GroundUp

  About 400 protesters blocked roads in Gqeberha before being dispersed by police with rubber bullets. Residents of 11 informal settlements established during land occupations in 2017 are demanding basic services. They were joined by RDP homeowners who are demanding that the municipality take over the construction of homes from the Housing Development Agency. The ward councillor said he had warned residents they were occupying land set aside for a shopping … [Read more...] about “The roaming pigs come and eat our poo”

  A report released on Thursday by several civil society organisations has found evidence that LGBT refugees are being denied asylum in South Africa despite being “eligible for protection under international and domestic law”. The authors of the report surveyed denial letters for 67 asylum applicants who had applied for asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). The letters were written by 32 Refugee Status Determination Officers (RSDOs) in Cape Town, … [Read more...] about Gay refugees denied asylum by Home Affairs bigotry – report

  Livestock farmers in Colchester say they are desperate for pasture land. Grazing land has been lost to a land occupation and private game reserve. Farmers are now grazing cattle along the N2 and the Sundays River. Livestock farmers in Colchester have resorted to grazing their cattle on the verges of the N2 freeway and also along the banks of the Sundays River. They used to graze their animals on two plots of land, but one of these has been occupied by … [Read more...] about Urban livestock farmers desperate for grazing land

  Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Nqaba Bhanga has accused “foreigners” of selling land for illegal occupations. Immigrant community organisations say the mayor’s statements may trigger xenophobic violence. We asked the mayor to produce evidence for his statements but he has not. We visited the places where the mayor said “foreigners” were involved but local residents were baffled by the mayor’s comments. Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Nqaba Bhanga has been accused of … [Read more...] about Mayor fails to produce evidence that “foreigners” are behind Gqeberha land occupations

  Fourteen Betting World workers picketed outside the company’s Commercial Road branch in Gqeberha on Friday morning, demanding salaries from April last year, UIF-TERS (Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme) money and leave pay. At least five branches of the business – Kariega, Crown Hotel, KwaNobuhle, New Brighton and Laboria – have not reopened since they closed under the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. The holding company, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure, is in business … [Read more...] about Betting World picketed by workers demanding Covid-19 relief funds

  Shack dwellers in two informal settlements in Gqeberha say they’ve been told houses cannot be built on the land because of indigenous trees which need protection. But they say development is taking place in a nearby suburb in spite of the milkwood trees. The municipality says other land will be bought before the end of the year on which houses will be built for them, but they are sceptical. Community leaders say if their housing, sanitation and electricity problems are … [Read more...] about “Go and ask the trees for votes,” frustrated shack dwellers tell politicians

  The abrupt termination of the R350 social relief of distress grant last month has left many people who were relying on the money extremely desperate. On Tuesday, we asked people at grant payment sites in Nelson Mandela Bay about their ongoing struggle to get the grant. Thobani Mapangwana said that the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) had not paid his grant since he applied last year. He said he has been sent “from pillar-to-post” by SASSA officials in Motherwell … [Read more...] about Desperate pleas for government to continue Covid-19 grant

  A 74-year-old grandmother in Gqeberha is living in poor conditions after she was left out of a recent relocation process for elderly people with disabilities. Nontombazana April lives alone in Powerline informal settlement, Motherwell. Her shack is badly built and precarious. It is made from rotten wooden boards and plastic sheets. It is cold and the roof leaks when it rains. April suffers from high blood pressure and her sight is affected. She walks with the aid of … [Read more...] about Elderly woman forgotten during Covid relocation

  Residents in Kariega and Gqeberha say they live in fear because many street lights in their areas have not been working for years. Living in poorly lit streets has increased their vulnerability to crime. The municipality says it has bought 15,000 bulbs for street lights. “Many of our street lights in the township don’t work,” says Luyanda Gqubule, who lives in KwaNobuhle, Kariega. He said people live in fear as a result. Residents have for years been … [Read more...] about Street lights dead for years in Nelson Mandela Bay

  The Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy the army to help end the week-long strike by taxi drivers. The drivers are demanding money they claim is owed to them from the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) fund. Protesters have been blocking dozens of roads across the metro as well as forcing the closure of clinics, schools and shopping centres. To date, six protesters have appeared in the Motherwell … [Read more...] about Mayor calls for army to end taxi strike

  The vaccine rollout has finally started but far too slowly. The graph below shows the huge gap between the vaccines available in South Africa (the solid line), the cumulative number of vaccinations (the columns) and the number of reported new cases (the dotted line). While the number of vaccinations has been rising slowly, it is far below the number of vaccine doses in the country, at a time when the number of new, reported cases is rising rapidly again. The graph does not … [Read more...] about South Africa’s vaccine rollout needs a boost

  Taxi drivers disrupted parts of Gqeberha on Tuesday, with several roadblocks and violent protests. The drivers are demanding answers about their Covid-19 Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) funds. Seven taxi drivers were arrested, two vehicles torched and a truck was hijacked and looted during the protest. Nelson Mandela Bay Regional Taxi Council has called a meeting to deal with the disgruntled workers in the hope of … [Read more...] about Taxi drivers bring Gqeberha to standstill over Covid-19 funds

  Several schools in Nelson Mandela Bay each owe the municipality more than R100,000 in outstanding water bills. Mthonjeni, Godlo, Noninzi Luzipho, Vuba, Phindubuye and Gqabi primary schools, all reported having severe water leaks on the premises. These schools were among many that received letters of demand from the municipality over their unpaid water bills. Noluthando Sifuba, a School Governing Body member at Vuba Primary School in Kariega, said that the school has an … [Read more...] about Eastern Cape MEC warns of system collapse because of unpaid school water bills

  Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Nqaba Bhanga is expected to visit the community of Area 11 in Kariega this week to calm ongoing protests over electrification of shacks. Ten wooden electricity poles on Rocklands Road were burnt by protesting residents at the weekend. The area has been in the dark since then. Last month, five wooden electricity poles were set alight. The protesters are demanding electricity for 3,000 shacks. They also want to be assigned erf numbers to replace the … [Read more...] about Protesters torch ten electricity poles in Kariega

  Six men who were arrested during violent protests by taxi drivers in Gqeberha last week have been granted R500 bail each. The taxi drivers, aged between 22 and 53, appeared in the Motherwell Magistrates Court on Thursday facing charges of public violence and damaging infrastructure. During the most recent protest, roads across the city were blocked, street lights and robots were uprooted, and vehicles were set alight including eight buses owned by Algoa Bus Company. … [Read more...] about Taxi drivers arrested during violent protest granted bail