are turning to independent midwives to deliver their children.

Farai Shawn Matiashe
21 February 2022

Two killed, 172 hurt in revolt against Sudan’s coup

At least 15 barricades have been erected along the Sudan-Egypt highway to disrupt trade with the northern neighbour, known to be supporting the coup generals.

Pavan Kulkarni
18 February 2022

‘Jobs are scarce and the quality of life is just sad’

A recent slurry spill into important rivers in rural KwaZulu-Natal has made survival even harder for villagers who depend on their water. But Okhukho residents say it’s part of living near a mine.…

Nomfundo Xolo
18 February 2022

Paralysed child’s parents deserve answers

A tree fell at a school in Mpumalanga, injuring Melokuhle Tshabalala. His father wants to see the report and footage of the incident but neither the principal nor the department will show him.

Cebelihle Mbuyisa
17 February 2022

Holding state healthcare discrimination accountable

A study by organisations representing people living with HIV exposes deep-rooted prejudice against ‘key populations’ by healthcare workers at South Africa’s state facilities.

Carl Collison
17 February 2022

Mdantsane residents face uncertain post-flood future

The municipality has provided only a community hall to shelter families whose shacks were swept away by floods, and have said nothing about moving them to new housing.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
17 February 2022

Desperate asylum seeker languishes in limbo

Junior Ngoy is one of many refugees who were arrested during the Covid-19 pandemic for being undocumented. With refugee reception centres closed since March 2020, he cannot apply for a visa.

Jan Bornman
16 February 2022

Ester Mokoele makes history as Limpopo’s Cosatu head

When the first woman to lead the federation in the province delivered her opening address she critiqued the ANC for its attack on collective bargaining and pushed it for answers to unemployment.

Magnificent Mndebele
16 February 2022

Fellowship is the perfect fit for rising star

This year’s Eugene Saldanha fellow, Naledi Sikhakhane, aims to tell the stories of those who are not seen or heard because she knows what it feels like to be that person.

Gloria Motsoere
15 February 2022

Covid-hit crèches still await promised funding

Many nursery schools have been unable to reopen after forced lockdown closures and staff retrenchments. And, they say, the Department of Social Development just ignores their plight.

Zandile Bangani
14 February 2022

First jobs, now bodies on the line for Clover workers

The strike at the dairy giant is becoming more volatile, with workers assaulted while picketing outside the company’s factory in Johannesburg.

Naledi Sikhakhane
11 February 2022

Street sellers look forward to students returning

After two years of struggling and counting coins even more than they usually do, vendors in Braamfontein and Auckland Park need to get their best customers back.

Gloria Motsoere
31 January 2022

Max Coleman was a champion of human rights

The arrest of his son in 1981 turned Coleman into an activist and anti-apartheid campaigner, leading him to an Order of Luthuli award.

Tymon Smith
27 January 2022

Another senseless law enforcement killing

Dumisani Joxo’s neighbours, friends and relatives speak highly of the man allegedly shot and killed by a City of Cape Town law enforcement officer.

Matthew Hirsch
24 January 2022

Afcon fails to draw Cameroonians to stadiums

The football showpiece is being shunned by fans who either cannot afford the tickets or are not prepared to get a Covid-19 vaccination in order to visit the match venues.

Beng Emmanuel Kum
24 January 2022

The Clover strike heads to court

Labour unions say the dairy company’s attempt to end the strike and halt the boycott of its products through legal means and violent intimidation is a threat to democracy as a whole.

Naledi Sikhakhane
21 January 2022

ConCourt clarifies act for asylum seekers

The apex court has reversed amendments to the act that made it difficult for refugees to apply for asylum while making it easy for Home Affairs officials to unjustly detain and deport them.

Musawenkosi Cabe
20 January 2022

Killing the will of the village next to St Lucia Lake

KwaNibela residents rely on the fish and reeds they harvest within the protected iSimangaliso Wetland Park. But authorities consider this poaching, threatening the community’s lives and livelihoods…

Nomfundo Xolo
19 January 2022

Next bout in Joburg’s fighting start to the year

The City had a glimpse of its divided government when 2022’s first council meeting declined into fist fights. More pugilism could be on the way.

Dennis Webster
18 January 2022

Threats fail to discourage striking Clover workers

Participants in the eight-week-long strike at the dairy company say their lives and property have been endangered, but they will not back down from their demand that Clover be nationalised.

Naledi Sikhakhane
17 January 2022

Naledi Sikhakhane

Visit the post for more.

jason
7 January 2022

Clover workers call for nationalisation

Striking workers fear that corporate changes at the dairy giant will lead to reduced local production and increased imports of Israeli products.

Anna Majavu
5 January 2022

Tutu was ‘a feeling person’ who got ‘inspirations’

Desmond Tutu was a teacher, preacher, ‘public enemy number one’, Nobel Peace laureate, mediator and conciliator who proved in the course of a long and caring life that he was a man for all seasons.…

Tymon Smith
26 December 2021

Small solutions to SA’s big problems

Localised projects such as SaliTuba in KwaZakhele give residents a way to feed themselves and their communities, develop skills and create sustainable livelihoods.

Anna Majavu
20 December 2021

Eastern Cape car factory goes back on its word

Workers on strike for a ninth week at a vehicle manufacturer in Gqeberha have accused the company of flip-flopping during negotiations for better wages and medical aid contributions.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
15 December 2021

Universities’ mandatory vaccination conundrum

Some institutes of higher education have made being inoculated against Covid-19 a requirement for admission next year while others are still debating their vaccination policy.

Zandile Bangani
14 December 2021

Disinformation and rumours drive vaccination fears

Conversations with ordinary South Africans of all ages reveal a widespread distrust in the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines and the real need for accurate information.

Magnificent Mndebele
10 December 2021

Cape Town ‘spiritual master’ accused of abuse

Rachide Mansouri allegedly exchanged promises of enlightenment for sexual favours and took financial advantage of the faithful for years. The revelations have left his community in disarray.

Mahmood Sanglay
8 December 2021

Cape Town ‘spiritual master’ accused of abuse

Rachide Mansouri allegedly exchanged promises of enlightenment for sexual favours and took financial advantage of the faithful for years. The revelations have left his community in disarray.

Mahmood Sanglay
8 December 2021

Elderly land claimants wait in vain for restitution

While the government fails to adhere to its own deadlines, the clock is ticking for a group of Black people who were evicted from their land in the decade before apartheid ended.

Naledi Sikhakhane
8 December 2021

Shell’s seismic survey endangers a whole way of life

For communities along the Wild Coast, the ocean is much more than a resource from which they get a sustainable harvest to feed their families. It is also their nurturing healer and partner.

Nomfundo Xolo
7 December 2021

Shell judgment a blow for activists

The oil company will proceed with its search for oil and gas off South Africa’s Wild Coast after environmental groups failed to convince a judge of the severity of its impact on marine life.

Tania Broughton
3 December 2021

UPL was only there to kill us, say shack dwellers

Residents of a shack settlement in Cornubia on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal continue to suffer from ill health after a toxic chemical spill. And the company responsible does not seem to care.

Nomfundo Xolo
3 December 2021

Striking Clover workers stand firm in their demands

The strike at the dairy company continues with no end in sight and seems likely to escalate amid warnings to occupy its factories if it enters a third week.

Oupa Nkosi
3 December 2021

SA holds its breath as judge decides on Shell

The fate of South Africa’s Wild Coast is up in the air as activists wait for the court to decide whether or not to institute an urgent interdict to stop Shell from surveying the ocean floor for oil…

Tania Broughton
2 December 2021

Alarm over arrest of Kashmiri rights defender

India’s detention of an award-winning human rights activist, which has caused a global outcry, comes amid a military crackdown on dissidents in the contested territory.

Haris Zargar
2 December 2021

Funding must be allocated to treat drivers of HIV

If South Africa wants to strengthen the prevention arm of its HIV programme, providing comprehensive sex education in schools and bolstering the HIV/Aids Life Skills grant is vital.

Julia Chaskalson
1 December 2021

Gqeberha bars new street traders in Korsten

The municipality won’t grant new trading licences for six months while it assesses the Korsten market area for redevelopment. Traders say it has made – and broken – such promises before.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
1 December 2021

Clover cancels Christmas to punish striking workers

In a breach of the Labour Relations Act, the dairy giant has hit out against workers in the second week of protected action against proposed job and pay cuts.

Anna Majavu
30 November 2021

Clover cancels Christmas to punish striking workers

In a breach of the Labour Relations Act, the dairy giant has hit out against workers in the second week of protected action against proposed job and pay cuts.

Anna Majavu
30 November 2021

Bleak Christmas looms for former freedom fighters

Problems ranging from asthma-causing black mould to faeces floating up toilets plague houses recently built for military veterans in Cape Town.

Anna Majavu
29 November 2021

Commission exposes how the police failed in Durban

The national police commissioner said there were not enough officers to respond effectively to the July riots while victims are left dealing with indelible scars on their psyches and lives.

Nomfundo Xolo
26 November 2021

South Africans push back on Shell’s Wild Coast plan

An oil and gas exploration survey off the Eastern Cape coast is scheduled to start in December. But fishers, residents, environmentalists and activists around the country want none of it.

Tony Carnie
25 November 2021

Shack dwellers hitting back at repression

Residents of the eKhenana occupation in Cato Manor believe the justice system in Durban is being misused to repress their community.

Anna Majavu
24 November 2021

Vaccine inequity persists in Africa

While the world discusses returning to normalcy, an entire continent is still struggling to secure first doses and has yet to surpass a 10% vaccination rate, with little concern from international …

Jyotsna Singh
24 November 2021

Clover workers strike against long hours and less pay

The dairy company wants to retrench workers, move to a 12-hour day six days a week and ignore public holidays. Unions also fear it will close factories and pivot to distributing Israeli products.

Anna Majavu
23 November 2021

Testosterone shortage puts trans men at risk

With the manufacture of the Pfizer drug sidelined in favour of Covid vaccines, trans men fear not only for their bodies and physical health but also their psychological wellbeing and sense of self.

Jan Bornman
23 November 2021

Nigerian state responsible for protester deaths

A leaked report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the deaths of more than 100 EndSARS demonstrators in Lagos State indicted the army and police in the killing and its cover-up.

Pavan Kulkarni
23 November 2021

Independent candidate disrupts election narrative

Like elsewhere in South Africa, residents in Bonteheuwel have become alive to the possibility of replacing politicians who don’t serve them with councillors focused on their local needs.

Barry Christianson
22 November 2021

Seeking justice, Phoenix violence victims testify

Witnesses to the attacks carried out by so-called neighbourhood watch groups in the north of Durban during the July riots have told the human rights commission the bloodshed was racially motivated.

Nomfundo Xolo
19 November 2021

Camping on the doorstep of high school success

A principal in Umlazi has initiated profound changes to the way his school is run and its matrics are prepared for their all-important final exams amid trying circumstances at home.

Fatima Asmal
16 November 2021

How Lulamile Sidwaba was manoeuvred off his farm

In this second feature on land restitution in Stutterheim, a farmer allocated land by the government loses it to a member of a prominent ANC family.

Anna Majavu
15 November 2021

Why South Africans cannot forgive FW de Klerk

It took the man he was to bring white public opinion and the security forces to the negotiation table, but his apology for apartheid was too little, too late.

Max du Preez
12 November 2021

Women bear Covid-19’s silent burden

The pandemic has disproportionately affected women, who have suffered more job losses and greater emotional distress. Yet few can access the mental health help they need.

Zandile Bangani
12 November 2021

Zimbabwe’s vaccine decree leaves workers in a bind

Several companies followed the government’s lead when it issued a mandatory vaccination directive to all civil servants, but workers feel their rights have been violated.

Kudzanai Musengi
11 November 2021

A brother’s story of gender-based violence

Thato Molahlehi gives an insider account of how those around his sister turned a blind eye to her partner’s abuse, until the night she was murdered.

Thato Molahlehi
11 November 2021

Indian government is ‘exploiting’ Tripura violence

Critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is doing nothing about attacks against Muslims in northeastern India in order to gain political support.

Haris Zargar
9 November 2021

Trouble in the promised land

The socialist commune Abahlali baseMjondolo built from the eKhenana land occupation in Durban has won international admiration and solidarity, but it now faces a new wave of repression.

Chris Makhaye
8 November 2021

Eastern Cape election debutants off to a good start

The Makana Citizens Front has made promising inroads into the support base of established parties in Makhanda and says its councillors will build on a strong foundation.

Anna Majavu
5 November 2021

Rain, hopes and fears on voting day in Lavender Hill

Mark Nicholson runs a foundation and feeding programme in the Cape Town township. He outlined the problems that residents faced on the day of the local government elections.

Barry Christianson
5 November 2021

Residents cling to a precarious life among the dead

In a long-abandoned cemetery in the south of Durban, shack dwellers felt they had little reason to vote for councillors who are so absent that they may as well be ghosts.

Chris Makhaye
4 November 2021

Mixed emotions as voters cast ballots or stay away

Despite it being all about local government, many residents in Etwatwa on the East Rand did not know who their ward councillor candidates were. Instead they voted for a party they felt they at leas…

Nation Nyoka
4 November 2021

Briardene residents are out there ‘on their own’

Residents in the shack settlement in Durban North are caught between an apathetic municipality, a government they say wants them to ‘remain this way’ and greedy landlords.

Nomfundo Xolo
4 November 2021

Voting in the aftermath of Phoenix violence

Bruised and battered after a murderous July some residents of Phoenix and the surrounding townships mustered a little optimism as they voted but others listed under a pall of depression.

Nomfundo Xolo
3 November 2021

Evicted Woodstock residents fight for fair housing

In a major win for the community, the high court in Cape Town has ruled that people evicted from the gentrifying neighbourhood must be offered alternative accommodation nearby.

Matthew Hirsch
3 November 2021

Bankrupt New York taxi drivers want a viable future

The drivers of the city’s iconic yellow cabs are fighting to end a crushing debt crisis that, much like the 2008 housing bubble, was manufactured by greedy banks and profiteers.

Monica Cruz
2 November 2021

Shack settlements need to be designed around women

Women want to engage with the government when it comes to the supply of municipal services and listening to them will make these spaces safer and healthier for all residents.

Tracy Oyeyemi
2 November 2021

Striking workers reach agreement with South Point

Workers at a student accommodation company, which earns most of its revenue from National Student Financial Aid Scheme funds, have ended their eight-week strike for better conditions.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
2 November 2021

Striking workers reach agreement with South Point

Workers at a student accommodation company, which earns most of its revenue from National Student Financial Aid Scheme funds, have ended their eight-week strike for better conditions.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
2 November 2021

Migrants live in fear after raid by home affairs

An operation in the Sundays River Valley has resulted in deportations and increased hostility towards those who cannot get valid documents because refugee offices remain closed.

Joseph Chirume
1 November 2021

Nigel occupiers feel deserted by politicians

Few things have changed for a community in Ekurhuleni who occupied homes almost two years ago, and the residents feel neglected by councillors in the run-up to elections.

Nation Nyoka
29 October 2021

Bhambayi is ‘in the middle of nothingness’

Residents of the shack settlement in KwaZulu-Natal feel used and abandoned by the government. Some of those who are voting in the local elections say this is simply because of their responsibility …

Nomfundo Xolo
28 October 2021

ANC puts discipline before democracy

The ANC is asking many communities to elect councillors they previously rejected. In an election where the ruling party’s dominance is no longer guaranteed, it may prove to be a gamble.

Dennis Webster
28 October 2021

Struggle for housing in Ekurhuleni seems endless

In parts of Gabon, a shack settlement outside Etwatwa, Gauteng, residents continue to fight for houses and electricity because none of the development they see elsewhere is reaching them.

Nation Nyoka
27 October 2021

Voting no solution for Msunduzi residents

The Msunduzi Local Municipality has been dysfunctional for years. Many residents doubt that elections will change anything, so they band together and attend to problems themselves.

Chris Makhaye
27 October 2021

Civic front promises to develop isolated Alicedale

The residents of this tiny hamlet in the Eastern Cape have to travel far for basic necessities such as medicine and clothes. The Makana Citizens Front has vowed to change that if its candidates win…

Anna Majavu
27 October 2021

The hopefuls of Hammarsdale

Some residents of the township who live in dire conditions trust that casting their vote in the upcoming municipal elections will bring change to their area.

Naledi Sikhakhane
26 October 2021

People resist the coup in Sudan

On Monday morning Sudanese trade unions and people’s movements called for strikes and mass protests in response to a military coup. Prime minister Abdalla Hamdok has been arrested, along with key c…

Pavan Kulkarni
26 October 2021

Cameroon’s sex workers seek a digital solution

Police officers abuse and solicit bribes from sex workers in the central African country, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only made matters worse. But some women are finding safety online.

Amindeh Blaise Atabong
26 October 2021

Colin Powell’s legacy of war crimes and lies

The secretary of state, secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and president George Bush Jr were among the architects of the so-called war on terror that killed almost a million people.

Abdul Rahman
25 October 2021

Coega workers strike for basic needs

With the cost of living soaring, truck assembly plant workers in the Eastern Cape are having to make tough choices on wages that are below industry standard.

Sibongile Portia Jonas
22 October 2021

Funding policy leaves students out in the cold

One of the financial aid scheme’s policies is denying tens of thousands of students funding in their final year of study, forcing them to drop out and putting their futures in jeopardy.

Zandile Bangani
21 October 2021

Housing activists’ peaceful march ends in pain

Police in the Western Cape used stun grenades against marchers protesting against Cape Town’s new by-laws which also followed a raid at Cissie Gool House on the same day.

Matthew Hirsch
21 October 2021

LGBTQIA+ killings: ‘Enough is enough’

Sisanda Gumede is but one of the many killed in KwaZulu-Natal because of her sexuality. Relatives, residents, activists and local government say it has to end.

Chris Makhaye
20 October 2021

‘Ma Lizzie’: selfless and loving ‘angel and star’

The late Elizabeth Mkame dedicated her life to helping the marginalised and impoverished. She served tirelessly not only during some of the worst times of apartheid, but also in the fraught years s…

Chris Makhaye
19 October 2021

ANC democracy flounders in the party’s heartland

An independent candidate is contesting the local government elections in a former Eastern Cape Bantustan, revealing deep fault lines in the party’s ward candidate nomination process.

Dennis Webster
19 October 2021

Voter sentiment in Kliptown is downbeat

Some residents are resigned to voting in the municipal elections on the slim chance that it changes their circumstances, others are undecided and those without identity documents feel hopeless.

Nation Nyoka
14 October 2021

Saftu unions prepare to strike in solidarity

The federation’s affiliates will stand with Numsa and down tools if the metalworker union’s demands are not met.

Anna Majavu
14 October 2021

Hundreds of workers march for end to pay freeze

An end to low wages and the moratorium on salary hikes is an overarching demand, but individual memorandums also reveal the particular concerns of workers in different provinces.

Joseph Chirume
8 October 2021

Abahlali abasisifu ngumsindo bathi ukuvota sekwabalilize

Njengokuba uMzantsi Afrika ujonge kunyulo loorhulumente basekhaya ngomhla wokuqala KweyeNkanga (Novemba), abahlali abangonwabanga koomaspala abambaxa iTshwane nase-Ekurhuleni bathi abanasizathu sis…

Nation Nyoka
4 October 2021

Abahlali abasisifu ngumsindo bathi ukuvota sekwabalilize

Njengokuba uMzantsi Afrika ujonge kunyulo loorhulumente basekhaya ngomhla wokuqala KweyeNkanga (Novemba), abahlali abangonwabanga koomaspala abambaxa iTshwane nase-Ekurhuleni bathi abanasizathu sis…

Nation Nyoka
4 October 2021

Angry residents say voting has become meaningless

As South Africa gears up for the local government elections on 1 November, disgruntled voters in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni say they have little reason to cast their ballots.

Nation Nyoka
4 October 2021

Wrongfully accused Abahlali three set free at last

The shack dwellers’ movement says it feels vindicated that the case against three of its members has been dropped, but warns it remains under siege by the state.

Chris Makhaye
29 September 2021

For many SA women, home is hell

Gender-based violence often takes place at home or in intimate relationships, taking a traumatic toll on victims, their families and friends.

Magnificent Mndebele
22 September 2021

Eradicating pit toilets is but a first step

These dangerous and insanitary latrines at schools should be replaced by clean and safe bathrooms that also cater to the needs of girls who’ve reached puberty.

Zandile Bangani
22 September 2021

The invisible women of Wolseley

The police refused to open missing person’s cases for two of the three women who disappeared in the Western Cape town, only for them to be found at a makeshift burial site.

Nadine Theron
21 September 2021

Two perpetrators, two ways to face up to complicity

Joao Rodrigues and Paul Erasmus both worked for the apartheid regime and died this year. But while Rodrigues was litigious and tight-lipped, Erasmus tried to help victims’ families.

Tymon Smith
17 September 2021

Nick Hudson and Panda are wrong about vaccines

Believing them is deadly as Covid-19 vaccines are working in South Africa – and here’s the proof.

Nathan Geffen
15 September 2021

‘You can’t buy much with R350 but it helped’

The Covid-19 social relief of distress grant has helped impoverished families buy much-needed food, but it is too little to provide other essentials.

Naledi Sikhakhane
14 September 2021

Nowhere to turn for abused bakery workers

After being chased away for asking for minimum wage, Gqeberha bakers who endured racism turned first to the CCMA, then to a political party, then to a union. None helped.

Anna Majavu
14 September 2021

Silicosis payouts are ‘symbolic justice’ for miners

The Tshiamiso Trust has begun paying out workers who contracted silicosis and TB in South Africa’s gold mines, but the amounts are paltry against what they have lost to poor health over the years.…

Thabo Molelekwa
13 September 2021

Struggling special-needs school dealt a double blow

The Golden Steps school in KwaZulu-Natal lost not only its computer room and kitchen, but also some of its children’s means to communicate and learn a skill that grants them independence.

Zandile Bangani
9 September 2021

South Africa’s next Covid-19 frontiers

The challenges of the pandemic are not new, but the country and the continent still face a long road to adequate vaccination and getting coronavirus infections under control.

Dennis Webster
9 September 2021

Victory for low-cost housing activists in Sea Point

When Elizabeth Gqoboka first saw the ocean from the promenade, she knew she wanted to live there. Decades later, affordable housing will come to the area, thanks to the efforts of activists.

Matthew Hirsch
8 September 2021

Looters remorseful as daily life gets tougher

Some residents in areas affected by the July riots have lost their livelihoods, have to travel far to get to the jobs that remain and walk long distances to unaffected shopping centres.

Chris Makhaye
8 September 2021

Izakhiwo ezitsha, iingxaki ezifanayo kusapho lwaseKhowa

Iminyaka emva kokuhlala kumzi odilikayo, usapho lakwaMbundana lwafuduselwa kwizakhiwo zethutyana ezathi ekubeni zingenambane zabe zisafana nqwa! nezo basuswe kuzo. Ngoku, olu sapho lunyanzelisa nge…

Anna Majavu
7 September 2021