GroundUp

“We’re not retrenching teachers. We’re reducing posts,” says WCED head

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) came under fire in Parliament on Tuesday over its plan to reduce teaching posts.

In August, the WCED said the number of teacher posts would be reduced by 2,407 for the 2025 school year due to a R3.8-billion budget shortfall over the next three years.… Read more

The SA government is submitting evidence to the International Court of Justice to prove Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

About 50 people gathered outside the Western Cape High Court on Monday morning to support South Africa’s additional submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on genocide in Gaza.… Read more

After seven years the City of Cape Town and the hospital occupiers are beginning to find common ground, but difficulties lie ahead

By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp

In 2017 a handful of housing activists organised the occupation of the old, out-of-use Woodstock Hospital.… Read more

But Prasa denies it did anything

Attorney Jonty Cogger asked the Cape High Court on Friday to instruct the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to return the building material confiscated from 38 people who had been living on land along Old Marine Drive on the Cape Town Foreshore.… Read more

Elderly homeless man stabbed by guard during apparent unlawful eviction

Scores of homeless people who have been living next to Old Marine Drive on the Cape Town Foreshore for about a decade had their shelters destroyed by PRASA Protection Services and contracted security guards last week.… Read more

Bo-Kaap residents appeal City’s decision to approve a new six-storey development in the historic suburb

By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp

A new six-storey development planned for the Bo-Kaap will significantly impact the heritage of the picturesque, historic suburb in Cape Town, say local residents.… Read more

Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp

A new 300-bed shelter for homeless people in Green Point run by the City of Cape Town opened its doors on Monday.

This is one of five Safe Spaces for homeless people funded by the City.

The site for the shelter, at the municipal depot on Ebenezer Road, was approved by the City’s municipal planning tribunal in July last year following extensive public participation.… Read more

Providing a guaranteed minimum level of income frees people from vicious cycles of poverty, says Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

By Marecia Damons/GroudUp

Hundreds of churches have joined civil society’s call for the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to be made permanent and become a universal basic income grant (UBIG).… Read more

​The Haven’s shelters are already 85% full

Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp

Shelters for homeless people across Cape Town are filling up as winter bites. The Haven, which has 14 shelters and 1,300 beds, says the shelters are already 85% full.

While the weather is good, says Haven CEO Shaddie Valayadum, it is possible to make money on the streets.… Read more

​Temporary relocation of families occupying central line contravened municipal by-laws

By Sandiso Phaliso/GroundUp

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has been fined R25,000 for contravening the City of Cape Town zoning laws when it relocated hundreds of families who had erected shacks on the central railway line tracks to a site in Philippi East.… Read more