One of the most valuable things that Morita Forestry owned was not its Sandton office or its fake American parent company. It was two photographs. Read groundup.org.za/article/how-... by Joel Cedras

How police lent credibility to the Morita Forestry pyramid scheme

And so did the Forestries department and a municipality

groundup.org.za

The high court has ruled that commissioners at Chapter Nine institutions are public office bearers, not employees entitled to workplace benefits beyond those set out in legislation. Read groundup.org.za/article/chap... by Tania Broughton

Chapter Nine commissioners are not workers, high court rules

Judge says public office bearers cannot claim employee-style benefits unless provided for in law

groundup.org.za

Illegal dumping has become part of daily life in Nyanga and many other Cape Town townships. In spite of efforts by the City of Cape Town and residents to prevent dumping, waste piles up near homes, schools, taxi ranks and on open fields. Read groundup.org.za/article/the-... by Emihle Ngwane

Battle to stop illegal dumping in Cape Town’s townships

“Immediately after we clean, people dump again”

groundup.org.za

PRASA says an independent investigation found no evidence it contracted with or paid alleged gang boss Ralph Stanfield or his wife, Nicole Johnson, or their linked companies. Read groundup.org.za/article/pras... by Steve Kretzmann

PRASA denies paying gangster-linked companies in Cape Town

But amaBhungane disputes “straw-man” findings

groundup.org.za

Families who were occupying a community hall in Gugulethu have finally been relocated by the City of Cape Town, ending a nearly eight-year battle for housing. Read groundup.org.za/article/fami... by Mary-Anne Gontsana

Families’ 8-year battle for housing is over

The group living in a community hall in Cape Town have been resettled

groundup.org.za

Rubbish collection has been disrupted across many parts of Johannesburg after contract workers blocked access to six Pikitup depots. Read groundup.org.za/article/jobu... by Seth Thorne

Joburg refuse collection at a standstill as workers block Pikitup depots

Contract workers want the same rights as permanent workers

groundup.org.za

On appeal, at least 11 fictitious or incorrect legal citations were found in an acting judge’s judgment. Read groundup.org.za/article/acti... by Tania Broughton

Acting judge told to explain possible AI ‘hallucinations’ in judgment

Appeal hearing found at least 11 fictitious or inaccurate case citations in the judgment

groundup.org.za

As the South African Human Rights Commission investigates the human rights impacts of data centres, McCrindle argues that South Africa should welcome this infrastructure, but only if there is transparency, participation and benefit sharing. Read groundup.org.za/article/sout... by Tyronne McCrindle

South Africa needs data centres, but not without transparency

Article One and the Centre for Human Rights have asked the Human Rights Commission to recommend a pause on huge new projects

groundup.org.za

Residents of Patensie, Eastern Cape, say farmers dumped truckloads of rotting fruit, nets and other farm waste on land earmarked for a housing project. Read groundup.org.za/article/ange... by Joseph Chirume

Anger after farmers dump rotting fruit near homes

Farmers would never do this in their own suburbs, say Eastern Cape residents

groundup.org.za

Vigilante groups have been regularly targeting immigrant street traders, shops, salons, and also the local clinic in Yeoville. Read groundup.org.za/article/acti... by Kimberly Mutandiro

Activists go door-to-door to counter xenophobia in Yeoville

“Yeoville has become a hotspot for these xenophobes. They are instilling fear in immigrants”

groundup.org.za

Citizen water testing samples taken at the Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Works’ outlet show E. coli and faecal bacteria, raising serious health concerns. Read groundup.org.za/article/desp... by Seth Thorne

Despite sewerage upgrades, Mogale City still polluting Cradle of Mankind

Tests detect E. coli in water flowing from the Percy Stewart treatment plant into the Blougat Spruit

groundup.org.za

Residents of Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape say they were fooled into accepting a multimillion-rand sewerage project being built next to a site earmarked for a new high school. Read groundup.org.za/article/flag... by Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and Yamkela Ntshongwana

Sewer project leaves Flagstaff without a new school

Residents say officials promised the two developments could coexist

groundup.org.za

For the past four nights, 17 people displaced by the April 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods have been sleeping outside a building on Point Road in Durban. Read groundup.org.za/article/kzn-... by Tsoanelo Sefoloko

KZN flood victims sleep outside in the rain after eviction from emergency housing

EThekwini municipality says the group did not qualify for housing assistance

groundup.org.za

This week SAPS distributed 400 adult and 200 child sexual assault evidence kits to Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units across the Western Cape after MPs warned stock would run out by 1 August. Read groundup.org.za/article/west... by Mary-Anne Gontsana

Western Cape police do not have enough rape evidence kits, MP warns

Despite new stock reaching Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences units, politicians say it is a fraction of what is needed

groundup.org.za

Delays in subsidy payments by the Gauteng Department of Social Development are stretching the resources of social welfare organisations caring for the province’s most vulnerable people. In some cases, staff members have gone unpaid. Read groundup.org.za/article/impo... by Kimberly Mutandiro

Gauteng government says “impossible” to pay welfare organisations on time

Non-profits wait weeks for quarterly payments

groundup.org.za

Young people are showing less and less interest in local government elections. In 2005, 30% of 18 and 19-year-olds surveyed by the IEC said they were registered to vote. In 2021, it was only 15%. Read groundup.org.za/article/youn... by The Outlier and GroundUp Staff

Morita Forestry — with an office in Sandton, an address in Colorado, but run from China — has scammed South Africans out of hundreds of millions of rands. Read groundup.org.za/article/mori... by Joel Cedras

South Africans lose hundreds of millions of rands to Morita Forestry investment scam

Social media influencers helped make the scam possible - and were rewarded handsomely

groundup.org.za

SGK, an extensive pyramid scheme that conned people into investing money and recruiting new members for guaranteed returns, collapsed over the last few weeks. Read groundup.org.za/article/how-... by Sechaba Mokhethi

How FNB enabled people to join the SGK pyramid scheme

Bank employees signed up new customers at an SGK recruitment site

groundup.org.za

Residents from the Singabalapha informal settlement in Observatory attend a meeting with families from the Masonwabe temporary relocation area in Gugulethu. The City plans soon to relocate the two groups to a site in Gugulethu Read groundup.org.za/article/gugu... by Mary-Anne Gontsana

Gugulethu residents refuse to share land with Observatory occupiers

Families from Masonwabe reject City of Cape Town plan; say they waited 14 years for land they must now share with people from Singabalapha

groundup.org.za

Goods made in Lesotho will once again enter the United States duty-free after Washington’s tariffs expired on 29 July. It comes as a relief to the country’s export-dependent garment industry and thousands of workers whose jobs were threatened Read groundup.org.za/article/us-l... by Sechaba Mokhethi

Relief for Lesotho as US tariffs expire

But uncertainty remains over AGOA agreement

groundup.org.za

For years, South Africa has watched the same warning signs appear – immigrants attacked, their businesses targeted, communities divided, and misinformation and fear used as tools for political mobilisation. Read groundup.org.za/article/the-... by Sharon Ekambaram

State spent R600m to contain 30 June xenophobic action - law enforcement could have prevented it

Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia is taking the state to court

groundup.org.za

Recent research has found that many households in the City of Johannesburg are experiencing harm from pollution. Read groundup.org.za/article/one-... by Seth Thorne

Air and water pollution harming Joburg’s poorest communities

Failing wastewater treatment works, ageing sewage infrastructure, smouldering illegal dumps, industrial and urban runoff and a legacy of mining activities have ruined Joburg’s air and water

groundup.org.za

Hundreds of people have been left homeless after about 60 homes were destroyed when a fire ripped through a section of Madiba Square in Mandela Park in Imizamo Yethu. Read groundup.org.za/article/fire... by Ashraf Hendricks

In photos: Fire guts 60 homes in Hout Bay

“We’re breathing and living in fires here” says Imizamo Yethu fire victim

groundup.org.za

About 280,000 social grant beneficiaries still need to replace their SASSA Gold Cards with Postbank Black Cards before the 31 August. Postbank has warned that those who delay risk disruptions to their grant payments. Read groundup.org.za/article/sass... by Marecia Damons

SASSA Gold Card: 280,000 people still need to switch

Beneficiaries urged to get Postbank Black Card before 31 August deadline

groundup.org.za

Two judicial conduct inquiries have found that Gauteng High Court Judge Mncedisi Kumalo has repeatedly delivered judgments more than a year late. Read groundup.org.za/article/judg... by Tania Broughton

Judge snubs JSC over late judgments

Gauteng High Court Judge Mncedisi Kumalo delivered several judgments more than a year late

groundup.org.za

Ephraim Hlungwani is 86 and the owner of Xifaki Farming, which he runs with his son, George, as its manager in Thomo village outside Giyani in Limpopo. But because of water shortages, his 16-hectare farm has shrunk. Read groundup.org.za/article/at-8... by Bernard Chiguvare

At 86, Limpopo farmer still waiting for promised irrigation water

Shortcomings and delays with the Giyani Water Project has left small-scale farmers without reliable irrigation

groundup.org.za

A group of Botrivier residents have laid criminal charges against Theewaterskloof municipality which they say has contravened environmental laws. Read groundup.org.za/article/resi... by Rasaad Adams

Residents lay criminal charges against Theewaterskloof over illegal waste dump

Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs says the municipality ignored a formal directive to remedy the situation

groundup.org.za

Workers at the Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) vehicle assembly plant in the Coega Special Economic Zone near Gqeberha have been on strike since 15 June. Read groundup.org.za/article/auto... by Greg Dor

Auto strike will set a precedent, says union

NUMSA says Chinese company BAIC is paying far below industry rates

groundup.org.za

The Special Tribunal has declared a R9-million National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant for a Soweto sports complex unlawful after finding no construction took place. Read groundup.org.za/article/lott... by Tania Broughton

Lottery looters must pay back R6-million

Former National Lotteries Commission officials, foundation members and companies diverted funds for a Soweto sports complex that was never built

groundup.org.za

Several organisations providing services to the most vulnerable people in Gauteng are unable to pay their staff and may have to close their doors. Read groundup.org.za/article/budg... by Seth Thorne

Budget cuts, bureaucracy and payment delays put Gauteng’s most vulnerable at risk

Almost five months into the financial year, some welfare organisations have not been paid

groundup.org.za