Fire victims say they are likely to spend a second night outside because they don’t have material to rebuild their homes By Nokulunga Majola A woman died and a teenager sustained serious injuries during a fire that destroyed 49 shacks at Marikana informal settlement in Cato Manor on Sunday. The families say they are unable to rebuild their homes and will...

Freedom Under Law has accused CPS of under-reporting its profits by R800 million By Tania Broughton The Constitutional Court has ordered Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) to furnish chartered accountants Rain with all the documents required to conduct a proper audit of the firm’s illegal contract for the payment of social grants on behalf of government. The court granted the order at the behest of Freedom...

“We really need this grant, as small as it may appear” By Tariro Washinyira and Mkhuseli Sizani Beneficiaries of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant, which has been discontinued, are hoping the government will change its mind on the R350-a-month grant. Beneficiaries who had not yet been paid out for January queued yesterday at post offices around the country. They said the...

One resident says she has to buy buckets of water daily from other community members with boreholes By Bernard Chiguvare Hundreds of protestors marched to Makhado Local Municipality offices in Louis Trichardt on Monday to demand a regular supply of clean water, that sewage be fixed timeously and that roads be fixed. The municipality promised to resolve the water issues in...

Millions of beneficiaries need the top-up to get by, argued Black Sash By Zoë Postman The Special Covid-19 top-up of R500 given to caregivers ends this month. The Black Sash Trust’s application to ensure the continuation of the grant beyond October was struck off the urgent roll on Friday. Black Sash argued that the top up grants are linked to the...

City argues that court doesn’t have jurisdiction to do that By Lucas Nowicki On Thursday the High Court in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) heard an application by the Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) to dissolve the Makana Municipal Council for violating its constitutional mandate by failing to provide basic services to the community. The UPM is calling for the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional...

The state’s case against the family of drowned schoolboy is “insensitive”, says Justice Navsa By Ciaran Ryan The Limpopo education department came in for sharp criticism from Supreme Court of Appeal judge Mahomed Navsa on Monday over the death of four year-old Michael Komape in a school pit toilet in 2014. “The Department has not exactly covered itself in glory with respect to...

A Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling has found that municipalities were in breach of the Constitution in not providing labour tenants and farm occupiers with essential and basic services. By Musawenkosi Cabe The recent high court judgment declaring that three municipalities in Pietermaritzburg must provide water, sanitation and waste collection on farms has been hailed as a victory for farm dwellers across...

Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has been taken to court after government failed to alert the public about its plan to weaken South Africa’s SO₂ emission standard. By Tony Carnie More than seven million people die prematurely every year at the hands of a silent, global killer. Often invisible, the World Health Organisation has fingered the culprit as the increasing volume...

Upper Xhwili near Mthatha has no electricity, piped clean water or decent roads By Chumani Mazwi Residents of Upper Xhwili village have been waiting since 1998 for electricity, access to clean water, and proper roads. The villagers say they have raised these issues with five successive councillors, but there is no progress. Upper Xhwili is 40km outside of Mthatha. Before the villagers were...