News

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

“Consensus” reached after exhaustive engagement process, says Geordin Hill-Lewis

Construction of a hotel on a vacant plot in the Bo-Kaap in Cape Town is to go ahead, but it will be three storeys lower than the original plan.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has confirmed the decision by the City of Cape Town’s Municipal Planning Tribunal to approve the development on Buitengracht Street.… Read more

Western Cape Government plans combination of social, affordable, and high-end housing units

The Western Cape Provincial Government has revealed its plans to build affordable and social housing at the long-contested Tafelberg site in Sea Point.

During a public meeting at the Life Conference Centre in Sea Point on Wednesday evening, three options were presented.… Read more

Pro-Palestine activists call for permanent ceasefire

The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town was a sea of red, white, green and black on Sunday as hundreds of people gathered to commemorate the 77th anniversary of Nakba Day. The rally was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).… Read more

Informal settlement residents have been replacing shacks with brick and mortar homes

By Peter Luhanga/GroundUp

Trouble flared up for the third day on Wednesday in Dunoon as protesters from Ezihagwini informal settlement vented their fury over the demolition of brick walls a resident had erected in an attempt to build a home.… Read more

Thomas Torr refused to respond to complaint of antisemitism and threatened to kill judge’s registrar

By Tania Broughton/GroundUp

Thomas Leyland Torr, reportedly an aspiring comedian, has been found guilty of hate speech in the Equality Court, sitting in the Western Cape High Court.… Read more

Not all in favour of affordable housing on site

The City’s intention to sell more than four hectares of prime land spanning Green Point and Sea Point was discussed at a public online meeting attended by about 100 people on Wednesday evening (7 May).… Read more

Jaftha brothers help heal a history of land dispossession

Liezl Human/GroundUp

Hundreds of coloured families were forcibly removed from Constantia in the 1960s and ‘70s under the apartheid Group Areas Act but a fifth-generation flower farming family is bringing their rich history to life.… Read more

Community alleges their input over ecologically sensitive land has not been taken into account

Residents of Blaauwberg on Cape Town’s west coast are locked in a battle over a proposed development on ecologically sensitive land in Big Bay.

About 30 families are currently living on the land in shacks.… Read more