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According to Cape Town’s Inner City Local Spatial Development Framework, only 30% of apartments or houses in the inner city are available for long-term leases, or occupied by their owners. The remainder “are either hotel managed or Airbnb”. Archive photo: Brent Meersman / GroundUp

Residential Property

Airbnb by-law doesn’t do enough to address Cape Town’s housing crisis

Leila Kidson 20 hours

People living in these informal homes erected on Transnet land in Woodstock, Cape Town, say they have been living there for more than a decade. Archive photo: Matthew Hirsch / GroundUp

Land & Property Law

Woodstock land occupiers lose bid to appeal eviction

Matthew Hirsch 1 day

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Construction & Engineering

South Africa’s green building upgrades are rising – but major cities still dominate, study finds

Jonathan Oladeji and Chioma Okoro 1 day

The City of Cape Town has drafted a new by-law to apply commercial property rates to all properties available for short-term letting for more than half the year. Archive photo: Brent Meersman / GroundUp

Retail & Hospitality Property

Cape Town Airbnb hosts could pay triple rates

Steve Kretzmann 3 days

The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development has asked the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate failed farm worker equity schemes (FWES). Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp

Employment Equity

SIU asked to investigate farm worker equity schemes

Liezl Human 25 Sep 2026

Inclusion, Empowerment & Social Justice

When does being ‘apolitical’ become a political act? An ethicist on the Ed Sheeran saga

Jacqueline Boaks 22 Sep 2026

The Constitutional Court has struck down the Public Procurement Act that was signed into law in 2024. Illustration: Lisa Nelson / GroundUp

Legislation & Regulation

Procurement Act struck down by Concourt

Tania Broughton 18 Sep 2026

Image source: Yan Krukau from

Higher Education

Academics in South Africa have to focus on ‘outputs’: What’s lost when other work’s not counted

Curwyn Mapaling and Nokulunga Shabalala 17 Sep 2026

Activists have lodged an appeal against the rezoning approval given for this land near Cape Town Airport to be the site for a hyperscale data centre. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp

Land & Property Law

Activists appeal Cape Town data centre approval

Tania Broughton 15 Sep 2026

Workers strike at Masterpack in Johannesburg. Photo: Seth Thorne / GroundUp

Labour Law & Unions

Bidvest packaging workers on strike

14 Sep 2026

Members of the Civil Protection, a local community-based team that works to help mitigate the spread of the Ebola virus and ensure burials happen safely and quickly, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), carry a wooden coffin before loading the body of an unidentified man, who, according to his family, died of Ebola, as they attend to retrieve it from his house, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Image credit: Reuters/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/File Photo

Infectious Diseases

DRC’s Ebola outbreak has the potential to become a global pandemic. How to make sure it doesn’t

Jia B. Kangbai 14 Sep 2026

Image credit: , , via Wikimedia Commons

Sustainability

Pig farm vs power station: South African court tells state‑owned Eskom to clean up its pollution

Angela van der Berg 11 Sep 2026

The Labour Court has ruled that a planned strike of bus workers on Thursday would not be protected. Photo: Greg Dor / GroundUp

Labour Law & Unions

Court blocks planned bus driver strike

Alice Scott, Greg Dor and Sindisiwe Tshona 10 Sep 2026

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Inclusion, Empowerment & Social Justice

OnlyFans in South Africa: What creators say about sex work, personal safety and the gig economy

Phiwokazi Qoza 10 Sep 2026

Windows at CPUT’s Cape Town campus, damaged by rocks thrown by protesting students. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp

Higher Education

CPUT’s chaotic second semester ends

Emihle Ngwane 7 Sep 2026

Talks between Premier Foods and unions over the planned closure of the fruit canning factory in Tulbagh, Western Cape, have broken down. Photo: Greg Dor / GroundUp

Labour Law & Unions

Premier Foods factory closure: Talks break down

Greg Dor 3 Sep 2026

The National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry says the labour department has unlawfully granted “amnesty” to certain non-compliant clothing factories. Illustration: Bronwyn Webb / GroundUp

Labour Law & Unions

Labour department accused of shielding sweatshops

Tania Broughton 1 Sep 2026

Farming can help drive southern Africa’s growth if countries in the region make trade easier

Agriculture

Farming can help drive southern Africa’s growth if countries in the region make trade easier

Wandile Sihlobo 1 Sep 2026

Air traffic control is becoming more automated. Is regulation keeping up?

Aviation

Air traffic control is becoming more automated. Is regulation keeping up?

Cindy Hendrikse 27 Aug 2026

An attorney has been sentenced to 12 months in prison or a R10,000 fine, half suspended, for delaying a major murder trial by more than a year. Illustration: Lisa Nelson / GroundUp

Criminal Law

Lawyer sentenced for delaying murder trial

Tania Broughton 27 Aug 2026

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Inclusion, Empowerment & Social Justice

South Africa’s top court blocked Shell’s Wild Coast oil search: Why it matters for climate justice

Angela van der Berg 20 Aug 2026

On Tuesday, hundreds of CPUT students marched to Parliament calling for MPs to intervene in the university’s finances, accommodation and management. Photos: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp

Higher Education

Thousands of students told to leave Cape Town residences

Emihle Ngwane 19 Aug 2026

A street in Phoenix, Durban. The Special Tribunal has set aside eThekwini’s “irregular” Phoenix housing deals. Archive photo: Benita Enoch / GroundUp

Land & Property Law

EThekwini housing contracts ruled unlawful

Tania Broughton 18 Aug 2026

South Africa’s small sugar farms are producing less than they could: Study finds ways to boost them

Agro-processing

South Africa’s small sugar farms are producing less than they could: Study finds ways to boost them

Lawrence Nkosikhona Malinga 17 Aug 2026

Hundreds of students protested at CPUT’s Bellville campus on Wednesday. Photo: Emihle Ngwane / GroundUp

Higher Education

Protests force CPUT to withdraw student payment plan

Emihle Ngwane 14 Aug 2026

Mary Waters High School in Makhanda has insufficient tablets for its matrics. “Overall, the project was a complete failure for the school,” a teacher said. “Building a computer lab would have been better and would have given our learners more skills. The computer lab would be for everyone, and it would be strictly monitored.” The school has zero ICT infrastructure. Archive photo: Lucas Nowicki / GroundUp

Primary & Secondary Education

Lost or locked in cupboards: Inside the R686m Eastern Cape matric tablet programme

Gcina Ntsaluba, Zipho Ndwayana and Rod Amner 13 Aug 2026

Image credit: , , via Wikimedia Commons

Sports Science

Many elite athletes live with health impacts long after they retire. Should they carry all the costs?

Hoani Smith, Dion Enari, and Phil Borell 14 Aug 2026

The Johannesburg High Court has ruled that public office bearers in Chapter Nine institutions are not “workers” entitled to benefits beyond what is laid down in the relevant statutes. Illustration: Lisa Nelson / GroundUp

Labour Law

Chapter 9 commissioners are not workers, High Court rules

Tania Broughton 6 Aug 2026

Image source: Suzy Hazelwood from

Primary & Secondary Education

Why children learn English more easily with the help of their home language – Namibian study

Nhlanhla Mpofu and Clement Simuja 5 Aug 2026

An acting judge in the Johannesburg High Court will have to explain himself to the Legal Practice Council over the use of fictitious and incorrect legal citations in their judgment. Illustration: Bronwyn Webb / GroundUp

Law Practice

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

Tania Broughton 5 Aug 2026

Image credit: on Pexels

Noncommunicable diseases

Alcohol’s hidden calories: product labels could help fight obesity in South Africa

Siphiwe Dlamini 31 Jul 2026

Chinese companies are taking over the EV market. What’s behind their meteoric rise?

Commercial & Industrial

Chinese companies are taking over the EV market. What’s behind their meteoric rise?

Marina Yue Zhang 28 Jul 2026

LNG carriers, designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), off Cape Town. Image credit: , , via Wikimedia Commons

Coal, Oil & Gas

A sharp fall in gas supplies in 2028 threatens South Africa’s economy: how to manage the fallout

Davies Tsikayi 23 Jul 2026

The Labour Court has ruled that nine employees fired for picketing were in fact practising wedding songs. Illustration: Lisa Nelson / GroundUp

Labour Law

Worker “picket” may have been a wedding rehearsal, says court

Tania Broughton 22 Jul 2026

Marketing

Why people are ordering fake food and fashion deliveries on free ‘dopamine apps’

Gary Mortimer 22 Jul 2026

Bafana Bafana’s Thapelo Maseko, with teammates, celebrating scoring their first goal in the Fifa World Cup 2026 match against South Korea at the Estadio Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. Image credit: Reuters/Eloisa Sanchez

Inclusion, Empowerment & Social Justice

Racism at the World Cup is an ugly reality. How to understand where it comes from

Christian Ungruhe 17 Jul 2026

Judge who has not worked since 2018 to face tribunal

Legislation & Regulation

Judge who has not worked since 2018 to face tribunal

Tania Broughton 17 Jul 2026

Giant data centres get the first green light from Cape Town tribunal

Data & Analytics

Giant data centres get the first green light from Cape Town tribunal

Steve Kretzmann 15 Jul 2026

Will El Niño drought hit food prices in South Africa? Earlier rains and grain stocks offer hope

Agriculture

Will El Niño drought hit food prices in South Africa? Earlier rains and grain stocks offer hope

Wandile Sihlobo 15 Jul 2026

Labour court rules against racist owner of a dog called “Hitler”

Labour Law

Labour court rules against racist owner of a dog called “Hitler”

Tania Broughton 14 Jul 2026

Image credit: on Pexels

Skills Development & Training

Skills shortages are holding back businesses in South Africa – survey finds the weak spots

Martin Magidi and Tariro Chivige 14 Jul 2026

Judge ordered to apologise to litigants for year-long delay

Legal

Judge ordered to apologise to litigants for year-long delay

Tania Broughton 13 Jul 2026

France's Kylian Mbappé celebrates scoring their first goal in the round-of-16 Fifa World Cup match between Paraguay and France. Image credit: Reuters/Kyle Ross

Sports Science

How Messi, Mbappé and Haaland use their brains (as well as feet) to gain a psychological edge at the World Cup

Eric Zillmer 10 Jul 2026

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Climate Change

Can climate shocks change how people feel about paying taxes?

Enrico Nichelatti 10 Jul 2026

Image source: freepik from

Higher Education

Student teachers in South Africa face a stressful career: How to prepare them better

Zayd Waghid 6 Jul 2026

A former awaiting-trial prisoner has been awarded more than R1-million after contracting tuberculosis in Pollsmoor Prison from June 2000 to August 2003. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp

Medical Law

21-year court battle over TB in prisons ends in R1m payout

Tania Broughton 1 Jul 2026

Urban farming helps Johannesburg’s poorest households survive – now it needs bigger investment

Agriculture

Urban farming helps Johannesburg’s poorest households survive – now it needs bigger investment

Blessings Masuku and Colleta Gandidzanwa 1 Jul 2026

Advertising

Amazon is being taken to court for introducing ads to Prime Video. The world will be watching

Jeannie Marie Paterson 30 Jun 2026

Image credit: , , via Wikimedia Commons

Energy

Johannesburg has taken a big new loan to help fix its electricity problems, but the results will take time

Glen Robbins 29 Jun 2026

Social Media

The hidden burnout crisis facing social media marketers

Kelly Cours Anderson, Ashley Hass and Breanne A. Mertz 26 Jun 2026