Over the past 15 years South Africa has been experiencing a gradually worsening number of electricity cuts. This state of affairs has prompted frustration among citizens, negative international economic sentiment and financial hardship for many businesses. Public pressure has grown more intense, leading to the extraordinary presidential decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to proclaim a […]

About 25 refugees who had accepted reintegration into Cape Town communities have changed their minds and returned to the Wingfield campsite where they were housed. There are now about 168 people in the camp, and no sign of an answer to their demands. About 25 refugees who had returned to communities in Cape Town from […]

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has expressed South Africa’s concern about the conflict that broke out in Sudan over the weekend between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). “We are particularly concerned about the rising numbers of civilian loss of life, the destruction of private and public infrastructure, and the humanitarian […]

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) have officially bowed out of managing a Khoisan settlement named Knoflokskraal in Grabouw, Western Cape. The DFFE had managed activity at Knoflokskraal since late 2020. GroundUp first reported on the occupation of the 1,800 hectares piece of land in June 2022. The original occupiers, who moved onto the […]

Hundreds of social grant beneficiaries and Expanded Public Works Programme workers have to travel far to get their money because the Post Office in Paterson in Sunday’s River Valley, Eastern Cape has been closed for over a year now. The Post Office in Paterson in Sunday’s River Valley, Eastern Cape, has been closed for over […]

A Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation has found that at least 40 000 students were possibly funded inappropriately by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), at a cost of some R5 billion. The SIU on Tuesday said these students are from households that earn more than the cut off of R350 000 and “therefore would […]

SANParks has apparently only filled five of its 87 vacant ranger posts at the Kruger National Park, despite the rangers being essential in the fight against rhino poaching. ”It is now essential that more funding be prioritized towards filling the remaining 82 vacant ranger posts as a matter of urgency, to assist in the ongoing […]

Residents of Klerksdorp have been left reeling after the horrific murder of Hennie Joubert, and the attack on his wife Joey Joubert in their home last week. According to Klerksdorp Rekord the couple were held in their home in Couzynstraat in the suburb of Elandia last Thursday night. They were allegedly “tortured for hours” while […]

Six months ago, #UniteBehind submitted complaints to the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests against six ANC MPs for their role in the collapse of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). With no sign that the Ethics Committee is taking action against the subjects of their complaint, on Monday the commuter activist […]

The governing party in the Western Cape, the DA, says it is shocked to learn of the murder of former politician and community activist Loyiso Nkohla, who was shot dead today in Cape Town. The passing of such a distinctive and passionate voice is « profoundly tragic », and the circumstances of Nkohla’s death are […]

GroundUp published the first story about Thabo Bester’s possible escape from prison on 8 November 2022. Then the bombshell exposé on 15 March 2023, which seemingly confirmed the suspicion that Bester escaped. It sounded far-fetched, but GroundUp’s March 2023 story was seemingly supported by documents that had been in the state’s possession for almost a year. […]

Recaptured in Tanzania and brought back to South Africa, convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Friday. He was charged in connection with his escape from G4S-run Mangaung Correctional Centre on 3 May 2022. The case was postponed until May so that the prosecution can complete its investigation. By […]

Thanks to the combined efforts of various organisations, 26 casualties were safely rescued near Cape Point, South Africa, after their vessel caught fire in the early hours of this morning. Simon McDonnell, NSRI Simon’s Town station commander, said they were alerted at 00h40 Friday morning. A 35m support vessel, based in Hout Bay, had caught […]

As South Africa faces a dire shortage of snake anti-venom treatment, locals have been warned that relying on traditional myths and using homemade concoctions to treat snakebites is far too dangerous… writes Godfrey Sigwela. Sucking the snakebite or burning it all make the snake wound worse. Professor Timothy Hardcastle, an expert from The National Snakebite Advisory […]

The DA in the Western Cape (WC) has expressed “deep concern” about the increasing number of plane crashes around the Cape Town area with the latest reported accident happening just two weeks ago. The safety and security of local communities is naturally of paramount importance, and the DA said in a statement today that this […]

A local woman, aged 30, was rescued at lunch time today after falling out of a charter boat as it entered the Hout Bay harbour near Cape Town in South Africa. The woman was seriously injured when she fell out of the rigid hull inflatable boat as it passed through the harbour mouth. The charter […]

Eskom’s announcement on Wednesday that load shedding will be escalated to Stage 6  is a direct indictment of the misplaced confidence in the power utility’s struggling coal-fired power stations by the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, claims the DA. Ever since his appointment, Ramokgopa has doubled down on the «unreliable» coal stations by suggesting that […]

South Africa has a food crisis. The food system – made up of all of the activities and actors involved in the production, processing, transportation, selling, consumption and disposal of food – produces starkly unequal access to nutritious foods. As a result, many households in the country cannot afford a healthy diet, 27% of children […]

Wealthy households make up less than 14% of Cape Town’s population, but use more than half its domestic water, making their consumption a greater threat to sustainable water use than either climate change or population growth. A study of Cape Town’s water consumption has found that rich households use drinking water for swimming pools while […]

National Geographic has highlighted the plight of 2,000 white rhino which South African entrepreneur John Hume is reluctantly having to sell. An auction is set to start on 26 April, with an opening bid of $10-million. Watch the video below. Hume had unsuccessfully lobbied for a legal rhino horn trade which would have enabled him […]

In a press conference in Cape Town on Thursday, the Ministers of Justice and Police confirmed that murderer and rapist Thabo Bester and his accomplice Nandipha Magudumana have been successfully brought back to South Africa after being arrested in Tanzania on the weekend. Bester escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. Several other people […]

Six men were gunned down in an Ocean View home in Cape Town, South Africa, this morning in what is suspected to be a gang-related incident. The SA Police Service (SAPS) in the Western Cape said its anti-gang unit detectives are investigating six counts of murder. Unfortunately ongoing power cuts meant that no CCTV footage […]

South Africa’s newly appointed Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has warned of an “exceptionally difficult winter” if Eskom’s grid remains as constrained as it currently is. The power utility needs approximately 66,000 megawatts to make up for the deficit between demand and supply, if South Africans are to avoid a dark and cold winter. Eskom implemented […]

French solo sailor Emmanuel Dailler (56) is missing off South Africa’s West Coast. He is aboard the Akela II, a mono hull white yacht, which left Hout Bay Yacht Club on 2 March destined for Martinique in the Caribbean. It’s over a month later, and the NSRI say the yacht and sailor “may now be […]

Claims for financial compensation for medical mistakes in South Africa have been on the rise since 2007. Recently, however, criminal charges for medical errors have also become more prevalent. One such case is that of Dr Danie van der Walt, who was ultimately acquitted on a charge of negligently causing the death of a child. […]