Month: December 2015

LGBTI festival highlights hate crimes against homosexuals

8th December 2015 Elitsha reporters 0

Hate crimes are not yet recognized as unique crimes under South African law and there are no reliable figures about the extent of the problem in the country. Although South Africa is one of the few countries that recognises same-sex marriages, hate crimes are still prevalent.
Recent studies show that homophobia is still a major problem. A 2013 study by the Pew Research Center found that up to 61 per cent of South Africans believe society should not accept homosexuality.

Shulana Court evicted via the backdoor

8th December 2015 Nicolas Dieltiens 0

Shulana Court is a small, building in Yeoville close to Hillbrow. Seventy-odd year-old Aaron Mbatha, stayed there for over 20 years until he and all the other residents were thrown out. The Hawks descended on the building, searching for four members of the tenants’ committee. Just two were unfortunate to be at home at the time, but the police arrested all the residents.

Learner by day parent at night

8th December 2015 Dibuseng Phaloane 0

The Department of Basic Education has reported that there were 20,000 learner pregnancies in 2014. The highest number of pregnancies was in Gauteng with over 5,000 and the Eastern Cape at over 3,000. According to the list of schools with high pregnancy rates, Jabulile Secondary in Orange Farm had 32 learners, Botebo-Tsebo in Sebokeng (Unit 14) 48 learners and Esokwazi in Unit 8 in Sebokeng had 51 cases of pregnancy.

Public transport users feel the pain

8th December 2015 Siphiwo Nkonki 0

Despite the South African government declaring the month of October as transport month, public transport in South Africa is still a big problem. October has come and gone but commuters in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town are frustrated with public transport.
For many people who rely on trains, buses or minibus taxis to go to and from work, public transport is dysfunctional.

Statement of the parents of UWC and CPUT

8th December 2015 Elitsha reporters 0

We are parents of students at the University of the Western Cape and CPUT. We are in support of the Fees Must Fall campaign. We know our children. They are not violent nor hooligans. We strenuously reject, the crude propaganda of University management to cast them in this light. This is nothing short of attempting to criminalise the student struggle so as to avoid negotiating with their legitimate demands and grievances.

COSATU can learn from Corbyn to avoid slipping into irrelevance

8th December 2015 Terry Bell 0

“The ANC came before democracy.” This statement by President Jacob Zuma was obviously incorrect since the concept of democracy pre-dated the formation of the ANC in 1912 by about 2,500 years.
It came to us from the ancient Greeks who also provided the term, taken from demos (people) and kratos (power). However Zuma did go on to explain that he meant his comment to apply to South Africa where the first non-racial parliamentary elections were staged 82 years after the birth of what became the ANC.
This, along with comments made at last week’s Cosatu congress, put the whole question of what democracy means into focus. At the same time, the media was again accused of misleading the voting public and so undermining both the ANC and its trade union partner.
But does universal adult suffrage — votes for all to a parliament — equal democracy? And is the media really able, to a large degree, to manipulate public opinion and, therefore, harm the trade union movement and the country?

#FeesMustFall feature

8th December 2015 Mzi Velapi 0

In October 2015, we saw one of the biggest student protests in post apartheid Africa. Students from tertiary institutions protesting against fee increments and called for “free quality Afrocentric socialist education.” Outsourced workers at the instutions joined the protest action calling for insourcing. So much has been written on the campaign and what lessons that can be learnt from it.
The protest was a response to proposed fee hikes by the institutions.

Student-worker alliance forces universities to insource

8th December 2015 Mzi Velapi 0

Service workers at South Africa’s universities were outsourced since the late 1990’s after the ANC government adopted its GEAR economic policy. This meant that cleaners, security, transport and catering workers were no longer directly employed by univerities. They were now employed by outsourced companies, losing most of their benefits and earning less than half their wages.

Victory for poor students and workers at NMMU

8th December 2015 Joseph Chirume 0

After weeks of protests and putting pressure on university management, students from poor families and workers at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University were victorious. The university council released a statement saying that they have resolved to commit the university to ending outsourcing of service workers. The council also pledged debt relief for students.

#WitsFeesMustFall

8th December 2015 Nicolas Dieltiens 0

The student strike at Wits University gained momentum when the vice chancellor and his executive deadlocked in negotiations with maybe 2,000 students in the occupied Senate House (renamed Solomon Mahlangu House) over a fee hike of 10.5% for next year.

‘If bra Steve were to observe the crisis of today’s youth, he would definitely cry’

8th December 2015 Anele Mbi 0

In August 2015, residents from Ginsberg blockaded roads demanding better roads and other services from the local municipality. In the following month of September, the month when the founder of Black Conciousness in South Africa, Steve Biko, saw a number of political parties coming to Ginsberg to commemorate the 38th year since Steve Biko was killed. The political parties were the ANC, EFF and the DA.

Rugby development in Khayelitsha township

8th December 2015 Siyavuya Khaya 0

The Rugby World Cup has come and gone and the Boks team is still a topical issue. With only 8 black players in the team that competed in the world cup, transformation of rugby remains necessary.
In order to deal with the challenge of poor rugby development in Khayelitsha, Connect Community Development established a rugby academy to nurture the skills of young rugby players and afford them an opportunity to play rugby.