For a long time, there has been grave concern among conservationists over declining standards in South Africa’s provincial nature reserves. Now a recent report by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) says many provincial reserves are in a shocking state, compromising the long-term survival of wildlife and ecosystems. If biodiversity is to be conserved, it will require […]

A trading account is necessary for investors and traders who want to participate in the financial markets. It lets you buy and sell stocks, bonds, options, and other financial instruments. With so many different trading accounts available, choosing the right one for your needs can be overwhelming. In this article, we will discuss the different […]

Joseph Saunders from Wentworth was one of 72 South Durban residents to be capped at the most recent Engen Community Computer School graduation ceremony held in early May. The school has been transforming lives in South Durban for 14 years by offering unemployed residents free introductory-level computer skills training. To date, the school has capped […]

A team of adventurers led by Cami Palomo (62), founder of the Avela Foundation, is set to embark on an arduous mountain trek to raise funds for the Umatter program. Palomo, originally from El Salvador but now living in Cape Town, will be joined by seven men, two of whom are from South Africa. The […]

Consumers are under a lot of financial strain. The World Economic Forum reports that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting people across the globe. With food and fuel prices rising, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep financially afloat. On top of that, salaries aren’t keeping up with inflation, making it more difficult to save and build […]

Kunyashe is a Grade 1 pupil in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s very focused on her schoolwork. She shares a tiny one-roomed shack, hardly bigger than a double bed, with her mother and four siblings. Kunyashe receives a meal at school – her teacher once saw the little girl spooning some of this meal into […]

Excavation for a vast open-cast copper mine in the heart of the Lower Zambezi National Park has begun. The bulldozers’ move into Zambia’s pristine wildlife sanctuary and famous tourist attraction follows a decade-long fight by activists trying to stop the mining. The move follows an about-turn by Zambia’s government environmental agency and by President Hakainda […]

After having withstood apartheid-forced removals, five District Six families are now facing eviction from their cottages on Searle Street by a private owner based in Mpumalanga. A row of Victorian cottages in District Six survived apartheid demolition after a Catholic religious order begged for their protection. The cottages were put up for sale by the […]

The Chairperson of the University of Cape Town’s council, Babalwa Ngyonyama has resigned, with immediate effect. This follows a recommendation from a high-powered panel, established to investigate governance at UCT, in an interim report, that she be immediately removed. The panel consists of Judge Lex Mpati (chair), Judge Azhar Cachalia, Dr Bernadette Johnson and Dr […]

The Supreme Court of Appeal has refused the Observatory Civil Association (OCA) permission to appeal the Western Cape High Court’s order dismissing the OCA’s application to interdict the River Club development. The City of Cape Town welcomes the SCA’s decision to protect this vital development that will hold enormous heritage, environmental, economic, infrastructural and other […]

Each month, 7.5% of workers’ salaries are deducted by the Post Office as a contribution to the Post Office Retirement Fund. The employer’s contribution is supposed to be 13.55% of each worker’s salary. But for three years, neither amount has been paid in by the South African Post Office (SAPO). The Post Office has been […]

GroundUp has received an instruction from its US-based internet hosting service to take down one of its own stories about dodgy lawyer Lesley Ramulifho after it received a breach of copyright complaint. Failure to comply would result in access to GroundUp’s website being restricted, GroundUp was warned in an email from Akamai Cloud Computing Services. […]

The National Department of Transport announced on Thursday that South Africa has granted Turkey’s Karpowership access to the three ports of Ngqura, Durban and Saldanha Bay for 20 years. The statement said the Minister approved the application on 26 February 2023, in consultation with and supported by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA). The Turkish-owned […]

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has called for vigilance and for the public not to panic as the country records two positive cases of diphtheria disease. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), has alerted the department of two laboratory-confirmed cases of diphtheria disease that were […]

A powerful new book on Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has just been published. Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage is at once a double biography of South Africa’s two famous liberation leaders and a historical love story about their personal lives. Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years during apartheid and went on to […]

  Registered NPO FoodForward SA (FFSA), launched its Mother and Child Nutrition Programme, this week in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. The child-centred food intervention will be implemented in collaboration with Philani Nutrition Centre and is aimed at addressing the growing problem of malnutrition, especially during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, in food-insecure households. […]

The Langa Dompas Museum in Cape Town is steeped in the history of the township which celebrates its centenary this year. The buildings used to house the offices of the Bantu Affairs Administration which issued the dreaded “pass” that Africans had to carry in “white” areas under apartheid. It was a criminal offence not to […]

What happens when a whistleblower decides to copy and steal an employer’s secret information and give it to the media? Two recent stories, in America and South Africa, brought this question to the fore. Everything about Donald J Trump is big — a Wikipedia page is dedicated to his litigation list alone. One of these piqued particular […]

Even though World Hypertension Day was celebrated on May 17 the Department of Health has urged South Africans to go for regular hypertension screenings, as high blood pressure is referred to as the “silent killer” because in most cases people may show no symptoms. On May 17, the global community commemorated World Hypertension Day, a […]

An international literacy study has confirmed that 81% of South Africa’s grade 4 children could not read for meaning in any language in 2021, almost exactly the same proportion as in 2011. This means that a decade of slow progress in reading has been wiped out. 81% of grade 4 children in South African could […]

Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga has replied with a flat “no” to plans by the City of Cape Town to take over the passenger rail service in the city. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has no intention of devolving the railway services, she told GroundUp during a visit to the Northern Line […]

Dwindling advertising from government is hitting community newspapers and stifling media diversity, says Mbali Dhlomo, editor of Intuthuko Newspaper in Durban. Advertising support from the government to community newspapers has been dwindling and, in some cases, has completely stopped. Community newspapers fear this could lead to further closures. The Association of Independent Publishers says these […]

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has warned South African consumers to exercise caution when dealing with Milo Designs. The supplier seems to be a scam purporting to be an online store that designs and sells furniture, using different social media platforms. This comes after complaints from consumers alleging that they have been scammed by Milo […]

Most philosophers of education or philosophically inclined scholars of education in the past century and a half would agree with the claim that, ideally, education should be the practice of freedom. That is, it ought to cultivate the ability to intelligently decide how we want to shape our lives. The aim of education should be […]

Access to safe green spaces amid increasing development was one of the main talking points at the Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) Public Participation meeting on 13 May. Dozens of people who live and work in and around Salt River in Cape Town attended a meeting on Saturday to discuss the City’s plans to develop […]