Latest news:

Housing for locals: City can do more

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With a backlog of 600,000 housing units and the state only providing 2,500 a year, the City has to incentivise the private sector to step in

  • The City of Cape Town has a huge housing backlog and a legacy of apartheid spatial planning.
… Read more

Iconic Good Hope Centre auctioned by City amidst civic opposition

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More than 50 municipal land parcels across the city are being sold to the highest bidder while locals suffer a housing availability crisis

The City’s plan to auction the iconic turtle-shaped Good Hope Centre along with other parcels of municipal land across the city on 26 February was met with protests, legal challenges, and a request for postponement from the SA Human Rights Commission.… Read more

City land auction at odds with affordable housing commitments

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The City’s auctioning of 53 parcels of land without any requirements for the provision of social or affordable housing is not aligned to the City’s affordable housing commitments, states the Development Action Group.

In a statement released on 25 Feb, the Development Action Group (DAG) noted the High Court’s dismissal of applications seeking to postpone the City auction.… Read more

District Six families vow to fight eviction

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“Who would have thought back then that it would have turned out like this today” says 69-year-old resident

By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp

Six District Six families living in historic semi-detached Victorian cottages on Searle Street, who withstood apartheid forced removals but now face eviction, say they will fight on despite a magistrates’ court judgment in December ordering them to vacate the cottages by 6 March.… Read more

South African Cap Classique: Fizzing to the top

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The Brits have a wonderful expression for sparkling wine: Fizz.

“C’mon let’s get a bottle of fizz.”

“How do you feel about a bit ‘o fizz?”

“A bit more of the fizz there will you?”

Its delightful, especially as fizz is one of those words that sounds exactly like the thing it’s describing.… Read more

Popular water sports site now a toxic health hazard

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Zeekoevlei is used by schools and clubs for sailing and rowing but a toxic algal bloom has led to it being closed since December

By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp

Zeekoevlei, which is used by numerous sailing, rowing, and other recreational clubs, has been closed since December due to dangerous levels of toxins caused by algal blooms.… Read more

March gigs in the mother city

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Theatre

I watched The Stranger at the National Arts Festival in 2024, I think. It felt like my soul dropped into the underworld; some people were lulled to sleep, hypnotised. You leave blinking back reality. A ritual drama of love, consciousness, and impermanence, on 27 and 28 Feb at Theatre Arts, Observatory.… Read more