A Zimbabwean woman, Faith Muchina (not her real name), 48, claims that officials at the Cape Town Department of Home Affairs (DHA) intimidated her into changing her application for refugee status to cite economic and not political reasons. As a result she lost her asylum seekers status in October 2012 and is now illegally in the country. She has now been in the country for eight years.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 10 September 2013
Ikapa Dance Theatre is a non-profit arts organisation established in 2007 by Theo Ndindwa, Tanya Arshamian and founding member Mbulelo Ngubombini. The organisation focuses on identifying and developing talent among children from the townships around Cape Town.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 10 September 2013
“The Arch soup kitchen was my second home. I feel sad that this is my last time to eat here. The loving, warm, dedicated staff, a guaranteed meal even when it is raining, makes the Arch unique from all other soup kitchens in Cape Town,” said Richard Thomas, a homeless man.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 3 September 2013
Zimbabweans in Cape Town who claim they fled torture at the hands of ruling party ZANU-PF say recent reviewing and rejection of refugee statuses by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is causing great anxiety and uncertainty.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 28 August 2013
Campus Protection Services at the University of Western Cape (UWC), Bellville campus, has been accused of negligence by five students after they were were assaulted in the early hours of 11 August by three men. The students -- four female, who have declined to be named for safety reasons, and one male, Sipho* (name changed) -- were returning to their residences from the Barn, a university bar.
Tariro Washinyira and Thuliswa Martins
News | 28 August 2013
Last week Thursday, Women’s Hope Education and Training Trust (WHEAT) launched a book called ‘Every Scar tells a story’. The book is the compilation of writings by eight beneficiaries of WHEAT’s first writing workshop, which took place in April 2013 in Kleinmond.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 14 August 2013
A Malawian man, Simon Phiri, 44, was attacked by three robbers in Masiphumelele, Fish Hoek in April 2013, on his way home from the shopping mall. The robbers searched his pockets, took his phone and money, then struck him with a golf stick on the head.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 13 August 2013
89-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980, is set to lead the country for yet another five years.
Tariro Washinyira, Mpho Mabhena and GroundUp Staff
News | 6 August 2013
“I am scared. The criminal who murdered my brother is still roaming the streets,” Nonkosi Nteyi told GroundUp, obviously distressed. “Worse, he is asking people for descriptions of each of my family members. Does he want to kill us as well?”
Tariro Washinyira
News | 31 July 2013
Jabulani Murire is a 38-year-old, married Zimbabwean man with three children. His family is struggling to survive after he became bedridden following a car accident while on duty.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 30 July 2013
The father of a Dutch family that has been living in South Africa since 1996 has been ordered to leave the country by the end of next week. The order came from Home Affairs in Cape Town. The family has been struggling with the department for 17 years to live and work legally in South Africa. Although the order is made against the father, it is effectively forcing the family to leave the country.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 23 July 2013
The Miss Zimbabwe Cape Town pageant was founded in March 2012 by a then 27-year-old Maynard Chizavare. He said the objective was to celebrate Zimbabwean beauty in a foreign land.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 9 July 2013
Clayton (name changed) is a Zimbabwean man who injured his leg in a stampede at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) foreshore offices in Cape Town on Monday.
Tariro Washinyira and GroundUp Staff
News | 3 July 2013
Immigrants who protested outside Kraaifontein Police station on Thursday 20 June claim that police officers assigned to the Wallacedene area yelled offensive statements at them. They also gave harrowing accounts of how they lost their livelihoods.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 25 June 2013
29 year old Prince Ikenna, a native of Nigeria who set up a successful salon and cosmetics business in South Africa in 2010, launched a new gospel album, "In his presence", at Salt River Community Hall on 16 June 2013.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 18 June 2013
Albert Kafuka heard his landlady's nephew shout, "I wonder why mum allows these ... sexual animals to stay in the house and bring in their dirty behaviours." Kafuka, who is gay, was then beaten up.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 12 June 2013