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Some Sassa beneficiaries in Umlazi now have to spend time and money to travel to offices like the Durban Station branch in the city centre after their office was shut down last week. Photo: Joseph Bracken

Health & Social Welfare

Sassa’s Umlazi office declared unsafe, shuts down

Tsoanelo Sefoloko and Joseph Bracken 17 hours

Source: Sechaba Mokhethi/GroundUp. The Katse Dam, which provides water to South Africa, is one of several dams whose construction saw extensive loss of resources for several Lesotho communities.

Construction & Engineering

Lesotho dam authority must pay M90m in long-overdue compensation

Sechaba Mokheth 17 hours

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

Rhodes University is working with the Department of Water and Sanitation to investigate whether its internal water system is the source of the outbreak. Archive photo: Steve Krentzmann

Infectious Diseases

Rhodes University launches probe into water after gastro outbreak

Laney van Wyk 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

Source: GroundUp/Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik. A second contractor has left the site of the Eyabantu Senior Secondary School, a project launched in 2019.

Construction & Engineering

Learners wait seven years for R39m school

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik 23 Oct 2026

Tenofovir, lamivudine and dolutegravir are arguably the three most important medicines in South Africa. Archive photo: GroundUp Staff

HIV/AIDS

Cipla wins court fight over HIV pill tender

Tania Broughton 23 Oct 2026

If it trades like a hotel, why does Cape Town tax it like a home?

Tourism & Travel

If it trades like a hotel, why does Cape Town tax it like a home?

22 Oct 2026

Activists went to Parliament on Wednesday to put forward demands ahead of Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana’s mini-budget announcement. Photo: Abonge Chiya

Health & Social Welfare

SRD grant extended for another year, minister announces

GroundUp Staff 22 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

Source: GroundUp/Matthew Hirsch.

Affordable & Social Housing

Families to return to Bishopscourt, 60 years after forced removals

Matthew Hirsch 20 Oct 2026

Source: GroundUp/Sechaba Mokhethi. The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority will refer suspected pollution for testing. GroundUp previously revealed that Kopano Ke Matla’s wastewater-treatment systems were found to be non-compliant, despite repeated warnings. The photo shows the Sekoai River and the tunnel access site.

Construction & Engineering

Is construction at the Lesotho Highlands Water project polluting rivers?

Sechaba Mokhethi 16 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

Children are dying in pain because our palliative care is so poor, damning report finds. Photo: (public domain)

Palliative care

Children are dying in pain because our palliative care is so poor

Sean Christie 12 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

Image credit: , , via Wikimedia Commons

Food, Water & Energy Security

Durban and Joburg worst hit by water outages

Chart by The Outlier. Text by GroundUp Staff. 2 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

DA to report e-Panic data breach to Information Regulator

Cybersecurity

DA to report e-Panic data breach to Information Regulator

Joel Cedras 29 Sep 2026

“We were never consulted” – Cape Town residents challenge Equinix data centre

Data & Analytics

“We were never consulted” – Cape Town residents challenge Equinix data centre

Alice Scott 28 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

Wind turbines on the Eastern Cape bushveld along the R350 road to Bedford, outside Makhanda. The area around has some of the country’s best wind power potential but is also among the Eastern Cape’s most ecologically sensitive landscapes. Photos: Aphiwe Ngowapi

Food, Water & Energy Security

Debate over new Makhanda wind farm

Gcina Ntsaluba and Asemahle Vumsindo 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

Social Development Minister Dina Pule speaking to Sassa beneficiaries during her oversight visit to the Delft office. Photo: Sindisiwe Tshona

Health & Social Welfare

Sassa: Pensioners complain to minister about deductions from their grants

Sindisiwe Tshona and Abonge Chiya 23 Sep 2026

Exceptional El Niño puts southern Africa on drought alert

Agriculture

Exceptional El Niño puts southern Africa on drought alert

Steve Kretzmann 18 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

An African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) emerging from its burrow at the Stony Point Penguin Colony in Betty’s Bay, Western Cape. Photos: David Harrison

Environment & Natural Resources

Stop sardine fishing, warn conservationists

Alice Scott 17 Sep 2026

Image credit: Sassa

Health & Social Welfare

Sassa’s automated SRD grant checks draw criticism from legal expert

16 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

Fossil Free South Africa has won four victories over “greenwashing” in advertising by oil, coal and gas companies, write the authors. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

Environment & Natural Resources

Fossil fuel companies rebuked for greenwashing

Jo-Anne Smetherham, Kholwani Simelane and Patrick Bond 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

Auto workers suspend 11-week strike as talks continue

Manufacturing & Parts

Auto workers suspend 11-week strike as talks continue

Greg Dor 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

Arnot Power Station in Mpumalanga is one of Eskom’s coal-fired power plants. Image credit: , , via Wikimedia Commons

Energy

Eskom in a coal mind: SA open to AI data centres, but at what electricity price?

3 Sep 2026

AI data centres could make electricity more expensive

Data & Analytics

AI data centres could make electricity more expensive

Brutus Mogotlo 2 Sep 2026

People collecting water at the Newlands Spring in Cape Town in February 2018.

Food, Water & Energy Security

Cape Town desalination plans delayed while water demand soars

Steve Kretzmann 2 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

Health & Social Welfare

Don’t be in Sassa’s black books: Deadline for Postbank black card switch arrives

31 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: Sassa

Health & Social Welfare

Sassa’s R370-a-month grant has its day in the Supreme Court of Appeal

26 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

Newly appointed Minister of Social Development Dina Pule speaks to beneficiaries at the Sassa Bellville office on Thursday. Photos: Matthew Hirsch

Health & Social Welfare

“We are failing them” Sassa staff tell minister

Matthew Hirsch 17 Aug 2026