No lack of service delivery will stop us from voting say Duncan Village residents

26th July 2016 Elitsha reporters 0

If it is not blocked toilets, then it’s garbage piling up next to people’s homes. But the community of Duncan Village in East London say they know the importance of voting.
It was a sunny Sunday when Elitsha visited the area. Most people were busy doing their washing, some sitting next to their shacks. There were political party representatives who were busy doing door to door campaigning.

Informal settlement residents turn to pay TV

26th July 2016 Mandla Mnyakama 0

Several DSTV dishes appear dotted on shack rooftops as you drive past the area from the N2 Highway near Borcherds Quarry in Cape Town.
Kanana Informal Settlement adjacent to Barcelona in Gugulethu was established in 1992 and consists of about 4,000 residents.
The area is hit hard by floods every winter as well as shack fires that sometimes result in deaths.
This densely populated shack settlement has been electrified and has got 1,214 bucket system toilets with some residents sharing them while others got toilets installed in their homes.
There are also more than 40 communal water taps.
Local residents say they enjoy pay TV because it not only helps to update them on international entertainment but also prevents their children from loitering after school, especially during the winter school holidays, keeping them indoors.

Family of murdered Mozambican migrant still hurting

21st June 2016 Ramatamo wa Matamong 0

A year after their beloved son was brutally murdered in a xenophobic attack in Alexandra, the family of the late Emmanuel Sithole, a Mozambican national, wants closure.
Sithole, who at the time was making a living by selling cigarettes and snacks on the pavement, died on the 18th of April 2015 of stab wounds inflicted by four local thugs who refused to pay for a cigarette that they took from him.

Foreign shop owners still struggling

21st June 2016 Bernard Chiguvare 0

Most foreign national shop owners in Dunoon are struggling to re-establish their businesses a month after the shops were looted by the residents following housing protests.
Some have completely closed down and moved to other places while others have gone back to their respective countries. Elitsha tried to call some shop owners whose shops were closed but they never answered the calls.

40 years on – still no quality public education!

21st June 2016 Mzi Velapi 0

1976 marks the year when students in Soweto and throughout the country stood up against the apartheid regime and fought for quality education.
2016: fast-forward 40 years, the dream of public quality education has not been realized after 22 years of democracy. Elitsha has been consistently covering stories about the lack of quality public education. From Ikhwezi Lesizwe Primary school in Khayelitsha to Gordon Primary school in Alexandra township in Johannesburg to Chubekile Senior Secondary School in Kwa-Zakhele in Port Elizabeth.

UCT Shackville protesters effectively expelled

25th May 2016 GroundUp 0

An interdict against a number of University of Cape Town (UCT) students was made an order of court. As a result, five students find themselves effectively expelled.
The five (of the original 16 named respondents) are not allowed on campus for an indefinite period of time except with express written consent of the vice-chancellor. They are: Alex Hotz, Masixole Mlandu, Chumani Maxwele, Slovo Magida and Zola Shokane. They will also have to pay UCT’s costs including the costs of two counsel.

Orange Farm protestors demand the removal of councillor

25th May 2016 Dibuseng Phaloane 0

Prolonged violent service delivery protest in Orange Farm south of Johannesburg caused disruptions that brought the township to a stand still.
The Golden and N1 highways were both closed with burning tyres and rocks causing traffic jams in and around Orange Farm.  The number of schools closed increased from 4 to 12 in just 3 days. Students were forced to join the protest. Foreign shop owners donated hundreds of loaves of bread and drinks to protesters to avoid looting of their shops after one of them shot and wounded a 15 year-old boy who was allegedly trying to loot during the protest.

East London women suffer water outages

25th May 2016 Anele Mbi 0

Women in informal settlements of East London were the hardest hit by the recent water outages. Even though areas like Braelyn Extension and Nkandla informal settlement experienced water outages for only three days, the impact was huge and immeasurable.