News

Magistrate did not rule on whether damage to property was racially motivated

Attorney Gary Trappler was convicted of malicious damage to property by Magistrate Stephen Bengequla on Monday 7 July, having been found guilty of slashing the tyres of his Green Point neighbour Thandi Mgwaba’s car.… Read more

About 160 refugees at Wingfield were among those who protested outside the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2019

Refugees living in a large tent on government land at Wingfield in Maitland have vowed to fight any attempt to evict them.… Read more

City plans to sell land to private developers at a discount

Daniel Steyn and Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp

The City of Cape Town has promised to develop 12,000 affordable housing units targeted at households earning less than R32,000 a month. Many of these homes, the City believes, can be built without state subsidies.… Read more

The City of Cape Town has promised 12,000 affordable homes

The need for affordable housing in Cape Town is enormous. There are more than 400,000 people on its housing waiting list and half of households in Cape Town earn less than R20,700 a month.… Read more

But Fidelity says it is “confident that no existing laws prohibit or restrict” its private service

by Liezl Human

The recently launched private firefighting service by Fidelity ADT is “unlawful”, and no agreement is in place for it to operate in Cape Town, says the City’s Fire and Rescue Service.… Read more

Department of Public Works are to discuss alternative accommodation options with the City.

People living in the dilapidated state-owned building at 104 Darling Street remain in limbo as their urgent eviction case was once again postponed in June.

The building is owned by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, which is seeking to evict the residents, who number about 30.… Read more

Heritage body gives the go-ahead for the planned development, but funding is uncertain and informal settlement residents still need to be relocated

The development of social housing at Cape Town’s historic Salt River Market is a step closer to fruition after a required Heritage Impact Assessment was approved earlier this month.… Read more

The City is trying to move them to its Safe Spaces, but lawyers argue they deny people their rights to privacy, dignity, and freedom of movement.

An attempt to evict dozens of people living in and around Hope Street Park in lower Gardens is before the High Court, with the park occupiers arguing the City’s Safe Spaces are not suitable as alternative accommodation.… Read more

Israel has blocked food from entering Gaza and killed more than 200 people at distribution points

By Matthew Hirsch

Several hundred people, mostly women, walked in silence along the Sea Point promenade on Saturday to show solidarity with people in Gaza.… Read more

Lawyers are reprimanded by magistrate

By Mary-Anne Gontsana/GroundUp

One of the three police officers on trial for assaulting a man during a raid at a Mowbray barbershop in 2023 intends to plead guilty to the charge of torture. However, proceedings could not continue at the Wynberg Regional Court on Thursday because the officer’s plea proposal had gone missing.… Read more