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Cape Town desalination plans delayed as water demand soars

Steve KretzmannLatest Water Outlook report paints a worrying picture for coming years The City of Cape Town’s plan to build a desalination plant at Paarden Eiland has been scuttled by Transnet’s intention to expand the port. Tabling the latest Water Outlook report on 21 August, mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien told council they … Read more [...] Read more...

CPUT agrees to some student demands

Steve KretzmannViolent protests related to the NSFAS funding cap, among other demands, have rocked Cape Peninsula University of Technology campuses over the past month Some of the demands made by protesting Cape Peninsula University of Technology students have been met by the university management. In a statement released on 29 August, the Central Student Representative Council … Read more [...] Read more...

Students carry cost of NSFAS funding cap, Parliament hears

GroundUpCalls 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 … Read more [...] Read more...

Closure of St Luke’s inpatient unit shuts a door on the dying

GroundUpWhile 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. But there’s a debate over how best to provide … Read more [...] Read more...

Some beef with your Burgundy

Sadé AllcockBoeuf Bourguignon, or as my boyfriend likes to call it, Beef Burgundy (this is less pretentious, he would say), is an old French recipe for what is essentially a beef stew. There are so many variations that it can be frustrating finding a definitive “right” way to make it. Ironically, the most well-known recipe is … Read more [...] Read more...

Beetles swarm Burger Fair

Bobby NitroThere are few automobiles that can turn a car gathering into something resembling a family reunion quite like the Volkswagen Beetle. With their unmistakable silhouettes and cheerful headlights, Beetles attract attention wherever they go, and especially when they travel in a ‘swarm’. That was certainly the case when members of a local VW Beetle club … Read more [...] Read more...

September Gig Guide

Rosa-Karoo LoeweIt’s Open Book month, WOMAD is coming to town, and the Cape Town Photo Fest is on. Then there’s all the theatre and music and general spring jols to be had. Theatre We have a deep loyalty to ABBA. It’s pure, straight-into-the-veins fun. Mamma Mia! returns to the Artscape Opera House, so rip on your … Read more [...] Read more...

Tax scams involving fake links and QR codes on the rise – Standard Bank

AdvertiserAs the 2026 tax season gets underway, fraudsters are targeting unsuspecting taxpayers, warns Standard Bank. Historically, these criminals ramp up activity as tax season approaches, with the sole intent of defrauding consumers. “We’ve seen many cases where fraudsters send bait communication through text, email, WhatsApp or phone calls. The communication sent may claim that you … Read more [...] Read more...

PRASA denies paying gangster-linked companies in Cape Town

Steve KretzmannBut amaBhungane disputes “straw-man” findings No payments were made to alleged gang boss Ralph Stanfield or his wife, Nicole Johnson, or their linked companies, during the reconstruction of PRASA’s central line in Cape Town. This is according to PRASA CEO Hishaam Emeran, who on Monday briefed Parliament’s Select Committee on Public Infrastructure and Minister in … Read more [...] Read more...

Court to rule on fate of families occupying Cape Town buildings

GroundUpMore 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. The … Read more [...] Read more...

New battle looms over future of Tokai and Cecilia pine plantations

GroundUpSANParks 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. This is if the … Read more [...] Read more...

Books on our bedside table this August

ContributorHome Affairs by Onyeka Nwelue Lethabo Khumalo, a weary Home Affairs official in Pietermaritzburg, is a mother of three who has long carried life alone until a chance encounter draws her into a web of corruption that promises relief from the quiet depression of unpaid bills and leaking roofs. What follows is a story of moral compromise … Read more [...] Read more...

Buckland takes on the techbros

Steve KretzmannYou can’t escape the bastards. They’ve inserted their insidious fingers into so many aspects of life that it is almost impossible to earn a living without being smeared by their grimy greed. You can run an open-source Linux operating system on your computer, have no social media accounts, and use one of the many alternative … Read more [...] Read more...

Straathond bares its teeth at Killarney

Bobby NitroAppearances can be deceptive, especially when it comes to the world of drag racing. Most people expect fire-breathing V8s, purpose-built race cars, so when a humble Nissan Champ bakkie pulls up to the start line, most would not expect it to be a serious contender. After all, when we think bakkie we think about tradesmen, … Read more [...] Read more...

Your August gig guide

Rosa-Karoo LoeweThere’s no better time to cosy up in a theatre, feel some feels, sing along, or be moved by the spirit. A hearty mix of shows return to the stage, the opening of a new theatre in Kloof Street (go try their spirits!) this winter. Theatre If you missed it, you have been given another … Read more [...] Read more...

Metrorail doesn’t move for wheelchair users

GroundUpThe “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. Mantshi, … Read more [...] Read more...

Giant data centres get first green light from Cape Town tribunal

Steve KretzmannTwo massive water-hungry and energy-hungry data centres are proposed next to the airport An application that paves the way for two new data centres totalling more than 120,000 square metres in Cape Town’s airport industrial area has been approved by the Municipal Planning Tribunal. The land use, subdivision and consolidation application by King David Country … Read more [...] Read more...

Oude Molen: Province forges ahead despite heritage report rejection

Steve KretzmannTenants and objectors are concerned about how required heritage report was ignored in adjacent massive River Club development The provincial government plans to allow five-storey buildings and more than 1,300 housing units to be built within the Oude Molen Eco-Village alongside the Black River, but their required Heritage Impact Assessment has been turned down. The … Read more [...] Read more...

City plans to auction Mowbray Market site

GroundUpSmallholder farmers from rural towns as far afield as Calitzdorp, Suurbraak, and Genadendal rely on the monthly market By Liezl Human The Mowbray Market has been operating on the first Saturday of every month for the past four years, but the a lease on the property has expired and the City is now considering auctioning … Read more [...] Read more...

A spoon full of sugar

Sadé AllcockI’ve always had a sweet tooth, but have long believed that sweet wine is, well… a little bit shit. Oh, how wrong I’ve been. For the record, I do think the whole sweet wine scene, especially in South Africa, is all a bit confusing to most people. From what I can gather, there are two … Read more [...] Read more...

Mother City gets gassed

Jackie CruzeThe Gas Motorshow National Tour made a pitstop at Granger Bay recently Cape Town has become one of South Africa’s premier sources of automotive culture, so just recently the Gas Motorshow National Tour made a stop in the Mother City ahead of the national event. The promotional stop in Granger Bay on June 10 quickly … Read more [...] Read more...

“Phantsi, Afrophobia!” – Cape Town artists and activists reject hatred

Matthew HirschWorld Refugee Day events show “African solidarity” Calls of “Phantsi, Afrophobia, phantsi!” (Down with Afrophobia) echoed through Cape Town’s Central Methodist Mission Church on Saturday 20 June as musicians from different African countries performed in a free solidarity concert. The concert marked UN World Refugee Day and comes at a time of heightened tension in … Read more [...] Read more...

Hundreds of Zimbabweans camp outside consulate in Cape Town

GroundUpThey want the Zimbabwean government to help them get home safely Hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals are sleeping outside the Zimbabwean consulate in Cape Town pleading for the government to help them get back home. On Thursday 18 June, piles of large suitcases and bags wrapped in plastic were strewn on the pavements around the office. … Read more [...] Read more...

July guide to Mother City gigs

Rosa-Karoo LoeweOur midwinter solstice has passed, that’s good reason to celebrate Theatre A Flea in Her Ear at Magnet Theatre from 24 to 27 June. The iconic French farce written by Georges Feydeau and here directed by Qondiswa James, features the seventh cohort of trainees in their second year of training at Magnet. Watch the escalating … Read more [...] Read more...

City tests out a shelter for homeless people who are drunk

GroundUpThe Sober Space project caters for the intoxicated in need of a bed By Matthew Hirsch Bonelwa Xaka lived on the streets of Cape Town for more than five years. Now she is a peer support specialist in a “Sober Space” pilot project in Cape Town, set up to offer a place to homeless people … Read more [...] Read more...

No to March and March, says Dunoon leadership

ContributorCommunity leaders say immigration laws should be enforced by the state, not vigilantes By Peter Luhanga Community leaders in Dunoon have moved to shut down plans by anti-immigrant groups to march through the township, warning that the campaign against foreign nationals risks inflaming tensions and destabilising a fragile local economy. The intervention by local leaders … Read more [...] Read more...

Social housing to be built at Salt River Market by August 2028

GroundUpLand formerly owned by City of Cape Town has been handed to Communicare By Matthew Hirsch More than a decade since the City first earmarked the Salt River Market for social housing, it has finally been handed over to the developer, Communicare. Communicare will contribute R40-million of its own funds and expects to receive a … Read more [...] Read more...

Government waking up to using empty military land for housing

GroundUpAn estimated 67,000 homes could be built at Ysterplaat, Wingfield and Youngsfield By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp For decades, housing activists have been calling for under-used military land in Cape Town to be released for housing. This includes about 668 hectares of well-located land at the Wingfield and Ysterplaat airbases, adjacent to Century City, and at Youngsfield, … Read more [...] Read more...

Dozens evicted from informal settlement in Green Point

GroundUpDA ward councillor says the eviction follows a long process of engagement with the group By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp Chaos erupted near the Cape Town stadium, along Granger Bay Boulevard in Green Point on Wednesday, when a group of about 40 people living in makeshift shelters were forcibly removed. By lunchtime, a bucket loader was breaking … Read more [...] Read more...

Sea Point’s Tafelberg plans sent back to the drawing board

GroundUpHeritage committee and local residents’ association raise alarm over lack of detail in the current development proposal By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp The future of the long-contested Tafelberg site in Sea Point was top of the agenda at a Heritage Western Cape meeting earlier this month. Last year, it was reported that the Western Cape government has … Read more [...] Read more...