Swanepoel yindoda!

Skin colour is a thing of the past, says a white man from East London, Gonubie area, who recently entered manhood in the Xhosa tradition.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 16 July 2015

21 at 21: The coming of age of a nation

In their newly released book, 21 at 21: The Coming of Age of a Nation, Melanie Verwoerd and Sonwabiso Ngcowa write that the term ā€˜born freeā€™ is highly contested. ā€˜Many young people refuse to be labelled in this way, not least because of the level of poverty they still experience. As one ā€˜born freeā€™ put it to us, ā€œHow can we be called born free when we live like this?ā€ā€™

Melanie Verwoerd and Sonwabiso Ngcowa

News | 16 July 2015

Living in a graveyard

For the past few years, the old Jewish burial site located south of Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has become a home to a number of homeless people.

Siphesihle Matyila

News | 16 July 2015

Best friends have scales, wings and tails.

Photographer Masixole Feni has done a series of portraits of people and their pets and animals in Cape Town's townships. He found some surprising friendships.

Masixole Feni

News | 15 July 2015

In 80 years, she’s never lived in a warm house

ā€œI donā€™t know how it feels to be in a warm house without a leaking roof,ā€ says Betha Mkhize, who is in her eighties and lives in Ezinketheni in Pietermaritzburg with her mentally disabled son.

Ntombi Ngubane

News | 15 July 2015

Street artists battle over De Waal mural

A group of anonymous street artists called Space Invader has claimed responsibility for ā€œreinterpretingā€ the mural in District Six along De Waal Drive near Cape Town city centre.

Barbara Maregele

News | 15 July 2015

Economic growth at stake at Cosatu’s congress

Cosatuā€™s Special National Congress this week marks the latest round in the ongoing battle for control of the federation of trade unions between its ANC-faithful Central Executive Committee and its former Secretary General, Zwelinzima Vavi, along with the expelled National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA).

Ayal Belling

Opinion | 15 July 2015

Good Hope Construction: workers’ demands still being probed

The Building Industry Bargaining Council is investigating employeesā€™ claims that money is still owed to the Council by Good Hope Construction (GHC), target of a protracted strike during which one employee died.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and GroundUp staff

News | 14 July 2015

Sesfikile ,ā€œ the women’s winery

Even though she once despised wine because her brother would get drunk, Nondumiso Pikashe from Gugulethu has made a success of her own handcrafted wines. She thinks more people could tap into the industry.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 14 July 2015

Workers ride in cattle trucks of the gravy train

We are constantly being told, as the economy stutters and stumbles, that ā€œwe are all in it togetherā€; that we have a ā€œshared futureā€; that we have a patriotic duty to ā€œbuild the nationā€. And, for all the tub-thumping rhetoric about the evils of capitalism, this will almost certainly be the underlying theme of the Cosatu special national congress next week.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 14 July 2015

No sympathy for metered taxi companies protesting against Uber

I have taken thousands of trips in metered taxis in Cape Town over the last ten years. In the last year or so Iā€™ve switched to predominantly Uber taxis. Since I canā€™t legally drive due to poor eyesight, these are my primary ways of navigating the city. I therefore have a very significant interest in the battle between metered taxi companies and Uber. The aim of regulating an industry must ultimately be to serve the public interest. In the case of the metered taxi industry, the aim must be to ensure that a safe, reliable and affordable service is provided to the public, whilst of course ensuring that drivers are working under fair conditions of employment.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 13 July 2015

Dunoon parents start own school

Dunoon parents have turned to the Equal Education Law Centre for help after their children could not find spaces in the nearest schools. The community has now occupied temporary classrooms and started their own school while they wait.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 13 July 2015

Building a business out of old bricks

At Sweet Home Farm in an area known as Etheni near Brown Farm in Philippi, a number of families are making a living by selling recycled bricks for R1.50 a brick. New bricks retail for around R6.95.

Siphesihle Matyila

News | 13 July 2015

Living in a shed the size of a toilet for 14 years

Forty-three year old Patrick Brewer from Henley in Pietermaritzburg has been living in a tiny shed the size of a toilet for 14 years.

Ntombi Ngubane

News | 10 July 2015

First Xhosa chess book launched

International Chess Master Watu Kobese sits on a luxury couch in the Cape Sun Hotel, where the South African Chess Open is taking place. It is an hour before he competes. He has agreed to meet to discuss his life, South African chess and Masidlale Uthimba (Let us play Chess), the first isiXhosa chess book. It was launched on Tuesday (7 July).

Mariska Morris

News | 10 July 2015

Global campaign to make corporations more accountable

Transnational corporations influence every aspect of our lives. From the television programmes we watch to the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the way we communicate.

Baone Twala, Centre for Applied Legal Studies

Opinion | 9 July 2015