Land and housing activists: “We will take the land because it belongs to us”

30th August 2017 Mzi Velapi 0

There has been an increasing number of land and housing activists that have been murdered lately. Mthunzi “Ras Moziah” Zuma was shot and killed during a road blockade next to the land they were occupying near Khayelitsha Mall. Less than a month later another land and housing activist in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay 41 kilometres west of Khayelitsha was shot by the police during a housing protest and later died in hospital.

Land and housing activists have pledged to continue taking and occupying vacant land despite brutal repression by the state and the killing of those who fight for land. The commitment was made at seminar in Khayelitsha Monday night where different groups of organisations representing activists from Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town met to share their experiences of state and police brutality.

Trade union accuses police of colluding with farmers

28th August 2017 Mzi Velapi 0

CSAAWU has accused the South African Police Services of colluding with farm owners when it comes to farmworkers laying charges against farmowners. This comes after a farmworker was taken to a deserted place and threatened with violence and death following a break-in at a farmer’s house in Paarl.

Uber driver still has “flashbacks” of acid attacks

23rd August 2017 Ramatamo Sehoai 0

Kgomotso Tiro, an Uber driver cannot believe he is alive to share his traumatic and life threatening experience. He has just been discharged from Helen Joseph Hospital. He spoke of how he narrowly missed death on the night of the 6th of August 2017 when an unknown assailant disguised as a passenger dragged him to an isolated place, poured him with an acid and set him alight.

Careworkers demand better working conditions

18th August 2017 Dibuseng Phaloane 0

Care workers are classified by their employers as volunteers and not employees. As such, the proposed minimum wage does not cover them. They get paid less than R2,000 a month. If they fall pregnant, women are forced to quit their jobs or take unpaid leave.