Office closed for summer break 🌞 📅 19 December to 12 January Our office phones won't be answered and emails won’t be monitored until we reopen in January. Thanks for understanding – we look forward to bringing you more news that matters in 2026.

Former National Lotteries Commission staff who blew the whistle on corruption have been denied financial compensation after a year-long reparations process. Read groundup.org.za/article/lott... by Raymond Joseph

Cape Town and Durban are South Africa’s most popular beach destinations. Untreated sewage flowing into the ocean in both cities has led to beach closures in past years. Read groundup.org.za/article/holi... chart by The Outlier. Text by GroundUp Staff.

On a night in November, Claremont resident Claudette Abrahams woke to the smell of fire – two palm trees alongside her block on Antoinette Street were alight. Read groundup.org.za/article/clar... by Sean Christie

The deaths of Idries Sheriff, 41, and Francois Esterhuizen, 55, in Cape Town in the past week have highlighted the dangers faced by road cyclists from reckless or inattentive drivers. Read groundup.org.za/article/how-... by David Harrison

Housing movement Reclaim the City has confirmed its intention to put in a bid for the old Woodstock Hospital. Read groundup.org.za/article/were... by Matthew Hirsch. Photos by Ashraf Hendricks.

Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng has received threats and hate mail for posts made on social media about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UN Watch founder Hillel Neuer. Read groundup.org.za/article/sa-d... by Joan van Dyk

KwaZulu-Natal magistrate Ian Blose has been suspended without pay pending a disciplinary inquiry into charges that he lied on application forms for acting appointments. Read groundup.org.za/article/magi... by Tania Broughton

The proceeds from the sale of a property on a luxury golf estate, bought with lottery grant funds, have been frozen by the Special Tribunal. Read groundup.org.za/article/r27-... by Raymond Joseph

Homeless people in Durban say they are being assaulted, sometimes while sleeping, by members of a private security company contracted to the eThekwini municipality. Read groundup.org.za/article/ethe... by Joseph Bracken

When Lutendo Mundzhelele noticed frothy saliva dripping from the mouths of his cattle two weeks ago, he feared foot-and-mouth disease had reached his farm in Makonde, Limpopo. Read groundup.org.za/article/foot... by Thembi Siaga and Maanda Bele

Thousands of families living on railway reserves between Langa and Bonteheuwel train stations lack tap water, formal electricity and rubbish collection. Read groundup.org.za/article/thou... by Sandiso Phaliso

There are 11 informal settlements in Mlungisi township in Komani, Eastern Cape. None have electricity. The oldest, Kwanca, was formed in the 1990s. Read groundup.org.za/article/koma... by Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

On 24 March, Wilfred Mole, the chairman of the Carlswald Resident’s Association (CRA) in Johannesburg’s Midrand region, wrote an email to Johannesburg Water’s managing director Ntshavheni Mukwevho. Read groundup.org.za/article/afte... by Sean Christie

The Western Cape High Court eventually ruled against an arms company after it brought an urgent application against Open Secrets. Read groundup.org.za/article/how-... by Ntokozo Dladla for Open Secrets

Pensioners in Mendwane in Willowvale, Eastern Cape are building their own community hall using their SASSA grants, saying their requests to the Mbhashe Local Municipality have fallen on deaf hears. Read groundup.org.za/article/will... by Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality resolved in February 2024 to close its own wholly-owned failing water entity, MAP Water, and reincorporate services under the municipality. Read groundup.org.za/article/free... by Tladi Moloi and Sean Christie

People living on Transnet land at Siyahlala informal settlement in Dunoon were meant to be relocated in 2013. But plans have stalled and the settlement continues to grow. Read groundup.org.za/article/city... by Peter Luhanga

The City of Cape Town has approved a Rail Business Plan for devolving operation of the city’s Metrorail services from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to the municipality. Read groundup.org.za/article/cape... by Liezl Human

Former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda has filed his final affidavit challenging President Cyril Ramaphosa’s authorisation of a Special Investigating Unit probe into corruption at the commission. Read groundup.org.za/article/nevh... by Tania Broughton

Peter Brandon started teaching karate to a small group of men in a Nyanga hall in the late 1960s, often by candlelight. Read groundup.org.za/article/afri... by David Harrison

New benchmarks confirm a severe early-grade reading crisis, with African language learners the worst performers. Read groundup.org.za/article/sas-... by Jane Viedge

For every ten dockets the police close every year, an average of 6 are closed without resolution, the Minister of Police revealed in a reply to Parliament in October. Read groundup.org.za/article/drow... by GroundUp Staff abd The Outlier.

As extortion tightens its stranglehold on Cape Town, the City is hitting back in court. But some township victims are in hiding, in fear of their lives. Read groundup.org.za/article/city... by David Capel

A crowd of die-hard fans gathers around a four-sided wrestling ring at the Parow Civic Centre in Cape Town. Many of the fans wear branded T-shirts and replica championship belts. Read groundup.org.za/article/a-so... by Ishmael Mabena and Ashraf Hendricks

A storm swept through parts of Northern KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday afternoon, destroying several homes. Read groundup.org.za/article/fami... by Bongane Motaung

Construction of the Sarah Baartman Remembrance Centre in Hankey started in August 2014 with a R164-million budget and was expected to be completed in two years. Read groundup.org.za/article/brok... by Joseph Chirume

61-year-old Noah Libbie from Bonteheuwel is one of roughly four million South Africans who receive the Older Persons Grant. Read groundup.org.za/article/livi... by Marecia Damons

West Coast small-scale fishers say the crayfish season has been marred by administrative turmoil after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment issued erroneous permits with reduced quotas for some West Coast cooperatives. Read groundup.org.za/article/botc... by Liezl Human

Amendments to the Companies Act will compel companies to reveal the gap between the lowest paid worker and the chief executive, essential information in a country often described as the most unequal in the world. Read groundup.org.za/article/new-... by Salome Teuteberg

Women who face domestic gun violence are not being sufficiently protected despite legal provisions, according to a report by the Remove the Trigger campaign. Read groundup.org.za/article/poli... by Mary-Anne Gontsana

Immigrants say clinic staff at Spartan, Jeppe and Yeoville clinics in Gauteng are extorting money from them by charging them for ARVs, other chronic medicines and baby immunisations. Read groundup.org.za/article/clin... by Kimberly Mutandiro

Far from its diamond mining history making it a dazzling gem of the Northern Cape, Kimberley has sunk into a deep hole of debt and failing service delivery due to municipal mismanagement. Read groundup.org.za/article/kimb... by Steve Kretzmann

Cape Town has thousands of people living on its streets and the City urgently needs options that go beyond overnight shelters and Safe Spaces. Read groundup.org.za/article/afte... by Matthew Hirsch

Dozens of people lined the street opposite the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre on Tuesday, calling for the centre to recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. Read groundup.org.za/article/prot... by Matthew Hirsch

The theft and fraud case against former PRASA Western Cape manager Mthuthuzeli Swartz and businessman Nadir Mohiudeen was set down for three days in the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court this week. Read groundup.org.za/article/rail... by Steve Kretzmann

We expose how clinic staff and Operation Dudula members are scamming people. Read our story tomorrow at 6am. groundup.org.za

Lesotho’s Parliament blocked the tabling of a Public Accounts Committee report on procurement irregularities in the awarding of a contract to operate a private wing at Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital. Read groundup.org.za/article/leso... by Sechaba Mokhethi

Young dancers from Soweto, Alexandra and Braamfontein performed at Joburg Ballet School’s year-end show at the Soweto Theatre on Sunday. Read groundup.org.za/article/in-p... by Ihsaan Haffejee

When it rains, roads are unsafe and scholar transport doesn’t operate. Children from Skhwane village need to walk about 15km to school. Read groundup.org.za/article/comm... by Bongane Motaung

A company that was given a R2.5-million contract in 2020 to supply chemical toilets to schools in KwaZulu-Natal has been ordered to repay the profits. Read groundup.org.za/article/comp... by Tania Broughton

The state witness in the case against former PRASA regional manager Mthuthuzeli Swartz failed to arrive at the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court, where the case continued after months of delay on Monday. Read groundup.org.za/article/stat... by Steve Kretzmann

Hundreds of people living at municipal apartments in Silverton could be forced to leave soon. Read groundup.org.za/article/hund... by Warren Mabona

The Western Cape High Court has ordered the Gauteng Department of Social Development to provide GroundUp, within 30 days, all documents on grants to non-profit organisations between 2014 and 2024. Read groundup.org.za/article/cour... by Tania Broughton

Artist James Delaney credits his dog Pablo as inspiration for his work rehabilitating The Wilds, a park in Johannesburg. Read groundup.org.za/article/how-... by Ihsaan Haffejee

Abandoned, dilapidated brick structures surrounded by a concrete palisade fence, covered in litter, and built beneath Eskom power lines are one of several eyesores in the Eastern Cape town of Hankey. Read groundup.org.za/article/koug... by Joseph Chirume

The long-delayed Thabo Bester trial is scheduled to begin on 20 July 2026. Read groundup.org.za/article/thab... by Marecia Damons

The Lesotho Communications Authority has ruled that Vodacom breached consumer-protection laws by imposing airtime restrictions without warning customers. Read groundup.org.za/article/leso... by Sechaba Mokhethi

Debate, prompted largely by US President Donald Trump’s stance on South Africa, has raged over whether South Africa is legislatively discriminating against white people. Read groundup.org.za/article/whit... by GroundUp Staff and The Outlier

Last month, for the first time in years, villages outside Willowvale in the Eastern Cape had running water. But at two villages, it only lasted a few days before the taps dried up again. Some taps only had water for a few hours. Read groundup.org.za/article/east... by Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik