GroundUp

Applicants in the Tafelberg case say private-sector “affordable” housing is no substitute for social housing

• Following a ruling by the Constitutional Court, the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government have filed reports to the high court on plans for affordable housing.

A fire ripped through Singabalapha on Wednesday

By Mary-Anne Gontsana

One man died and at least three structures were gutted in a fire that ripped through Singabalapha informal settlement in Observatory in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to the City of Cape Town’s fire and rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse, firefighters got the call before 3am on Wednesday.… Read more

Lack of national government social housing grants hobble the City’s plans for 28,400 affordable homes

• The City of Cape Town has told the Western Cape High Court it plans about 28,400 affordable homes.
• But none of the affordable housing projects the City has approved since 2017 for the CBD, Woodstock, Salt River, Observatory or Sea Point has been finished.

An appeal against rezoning has temporarily halted plans

By Alice Scott/GroundUp

Bishop Lavis community leader Michael Hoffmeester lives less than three kilometres from King Air Industria where a hyperscale data centre has been proposed for Cape Town.

He said he has been struggling to answer questions from the community about the data centre.… Read more

The High Court has ordered Singabalapha residents to leave by 30 November

By Mary-Anne Gontsana/GroundUp

The deadline for people living along the Main Road in Observatory to vacate the site is looming, but many of them say they still don’t know where they will go.… Read more

Calls for accommodation cap to be scrapped or redesigned

By Liezl Human

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) accommodation funding cap has not managed to curb high student housing prices. Instead, it has been used as a “price signal” for service providers to push up rents, Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela told Parliament’s portfolio committee for higher education on 28 August.… Read more

While most people prefer to die at home, a minority desperately need specialist care that can only be provided in an institution

By Marecia Damons

St Luke’s is a much respected institution that has been looking after people with life-threatening illnesses in Cape Town since 1980.… Read more

More than 150 people face eviction from three abandoned buildings in Hope Street

By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp

Caroline Abrahams just turned 56 but says she has nothing to celebrate. She is one of over 150 people whose lives are in limbo as they face being evicted from three abandoned buildings in Cape Town’s Hope Street.… Read more

SANParks ordered by forestry department to clear all remaining pines

By John Yeld/GroundUp

A new push to promote ecological restoration in the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) and reduce fire risk could see the removal of all remaining pine trees and other invasives from former plantation areas at Tokai and Cecilia.… Read more

The “people’s train” doesn’t include people with disabilities

By Mary-Anne Gontsana

In 2016, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) promised to make all its stations accessible to wheelchair users. Ten years later, this is an empty promise, as we found when we accompanied wheelchair user Khanyo Mantshi on a journey in Cape Town.… Read more