June 12

• South Africa: Portable Flush Toilets - What Are They and Why the Fuss?

  The public spats over portable toilets have been at the forefront of the news. But what exactly are portable toilets? How do they work? What is good and what is bad about them? Read more »

June 06

• South Africa: Kasonokomona Wins First Round of Court Battle

  Zambian activist Paul Kasonkomona has won an important first round in his court battle. In an interview on Zambian television in April he called for the recognition of gay and... Read more »

June 05

• South Africa: Achmat to Police - Where Are the Documents for Firearms Register?

  Zackie Achmat, director of Ndifuna Ukwazi, has sent an access to information request to the South African Police Service asking for documents related to an IT project that has not... Read more »

• South Africa: Mayor and SJC Clash Over Toilet Facts

  Mayor Patricia de Lille held a press conference today to address an unfavourable audit by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) about the quality of the City's sanitation services in... Read more »

• South Africa: What Kind of Boy Are You?

  'Are you a boy or a girl?' 'Go outside and play with other boys and throw that doll away. Who bought it?' My father shouts at me as he finds me playing with the cheap fashion doll... Read more »

• South Africa: The People's Paper - Reflections On Another World, Not So Long Ago

  The offices of a community newspaper were burned to the ground in October 1985. It was situated opposite the Grand Parade and next to Cape Town's historic City Hall. A few weeks... Read more »

• South Africa: The ANC-Alliance Soap Opera Trundles On

  "Confusion hath made his masterpiece." That quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth seems perfectly to sum up the statements, comments, reports and machinations surrounding the Cosatu... Read more »

• South Africa: Open Data - Opening Democracy?

  Open Data is possibly the big change waiting to happen. It is not only going to change our interaction with the world, but also define new ideas and solutions to problems for us. Read more »

• South Africa: Violence Against Women Mural Unveiled in Khayelitsha

  A mural has been unveiled in Khayelitsha to highlight the need for the state and communities to improve their response to violence against women. Read more »

May 30

• South Africa: Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic?

  Flu infections follow seasons, typically rising in winter and dropping in summer. As it moves, a virus mutates, with the risk that with every new flu season, a highly infectious... Read more »

May 29

• South Africa: Debunking Jeremy Cronin On Civil Society

  "Join our hands to fight the drug companies, join our hands to raise money from the private sector, join our hands in raising money from each of us who will contribute to save... Read more »

• South Africa: Disabled and Waiting for a House Since 1992

  While Thembisa Maso, a KTC resident still waits for her house to be completed, Mbuyiselo Vena, her neighbour, is struggling day in and day out in a wheelchair after being on a... Read more »

• South Africa: Myciti - Brilliant Service Delivery or Irresponsible Public Planning?

  Policy makers hail the MyCiTi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as the solution to Cape Town's public transport. MyCiTi has been lauded for its service quality. But it has also been... Read more »

• South Africa: Organisational Rights and Democracy

  Potentially turbulent and conflicting currents among trade union federations have been exposed following an attempt by deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to calm troubled labour... Read more »

• South Africa: Battle Over Barcelona's Buckets

  Residents of Barcelona informal settlement are living a sanitation nightmare. The company contracted to remove the bucket toilets, Sannicare, has been hit by industrial action and... Read more »

May 27

• South Africa: More and More People, Less and Less Work

  In recent columns I have mentioned the frightening statistic from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that, on a global level, more than 120 million men and women are now... Read more »

May 22

• South Africa: Controversial Youth Website Dodges Censorship

  "Outoilet" is an Afrikaans word meaning "old toilet", but it also refers to a cellphone chat site, aimed mainly at Cape Flats youth. Its URLs are blocked by several service... Read more »

• South Africa: Gang Killers Suspected of Targeting Another Boy

  Last week, 17-year old Enrico Martin was shot dead at his high school in Athlone. Natheer Abrahams is 16-years old and is being bullied and threatened by gangsters. He suspects... Read more »

• South Africa: Chippa United's Goldman Hopes to Stay in the Psl [interview]

  What a challenging weekend it was for Cape Town's PSL teams. Ajax played Golden Arrows at Cape Town stadium needing three points to stay in the PSL. Mabhuti Khenyeza scored the... Read more »

• South Africa: Why We Should Support Social Movements

  This week I finally signed up as a donor to Equal Education. I'd been meaning to do it for a long time. Small as my contribution is I'd like to urge all who can afford even R20 per... Read more »

• South Africa: Nyanga Celebrates First Gay Pride March

  On Saturday 18 March about 300 people gathered at NY1 Gugulethu and marched to the Nyanga Football Stadium in the first gay pride march in Nyanga. Read more »

May 21

• South Africa: Opening Up Debates We Need

  The trade union movement is in a state of flux, with concepts such as centralised bargaining and the "winner takes all" approach of majority -- 50 per cent plus one -- unionism now... Read more »

May 20

• South Africa: Investigate and Stop This Mundane Everyday Corruption [editorial]

  Today GroundUp published a story, with the assistance of The Cape Times, of corruption at Lingelethu West Traffic Department in Khayelitsha. We tell how the buying of learner's and... Read more »

• South Africa: Get Up, Stand Up, Fight Like Lerato

  On Friday Judge Phalatsi ordered that 13-year old Lerato Radebe be immediately readmitted to her school in Welkom. Every morning since 26 February Lerato was removed from her... Read more »

• South Africa: Inflammatory Language Makes Platinum Belt Even More Volatile

  At the best of times, grassroots democracy, without sound communications infrastructure and the distribution of accurate information, can be a messy business. Add to this, dollops... Read more »