About 100 property owners in Strand, Cape Town, picketed at the municipal buildings on Thursday afternoon. They demanded an explanation from the City of Cape Town about an apparent agreement reached between SANRAL and the City on providing services to people occupying SANRAL-owned land near their properties. The protesters says that their property prices will […]

With little faith in their government, Zimbabweans took the rescue effort into their own hands after Cyclone Idai hit the Chimanimani region. Steve Kretzmann reports… The first rains in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai fell on Chimanimani on 12 April, once again isolating the town nearly a month after floods and mudslides left at least […]

Gambling laws and customs around the globe differ greatly. In the United Kingdom, any form of gambling you can imagine is pretty much available to the average person. In Las Vegas, you can wager as much as you like as often as you wish at one of the city’s many land-based casinos. However, if you […]

Most children are afraid of monsters, the scary ones hiding in their closet or under their bed. But Gideonette De La Rey (Anchen du Plessis) has a different fear in award-winning Meerkat Maantuig (now streaming on Showmax): she fears death. Or rather falling victim to the De La Rey Curse, where everyone named Gideon dies […]

Thousands of residents of Alexandra in Johannesburg shut down the township on Wednesday morning, demanding that Mayor Herman Mashaba address them on solutions to problems with overcrowding, water and electricity. Residents started blockading streets in Alexandra with burning tyres and garbage at about 5am. Protesters marched down London road, moving towards the N3 highway, and […]

Manchester United pulled off a miracle performance against PSG to overturn the deficit of 2 goals and now they have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. However, their next challenge is even bigger as they have to defeat the Spanish champions Barcelona to make it to the semi-finals. If you think that Ole […]

Pangolins, a group of unique African and Asian scaly mammals, are considered to be one of the most heavily trafficked wild mammals in the world. They are hunted and traded for their meat, scales, and other body parts, and used as traditional medicines in parts of Africa and Asia. Of the eight pangolin species, four […]

Betty’s Bay bears the brunt of blaze, which is now under control. Hundreds of people were evacuated in the Overberg region on Friday after a fire made its way closer to residential areas. The areas affected included Hermanus, Franskraal, Betty’s Bay and Karwyderskraal. By early Saturday morning, with the help of rain, firefighters and aerial […]

Home Affairs helps Asisipho Sosibo get a birth certificate just in time to compete in March… The new year has kicked off to an exciting start for Special Olympics participant Asisipho Sosibo from Durban. In November, GroundUp reported that Sosibo, 15, was one of 50 athletes selected to represent South Africa at the Special Olympics World Summer […]

Almost everyday, hundreds of homeless people gather at the Service Dining Rooms for a warm cooked meal and cooldrink. Situated in Cape Town’s city centre, this charity has been feeding people in need for over 80 years. On Thursday, the organisation held its annual Christmas Party. where meals were prepared for over 400 people. The […]

The argument has dragged on long enough about who should take the credit for bringing South Africa’s apartheid regime to an end. Of course, some will immediately respond by saying that apartheid has not yet been defeated – it still lives on in innumerable ways. But at least the regime that promulgated the legislation and […]

South Africa is among relatively few African countries that hold regular democratic elections with high levels of integrity, enabling citizens to choose their government. Since democracy in 1994, its elections have been consistently adjudged legitimate, free and fair. But there may be trouble on the horizon. The Electoral Commission of South Africa, the body responsible […]

Time Magazine has just announced its “Person of the Year” for 2018, and for once, it isn’t one person. This time it is four people and a newspaper. Collectively calling them “The Guardians”, Time has awarded the accolade to the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Filipino journalist Maria Ressa who edits the Rappler news website, […]

On Monday, about 15 people gathered outside the Wynberg Magistrate Court in South Africa to protest the bail hearing of the man accused of attacking 63-year-old Dianne Case. Case, an award-winning children’s book author and community worker, was stabbed 14 times. According to Case’s daughter, Maxine, on the afternoon of 28 November the doorbell rang. […]

Paternal care – where fathers care for their children – is rare among mammals (that is, animals which give birth to live young). Scientists have identified more than 6,000 mammal species, but paternal care only occurs in 5 to 10% of them. Humans fall into that category, along with species like mice and lions. There […]

We consume the products of slavery every day. All of us. Today’s globalised supply chains make it is almost impossible to avoid goods or services free of the fingerprints of slavery. Electronic gadgets, clothing, fish, cocoa and cane sugar are the products mostly likely to be tainted. In contrast to state-sanctioned slave ownership in the […]

The Safe Space under Culemborg bridge in Cape Town’s city centre has helped secure part-time employment for 48 homeless people and reunited eight people with their families since it was opened in July, according to the City. Nathaniel and Sophia Booysen have been at the facility since 22 July. Sophia was on the streets for two years and Nathaniel […]

The global campaign to end AIDS has made significant strides but the epidemic remains one of the world’s leading public health challenges… particularly in South Africa. Globally, AIDS affects almost 37 million people. Campaigners say one of the biggest challenges in the fight to end AIDS is encouraging people to get tested and making them […]

R21 billion: that’s how much South Africa’s beleaguered national carrier, South African Airways (SAA), says it needs to keep running… writes Jannie Rossouw. SAA has reached this point in its financial crisis through persistent mismanagement and cronyism, with the SA government as main shareholder refusing to take tough decisions about the company. But such decisions can’t […]

SA Rugby President, Mark Alexander, has praised Springbok winger Aphiwe Dyantyi for scooping the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year Award at a glittering function in Monaco on Sunday evening. In doing so, the 24-year-old Dyantyi became the first South African to win this prestigious award for players in their debut international season. The […]

Time is running out for Ebenezer Odei to get the funding he needs to be able to attend university in 2019. Odei is a matric learner at Grassy Park High School. His parents are Ghanaian and came to South Africa in 1996. They were granted permanent residence in 1997. Odei was born in South Africa […]

Bridgetown’s “Robot Man” sits at a little table outside his house in the Western Cape, filled with pieces of scrap from a nearby dump site. Near him is his latest creation, Robot 5 (R5) which took about two months to build. Made from items like the straps from a child’s shoe, a piece of rubber, […]

A 15-year-old from Ningizimu Special School in Montclair, Durban has been selected to compete in the Special Olympics World Summer Games in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next year. But Asisipho Sosibo says her excitement has been dampened by delays getting her passport at the Department of Home Affairs. “I’m so happy to get this […]

Millions of South Africa’s children are hungry. More than 40% have had multiple experiences of violence in their homes, schools and communities, and four million children are not living with either biological parent. This is according to survey results published in the latest Child Gauge report. Most alarming from the latest Child Gauge report is […]

A recent online video took what seemed like an inspirational moment viral. The video, shot by Dmitry Kedrov using a drone, shows a baby bear climbing up and falling down the side of a mountain near Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk. After repeated efforts, the cub finally reaches the top, joining his mother and winning the […]