Stop blaming immigrants for government failures, Johannesburg marchers say “This march is a declaration that no one is illegal and that our future is bound together as one human race”

More than 150 people gathered at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, on Saturday to protest against xenophobia and the ill treatment of immigrants in South Africa.

Read groundup.org.za/article/stop... by Kimberly Mutandiro

Komani residents given ultimatum: Pay rates or lose electricity But protesters say they are being billed for services they do not receive

Enoch Mgijima municipality in the Eastern Cape has blocked electricity purchases for more than 200 households for not paying their rates and service bills.

Read groundup.org.za/article/koma... by Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Metro cops warn March and March protesters to behave Businesses along the march route remained closed

March and March campaign members were seen cleaning the dirt on the streets of Durban on Friday. This followed days of sporadic protests in which people whom the protesters identified as being immigrants were attacked.

Read groundup.org.za/article/metr... by Joseph Bracken and Tsoanelo Sefoloko

Cape Town swimmers demand public pools stay open seven days a week in summer Dressed in swimming caps and goggles, community members took their protest to the City’s budget public participation meeting

At a City of Cape Town budget public participation meeting on Thursday, residents demanded public pools stay open seven days a week.

Read groundup.org.za/article/cape... by Matthew Hirsch

Police hunt for third suspect in Philippi extortion murder case Marikana residents says crime remains high despite army deployment

Two men accused of murdering eight people and injuring two others in Philippi East in January, appeared together in court for the first time on Thursday.

Read groundup.org.za/article/poli... by Mary-Anne Gontsana

Company sold stolen and expired insulin to Malawi’s hospitals Yet it has got away with minor sanctions and continues to operate

One of Malawi’s largest pharmaceutical suppliers has repeatedly supplied expired and falsified medicines to public hospitals for more than a decade, a Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) investigation has found.

Read groundup.org.za/article/inve... by Golden Matonga and Tumpale Ng’ambi

Tongaat Hulett liquidation avoided after government provides R200-million lifeline Last-minute funding deal allows the struggling sugar giant’s mills to open for the season, buying time for more than 18,000 KZN canegrowers

Canegrowers in KwaZulu-Natal breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday when the liquidation of sugar giant Tongaat Hulett was avoided through additional funding of R200-million.

Read groundup.org.za/article/tong... by Tania Broughton

Cape Town health workers protest, demand permanent jobs They say they are being exploited and underpaid

Community health workers marched through the streets to the provincial legislature in Cape Town on Thursday to demand that the provincial health department employ them permanently.

Read groundup.org.za/article/comm... by Vincent Lali

Durban rape cover-up trial: survivor testifies police pressured her to withdraw charges Rape complainant says she was taken from her home and driven around by police with her rapist before being detained

The complainant in the rape cover-up trial ended her testimony and cross-examination on Wednesday in the Durban Magistrates Court after four days on the stand.

Read groundup.org.za/article/durb... by Benita Enoch

Taxi drivers protest over potholed roads and permit delays in Mangaung The municipality officials agree to meet Botshabelo taxi operators

Scores of taxi operators from Botshabelo, outside Bloemfontein, marched to the offices of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality on Wednesday to demand better roads and improved services.

Read groundup.org.za/article/taxi... by Becker Semela

City of Joburg admits “little to show” decades after Slovo Park upgrade promises “All we are asking for is dignity,” community development forum chair tells government

Little has changed in Slovo Park in the decade since a High Court judgement ordered the City of Johannesburg to upgrade the informal settlement.

Read groundup.org.za/article/city... by Seth Thorne

The ancient tribe without a piece of land they can call their own Dorah Begwa has been fighting for land for her clan for more than 30 years

For more than three decades, Dorah Begwa has been on a mission – trying to restore land that once belonged to the Begwa community.

Read groundup.org.za/article/the-... by Anton van Zyl

Thousands of grants suspended after SASSA review process in Limpopo SASSA says no grant has been incorrectly stopped, but beneficiaries are battling

More than 30,000 grants have been suspended in Limpopo after a review process by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).

Read groundup.org.za/article/thou... by Thembi Siaga

Anti-immigrant protesters harass people in Durban Shopkeeper alleges protesters stabbed his brother

On the second day of a week-long “clean-up” campaign by March and March, an anti-immigrant group, people were again apprehended in the streets of Durban by vigilantes.

Read groundup.org.za/article/anti... by Joseph Bracken, Tsoanelo Sefoloko and Bongane Motaung

Protesters from Marikana picket for jobs at Samancor in Joburg They argue that jobs and training will “restore dignity, stability, and growth in our communities”.

More than 100 people from Marikana in Rustenburg protested outside Samancor Chrome’s Sandton headquarters on Wednesday demanding jobs and training.

Read groundup.org.za/article/prot... by Kimberly Mutandiro

Rat poison found in Cape Town’s dead caracals UCT researcher says secondary poisoning of the apex predator from eating contaminated prey threatens to unbalance the Cape Peninsula ecosystem

Dr Gabriella Leighton has performed dozens of post-mortems on Cape Town’s caracals. She has become used to seeing the effects of anticoagulant rodenticides – rat poisons designed to cause internal haemorrhaging.

Read groundup.org.za/article/stud... by Jacques Malherbe

This granny lives in a shack right next to her unfinished RDP house Nine people live in one room

Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa, 75, lives in a dilapidated one-room shack with two of her children and six of her grandchildren. The shack floods when it rains. There is no electricity or tap water and the toilet is not working.

Read groundup.org.za/article/75-y... by Sandiso Phaliso

Human Rights Commission calls for submissions on Gauteng water crisis The public has until 30 April to make submissions. Hearings are planned for May.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is urging people to make written submissions on water issues in Gauteng.

Read groundup.org.za/article/huma... by Seth Thorne

The boatmen of Lesotho: a lifeline for villagers These boats are an essential mode of transport, ferrying people across the Senqu River in Qacha’s Nek

Every day at about 6am, Motlalepula Lethala pushes his small aluminium boat onto the Senqu River in Qacha’s Nek.

Read groundup.org.za/article/how-... by Sechaba Mokhethi

“Clean-up campaign” in Durban turns into witch hunt for immigrants “This is unlawful, and the police have to act to arrest people”

Anti-immigrant group March and March began a week-long “clean-up campaign” in Durban on Tuesday, supposedly to sweep streets and clear rubbish.

Read groundup.org.za/article/clea... by Joseph Bracken and Tsoanelo Sefoloko

Dipuo Peters pays R190k to stop sheriff from taking her car #UniteBehind says the amount Peters paid is “small compared” to her state capture “crimes”

Former ANC MP Dipuo Peters has paid close to R193,000 in legal costs after the Sheriff of the High Court arrived at her Kimberley home to enforce a writ of execution on Monday.

Read groundup.org.za/article/dipu... by Marecia Damons

Sewage treatment collapsing in Tshwane The Department of Water and Sanitation has given the City 60 days from 31 March to come up with a plan

The Department of Water and Sanitation has given the City of Tshwane 60 days from 31 March to say what it plans to do to fix collapsing sewage treatment plants.

Read groundup.org.za/article/sewa... by Seth Thorne

SA’s only state transgender surgery clinic can help just four patients a year But Groote Schuur’s Transgender Healthcare Clinic is seeing five to ten new patients a month and new patients may wait 20 to 30 years for surgery

South Africa’s only state gender-affirming clinic provides surgery to only four patients a year, while receiving up to ten new referrals a month.

Read groundup.org.za/article/sas-... by Jacques Malherbe

Government services continuing despite Mthatha fire, says Mabuyane Province claims that property deeds, which were stored in the building, were digitised before the fire

The cause of a fire that destroyed much of Mthatha’s iconic Botha Sigcau building on 24 March is still under investigation.

Read groundup.org.za/article/east... by Lubabalo Ngcukana

Thyspunt recommended for Eskom’s new nuclear power station A draft environmental scoping report says the Eastern Cape coastal site is the most viable, but a heritage protection order could complicate the process

A draft environmental scoping report has recommended Thyspunt, between Oyster Bay and Cape St Francis, as the preferred site for Eskom’s proposed 5,200MW nuclear plant.

Read groundup.org.za/article/thys... by John Yeld

On Friday evening, a small army contingent and police swept through Lavender Hill and Steenberg on the Cape Flats, raiding several suspected drug houses and conducting spot searches.

Read groundup.org.za/article/in-p... by Matthew Hirsch and Brenton Geach

Quota bungle: Small-scale fishers battle to survive Several West Coast cooperatives given even lower allocations than they had before their appeals

Confusion over miscalculated quotas has left many West Coast small-scale fishers desperate. Every day lost during the lobster season endangers their survival.

Read groundup.org.za/article/quot... by Liezl Human

Slovo Park: a decade of winning in court, losing on the ground After decades of struggle, residents still lack sanitation and water infrastructure

Mapara died in May 2019 at the age of 80, ten months after the City electrified Slovo Park. It would take another six months before the City applied to the GDHS for UISP funding in compliance with the Melani judgment.

Read groundup.org.za/article/slov... by Thato Masiangoako

More than 100 people gathered opposite the United States Consulate in Cape Town on Friday morning to protest the US-Iran war.

Read groundup.org.za/article/hund... by Matthew Hirsch

Rape cover-up trial: Police officers describe the day victim was arrested Two witnesses took the stand on Thursday

Two witnesses took the stand at the Durban Magistrates Court on Thursday in the trial of three police officers accused of covering up a rape complaint.

Read groundup.org.za/article/rape... by Benita Enoch