GroundUp

Protesting residents of the Covid informal settlement block the entrance to Driftsands Nature Reserve. A short while later they were dispersed by police. Photo: Siphokazi Mnyobe Covid is an informal settlement that was established on Driftsands Nature Reserve during the pandemic lockdowns. The reserve is managed by CapeNature. The occupiers have been served with eviction … [Read more...] about Police clash with occupiers of Cape Town nature reserve

This is the failing sewage works in Springbok, Northern Cape, one of 334 in the country which obtained a Green Drop score of 30% or less. Photo: Steve Kretzmann About half of all wastewater treatment works in South Africa fail to treat sewage properly. 334 of 850 municipal wastewater treatment works are in a critical state. The 2022 Green Drop report also reveals that … [Read more...] about Half of South Africa’s sewage treatment works are failing

Cry Makuni and Prisca Chauke each push a wheelbarrow from their home in Plastic View informal settlement next to Soshanguve Extension 6 in Pretoria. The area is home to about 42 households, most of whom survive on waste picking from the nearby Rosslyn landfill site. Photos: Mosima Rafapa It’s just before 11am on a Tuesday and 36-year-old Cry Makuni and 27–year-old Prisca Chauke … [Read more...] about Surviving from a Pretoria rubbish dump

Ayanda Ntuthu sits outside court on Tuesday where he was sentenced for sexually assaulting a learner in 2017. Photo: Marecia Damons A teacher who sexually assaulted a boy at a Cape Town school in 2017 has been sentenced to five years in prison. Ayanda Ntuthu continued to teach at the school for most of the past five years. The boy he assaulted remained a learner at the … [Read more...] about Cape Town teacher gets five years for sexually assaulting a learner

Researchers from the One Ocean Hub at the University of Cape Town and a GIS expert have produced this map of the plethora of prospecting and mining applications on the west coast. Australian company Mineral Sands Resources (MSR) has agreed to take measures to improve the environmental impact of its West Coast operation. MSR must also motivate for the environment minister to … [Read more...] about West Coast breakthrough: environment activists and mining company reach agreement