Helenvale residents demand a safer community
Gangsterism and contact crime is reportedly escalating in Port Elizabeth’s Northern Areas, a predominantly coloured community. Brutal killings and gun related violence are commonplace in […]
Service delivery
Housing Protest Movement Spreads – Building a United Front Campaign
The service delivery protest movement of largely African working class people since 1994 and more particularly since the early 2000s, represents a low-key civil war which has largely been ignored by the mainstream media. However the spread of the protest movement to the predominantly ‘coloured’ working class areas in Gauteng like Eldorado Park, Ennerdale and Newclare has received widespread media coverage because these areas have been politically silent for the past twenty three years and now suddenly exploded in violent protest.
22 people share a toilet in Ekurhuleni
After years battling to get basic services, residents of L&J (Lloyd and Johan) an informal settlement near St Georges Hotel in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, […]
The appalling state of hostels in Alexandra township
Alexandra Hostel dwellers and elsewhere in the City of Johannesburg are pinning their hopes on the new City’s administration led by the coalition of […]
B-Section kids play in danger
A lack of playground facilities in Khayelitsha B-Section means children are risking their lives by crossing the busy Mandela Road in order to get to a playpark in neighbouring A-Section.
Gauteng floods leave the poor in misery
It will take a long time for the poor to recover from storms that have wrecked homes, especially those in informal settlements like Stjwetla situated on the edge of the Juskei river in Alexandra.
A week of floods as a result of torrential rain in some parts of Gauteng has left many people devastated. Cars and houses were damaged. Above all, eight people lost their lives. While others are saying this is an act of God, others are blaming poor storm water drainage as the cause of the damage. Affected regions were Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
Lack of electricity sparks protests in Los Angeles
Tyres and rubbish were burnt on Swartklip Road by residents of Los Angeles informal settlement near Driftsands recently as they were demanding that electricity be supplied to their area.
Los Angeles resident, Nosethu Balintulo, said the provision of electricity had been promised many times by City officials, but nothing has been delivered.
The BM section fire victims will finally see the light
Victims of the devastating New Year’s Day fire in Khayelitsha BM Section in 2013, who have been living without electricity for three years, are to finally receive power this month, the City has announced.
The fire which tore through the informal settlement, resulted in three deaths and the destruction of 800 homes, with 331 homes allowed to be temporarily rebuilt on land next to the OR Tambo Hall on Mew Way, a short distance from BM Section.
Bread price hikes hit the poor hardest
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU, has accused food companies of exploiting the poor by increasing bread prices at a time when the cost of wheat has come down.
Water bill arrears shock for pre-paid electricity buyers
Masiphumelele residents are shocked that Cape Town City is charging extra for electricity because of water meter debt.
As a means of clawing back some of the R2.1-bn in water account arrears, the City is charging extra for electricity supplied through pre-paid meters and supposedly putting the difference against account-holders’ water debt.
Civil society movements vows to keep pressure on SABC
After the public broadcaster decided to ban the footage of violent protests and the destruction of properties, there has been growing pressure from various interest groups that say the move has threatened media freedom and will take the public broadcaster back to the Apartheid era of becoming a state broadcaster.
Understanding the history, content and character of ‘violent’ protest
Dale McKinley argues that the response of the police is the source of violence during protests.
If we are to believe the mainstream media and most political parties then it would appear as though South Africa is under a massive assault from ‘violent’ protests.
According to this storyline, it is the protestors (whether community members, organised workers or other political/social activists) who are blindly engaging in ever-increasing acts of wanton violence. In doing so, the argument goes, such ‘violence’ is undermining the ‘peace and stability’ of the ‘nation’ as well as the ‘rule of law’ which is being defended by the ANC/state, the police and law-abiding citizens.
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