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A recent Labour Court ruling is a setback for the Agricultural, Food and Allied Democratic Workers’ Union’s bid to halt the loss of jobs at Premier’s Tulbagh fruit cannery. Archive photo: Greg Dor / GroundUp

Labour Law & Unions

Labour Court rejects union bid to stop job losses at Tulbagh cannery

Greg Dor 3 days

Image source: Edmond Dantes from

Higher Education

African universities can do more than teach and research: They can drive social change

A Surmeier, A Lashitew, B Bangeni, D Littlewood, G Nomdo, K Behari-Leak and P Awor 9 Nov 2026

Blikkiesdorp in Delft was built by the City of Cape Town in 2007 as a temporary home for people evicted in the city. Many are still there nearly two decades later. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp

Land & Property Law

SAHRC takes City of Cape Town to court over land sales

Matthew Hirsch 6 Nov 2026

AI and blockchain are coming to African farms: 4 things must happen for farmers to benefit

Agriculture

AI and blockchain are coming to African farms: 4 things must happen for farmers to benefit

Olaoluwa Omoniyi Olarewaju 5 Nov 2026

Travel bots are making decisions for us – convenient, but should we trust them?

Tourism & Travel

Travel bots are making decisions for us – convenient, but should we trust them?

Faizan Ali and Laiba Ali 5 Nov 2026

Energy

Who gets the clean energy jobs and contracts? How Ghana and SA’s plans can do more for women

Elvis Korku Avenyo and Gideon Ndubuisi 5 Nov 2026

Medical Research

South Africa’s HPV vaccination drive to protect girls from cervical cancer is working – what we know after 10 years

Dorothy Nyemba-Machemedze and Sinead Delany-Moretlwe 5 Nov 2026

Marry Malefathlo collects water from this single tank supplying hundreds of residents in Itireleng village in the North West Province. The tank is only filled once a week. Image credit: Chris Gilili/

Food, Water & Energy Security

South Africans living through water cuts blame corruption and neglect, not just broken pipes – study

Anthony Kaziboni 4 Nov 2026

Five Western Cape fruit producers are asking the High Court to force Premier to take their fruit for the coming harvest. Archive photo: Greg Dor / GroundUp

Corporate & Commercial Law

Fruit farmers take Premier to court

Greg Dor 29 Oct 2026

The entrance to the illegally constructed Goats Window Luxury Safari Lodge in the foothills of the Riviersonderend mountains near Bonnievale. Photos: John Yeld / GroundUp

Environmental Law

Luxury lodge fined R15m for flouting environmental laws

John Yeld 29 Oct 2026

The Johannesburg Labour Court has set aside a CCMA ruling because the commissioner cited a non-existent judgment and failed to verify the source. Illustration: Bronwyn Webb / GroundUp

Labour Law

Labour Court slams CCMA commissioner for relying on AI hallucination

Tania Broughton 27 Oct 2026

Image source: Getty Images

Primary & Secondary Education

South Africa’s schools reflect an unequal society: What can teachers do about it?

Nhlanhla Mpofu 26 Oct 2026

The Supreme Court of Appeal has slammed the Department of Social Development’s “cultural” guidelines for adoption. Graphic: Lisa Nelson / GroundUp

Family Law

Mothers win case against “cultural” adoption guidelines

Tania Broughton 21 Oct 2026

Thousands of teachers in the Western Cape have been trained to teach arithmetic in isiXhosa. Photo: Sindisiwe Tshona / GroundUp

Primary & Secondary Education

Western Cape schools to teach maths in isiXhosa from next year

Sindisiwe Tshona 14 Oct 2026

Five years after being fired from Prasa, Martha Ngoye, former legal head, is still fighting to be reinstated. Archive photo: Ihsaan Haffejee / GroundUp

Law Practice

Fired Prasa whistleblowers get backing in ConCourt

Tania Broughton 12 Oct 2026

Job cuts at Jaguar Land Rover show how a sensible corporate strategy is not always enough

Commercial & Industrial

Job cuts at Jaguar Land Rover show how a sensible corporate strategy is not always enough

Lakshminarasimhan Vedanthachari 8 Oct 2026

Qualified artisans across South Africa have been waiting years for Red Seal certificates from the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations. Photos: Ihsaan Haffejee / GroundUp

Higher Education

Artisans forced to wait years for Red Seal certificates

Alice Scott 6 Oct 2026

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Noncommunicable diseases

79 deaths a day: South Africa’s diabetes crisis needs a new strategy

Patrick Ngassa Piotie 5 Oct 2026

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 1 Oct 2026

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 30 Sep 2026

Image credit: on

Construction & Engineering

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

Jonathan Oladeji and Chioma Okoro 30 Sep 2026

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 28 Sep 2026

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

Image credit: on

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

Image credit: , , via Wikimedia Commons

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