Court dismisses eviction of retired Montagu farmworker

A retired farmworker and his family who were evicted from their home on Langdam farm in Montagu last year are entitled to move back to their farmhouse, the Land Claims court in Cape Town ruled this week.

Barbara Maregele

News | 3 July 2015

Tsunami residents pressure state to move them to new land

Tsunami Informal Settlement near Delft in Cape Town is a severely deprived area. Residents have been expecting to be moved to a better area, but it appears their hopes have been dashed.

Nombulelo Damba-HendrikMasixole Feni

News | 3 July 2015

Is it the end for popular Cape Town circus?

As part of the City of Cape Town's plans to rationalise municipal facilities, the South African National Circus School (SAN Circus) will have to vacate their premises in Observatory, after their lease was terminated before it was set to expire.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 3 July 2015

Operation Fiela: I saw soldiers moving towards my stall, says trader

A Nigerian trader arrested at Cape Town station during Operation Fiela on World Refugee Day has described how he was accused of drug dealing.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 2 July 2015

Sick miners: time for the mines to share the burden

Between 1,500 and 2,000 miners a year still apply for compensation for silicosis and TB contracted on the gold mines - yet the mining industry is doing very little to share the burden of these deadly diseases, writes Pete Lewis.

Pete Lewis

Opinion | 2 July 2015

Sweet deal for Kayamandi beekeeper

Six years ago, Loyiso Mbete from Kayamandi in Stellenbosch saw a gap and struck a deal to buy 80 beehives from a local farm. Now the 35-year-old part-time construction contractor runs a thriving beekeeping business with more than 320 hives on several farms across the winelands in the Western Cape.

Barbara Maregele

News | 2 July 2015

Commuters angry at Metrorail increases

COSATU and an organisation called Public Transport Voice have criticised Metrorail Cape Town's ticket increases which kick in today, 1 July 2015. Metrorail, however, says the fare increase is unavoidable.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 1 July 2015

Mining communities are ready to explode, say activists

Phakisa, from the Sesotho word meaning "hurry up", has been touted by government as the silver bullet that would “fast track the implementation of solutions on critical development issues.”

Christopher Rutledge

Opinion | 1 July 2015

Disturbing court judgment ignores our rights

On 23 June the Pretoria High Court struck from the roll an application by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) that tried to put an urgent end to Operation Fiela. Lara Wallis explains why this is deeply concerning.

Lara Wallis

Opinion | 1 July 2015

One of the world’s oldest toys is a township craze

Spinning tops have been around for years and this is one of the toys that has been keeping township kids busy for decades, especially during school holidays.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Brief | 1 July 2015

Cape Town’s Congolese shun independence celebrations

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) marks 55 years of independence today but many Congolese who fled to Cape Town say there’s nothing to celebrate since the country is at war and the government does not reflect the will of the people.

Bernard Chiguvare

Brief | 30 June 2015

There’s no excuse, Minister: Here’s the proof

There are massive medicine stockouts in the public health system. These are mainly due to failures within the state system, not external problems such as global supply shortages that Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi has claimed are primarily responsible. Here’s the proof.

Ashleigh FurlongNathan Geffen

News | 30 June 2015

The dark and dangerous road to school rural children face

About 200 pupils from farm schools in Wolseley, Stellenbosch, Wellington and Grabouw handed a memorandum to the Western Cape Education Department on Monday. The demonstration was organised by Women on Farms Project.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 29 June 2015

Steel giant’s environmental records exposed

Earlier this week, the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance formally released the long-sought Environmental Master Plan for the Vanderbijlpark Steel Works owned by international steel giant ArcelorMittal (AMSA). AMSA only handed over this Master Plan, a series of expert reports on the environmental and health impacts of the steel works compiled in 2003, in December 2014, after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Melissa Fourie, Robyn Hugo and Nicole Löser

Opinion | 29 June 2015

Why trade unions are even more relevant today

Trade unions — as democratic organisations of the sellers of labour — are probably more relevant now than they have ever been. Especially for anyone who feels that democracy is an important concept. Unfortunately, however, most of the unions remain narrowly focussed in a manner better suited to fighting the battles of an earlier era.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 29 June 2015