Climate crisis Archives - Mother City News

Penguins in crisis as sardine populations plummet

2 February 202224 December 2021 by Steve Kretzmann

The penguins at Boulders Beach are a huge tourist drawcard, but these charismatic birds are in trouble

Steve Kretzmann

African penguin populations are plummeting along with sardine stocks. As are Cape gannets and Cape cormorants, who also feed almost exclusively on the small pelagic fish.… Read more

Recent Stories

Housing for locals: City can do more

Steve KretzmannWith a backlog of 600,000 housing units and the state only providing 2,500 a year, the City has to incentivise the private sector to step in The City of Cape Town has a huge housing backlog and a legacy of apartheid spatial planning.… Read more [...] Read more...

Iconic Good Hope Centre auctioned by City amidst civic opposition

Steve KretzmannMore than 50 municipal land parcels across the city are being sold to the highest bidder while locals suffer a housing availability crisis The City’s plan to auction the iconic turtle-shaped Good Hope Centre along with other parcels of municipal land across the city on 26 February was met with protests, legal challenges, and a request for postponement from the SA Human Rights Commission.… Read more [...] Read more...

City land auction at odds with affordable housing commitments

Steve KretzmannThe City’s auctioning of 53 parcels of land without any requirements for the provision of social or affordable housing is not aligned to the City’s affordable housing commitments, states the Development Action Group. In a statement released on 25 Feb, the Development Action Group (DAG) noted the High Court’s dismissal of applications seeking to postpone the City auction.… Read more [...] Read more...

District Six families vow to fight eviction

GroundUp“Who would have thought back then that it would have turned out like this today” says 69-year-old resident By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp Six District Six families living in historic semi-detached Victorian cottages on Searle Street, who withstood apartheid forced removals but now face eviction, say they will fight on despite a magistrates’ court judgment in December ordering them to vacate the cottages by 6 March.… Read more [...] Read more...

Court stops shacks from being built on District Six

GroundUpCity battles land occupation as restitution process drags on By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp The length of time it is taking to settle District Six claims is leaving the land vulnerable to illegal occupation, creating difficulties for the City, although resettlement of the area is the national government’s responsibility.… Read more [...] Read more...

South African Cap Classique: Fizzing to the top

Sadé AllcockThe Brits have a wonderful expression for sparkling wine: Fizz. “C’mon let’s get a bottle of fizz.” “How do you feel about a bit ‘o fizz?” “A bit more of the fizz there will you?” Its delightful, especially as fizz is one of those words that sounds exactly like the thing it’s describing.… Read more [...] Read more...

The Gusheshe takes its place in local motoring history

Jackie CruzeA luxury book on BMW’s half-century in South Africa sheds light on the cars we love You know a car manufacturer has won South Africans’ hearts when ’kasi slang gets attached to its models, and for us, it’s the BMW 3-series.… Read more [...] Read more...

GroundUpZeekoevlei is used by schools and clubs for sailing and rowing but a toxic algal bloom has led to it being closed since December By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp Zeekoevlei, which is used by numerous sailing, rowing, and other recreational clubs, has been closed since December due to dangerous levels of toxins caused by algal blooms.… Read more [...] Read more...

March gigs in the mother city

Rosa-Karoo LoeweTheatre I watched The Stranger at the National Arts Festival in 2024, I think. It felt like my soul dropped into the underworld; some people were lulled to sleep, hypnotised. You leave blinking back reality. A ritual drama of love, consciousness, and impermanence, on 27 and 28 Feb at Theatre Arts, Observatory.… Read more [...] Read more...

Social housing planned to be built at Salt River Market this year

GroundUpFunding is secured, but about 50 families living in an informal settlement still need to be relocated By Matthew Hirsch Funding has been secured to build social housing at the Salt River Market site, but about 50 families living in an informal settlement on the property still need to be relocated.… Read more [...] Read more...

Inner city: no room for locals

Steve KretzmannShort-term letting through various platforms, including Airbnb, locks up 70% of residential units in the central city There is a severe shortage of rental stock for local residents in Cape Town’s inner city, and what is available is priced beyond the reach of the majority of Capetonians.… Read more [...] Read more...

Six ways to implement rent control in Cape Town

GroundUpRenting a home close to the city has become unaffordable even for many middle-class households By Gabbi le Roux, Adam Narain, and Jonty Cogger From 2023 to 2024, the average rent in the Western Cape increased by 10%, about R1,020. If we narrow it down to Cape Town, the numbers are higher.… Read more [...] Read more...

A price tag does not luxury determine

Sadé AllcockUpon arrival at the Dunstone A.R.T WINE Exhibition in Wellington you are greeted with a golf cart and a quick joyride from your car up to the start of the ‘Art Walk’. You will later realise that this was the highlight of your day.… Read more [...] Read more...

Bass Benz to rock socks at DeafRow sound-off

Jackie CruzeCape Town’s car audio crews get together for a thunderous showdown of note every year in November. The DeafRow Audio Bragging Rights Sound-Off is now in its 18th year, and the event has grown from a small gathering of enthusiasts into a fixture on the local motoring calendar.… Read more [...] Read more...

Nov/Dec gig guide

Rosa-Karoo LoeweIt’s that final push to the end of the year, we are all scraping through to Dezembaaaa! And sjoe! Cape Town, you don’t make it easy to be frugal with such kiff summer happenings. Theatre A Ru Paul’s Drag Race diva, Latrice Royale and All Stars alum, sings, jokes, and lip-syncs in Terms and Conditions (May Vary) at the Barnyard Theatre on 19 November.… Read more [...] Read more...

District Six claimants wonder if they’ll live long enough to get their houses back

Contributor“Hopefully, the next generation will perhaps benefit,” says 77-year-old claimant By Matthew Hirsch While successful claimants wait for the government to secure funding to complete the long-awaited redevelopment of District Six, more than 700 further claimants might not live to see their rights restored.… Read more [...] Read more...

Pharmaceuticals accumulating in Zandvlei estuary

Steve KretzmannScientists show pollution of the estuary is not sufficiently diluted, but persists in the environment Sewage pollution is believed to be causing the persistent presence of drugs such as paracetamol and antibiotics in the ecologically important Zandvlei Estuary at Muizenberg, Cape Town.… Read more [...] Read more...

Pro-poor budget: Struggle to get municipal subsidies

Steve KretzmannSubsidies on water, sanitation, and refuse charges for indigent households and homes caring for vulnerable people have not necessarily been automatically applied since 1 July Homes catering for the disabled are supposed to benefit from rates rebates and service charge subsidies under the City’s new 2025/26 budget.… Read more [...] Read more...

Moffie: a near perfect reminder of indomitability

Steve KretzmannFollowing an acclaimed London run, this South African story needs to be seen at the Baxter There were sergeants in the apartheid army who could bark out 30 or more words in an unbroken stream to create an extended insult involving bodily functions, body parts, bodily fluids, animals, familial relationships, and sex.… Read more [...] Read more...

Pack light, move fast

Jackie CruzeTo get straight to the nuts and bolts of it, as it were, the Cape car community lives to haal uit en wys, as it is said. What that means is bringing your motor to the track and pitting your power against others, and no one is to be underestimated.… Read more [...] Read more...

Justice delayed: police torture trial postponed for seven months

ContributorThe hearing was originally set down for July 2024 but will now only be heard in April 2026 By Mary-Anne Gontsana/GroundUp The trial in the Mowbray torture case involving three police officers will only be heard in April next year. The case has been postponed eight times between 25 July 2024 and 19 September 2025 “at the behest of the defence”, according to the state.… Read more [...] Read more...

Silver lining in the Table Mountain fire

ContributorAliens are easier to remove, but the window is small By Liezl Human/GroundUp “Alien plants are relentless, but we are relentless as well,” says Raymond Chinembiri, team leader at the Sugarbird Project, an organisation dedicated to removing invasive plants in the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP).… Read more [...] Read more...

October gig guide – and the last week of September

Steve KretzmannThere’s like, some really good stuff happening this month. Theatre Last few days of Moffie at the Baxter Theatre. André Carl van der Merwe’s bruising coming-of-age novel, adapted by Philip Rademeyer and directed by Greg Karvellas. Set in 1979, a young, gay conscript (played by David Viviers) is sent to fight in the Border War.… Read more [...] Read more...

National film foundation falters as leadership churns

Steve KretzmannThe National Film and Video Foundation has had six CEOs in two-and-a-half years At a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meeting last week questions were raised about the procedures involved in appointing the current NFVF board and acting CEOs. Department of Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie was accused by MPs of destabilising the NFVF for political ends.… Read more [...] Read more...

SANParks puts “boots on the ground” to combat crime on Table Mountain

ContributorMPs are not convinced enough is being done SANParks CEO Hapiloe Sello says resources are being allocated to fight crime on Table Mountain, but she acknowledged that it may not be enough. Sello was briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries on Tuesday.… Read more [...] Read more...

City pauses decision to cut Dial-a-Ride services

ContributorSettlement reached between the municipality and the Western Cape Network on Disability By Tania Broughton and Mary-Anne Gontsana The City of Cape Town has paused its plans to significantly cut back on its Dial-a-Ride service for disabled people. The municipality reached a settlement agreement with the Western Cape Network on Disability on Friday, which was made an order of court by Acting Judge Wallis Roux.… Read more [...] Read more...

Disability activists disrupt City of Cape Town transport meeting over Dial-a-Ride cuts

GroundUpWestern Cape Network on Disability is challenging the cuts in court On Thursday morning, disability activists disrupted an Urban Mobility Portfolio Committee meeting at the Civic Centre over planned cuts to the City of Cape Town’s Dial-a-Ride service. Among them were users of the transport service and representatives from Disability Revolution, QuadPara Association of South Africa, and #UniteBehind.… Read more [...] Read more...

Judgment reserved in Darling Street eviction case

GroundUpDepartment of Public Works and Ndifuna Ukwazi square off in court By Matthew Hirsch/GroundUp Families facing eviction from 104 Darling Street – named Irene Grootboom House by some of its residents – are awaiting judgment from the Western Cape High Court.… Read more [...] Read more...

No train to Mitchells Plain: last steps to fully reopen Central Line

GroundUpWork has been disrupted and more than 1,250 people still live on the tracks Trains to Mitchells Plain on the Central Line have not been operational for six years, and several stations on the line remain closed. The delay in reviving train services has left Mitchells Plain commuters reliant on alternative means of transport.… Read more [...] Read more...

Mother City September gig guide

Rosa-Karoo LoeweTheatre Moffie, André Carl van der Merwe’s bruising coming-of-age novel, adapted by Philip Rademeyer and directed by Greg Karvellas is playing at the Baxter’s Flipside stage. It opened in London in 2024 to rave reviews; this is its SA premiere.… Read more [...] Read more...