LGBTQIA+ killings: ‘Enough is enough’
Sisanda Gumede is but one of the many killed in KwaZulu-Natal because of her sexuality. Relatives, residents, activists and local government say it has to end.
Stories by: Chris Makhaye
‘Ma Lizzie’: selfless and loving ‘angel and star’
The late Elizabeth Mkame dedicated her life to helping the marginalised and impoverished. She served tirelessly not only during some of the worst times of apartheid, but also in the fraught years since.
Union tackles homophobia
Institutions of learning should act decisively against those in their midst who act in a homophobic manner. A teachers’ union has taken up the cause on behalf of a bi-gender educator.
Freed activists vow to hold the state to account
Members of Abahlali baseMjondolo arrested and in some cases held for six months plan to launch a civil suit against the state for unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution.
Wrongfully accused Abahlali three set free at last
The shack dwellers’ movement says it feels vindicated that the case against three of its members has been dropped, but warns it remains under siege by the state.
Looters remorseful as daily life gets tougher
Some residents in areas affected by the July riots have lost their livelihoods, have to travel far to get to the jobs that remain and walk long distances to unaffected shopping centres.
Funeral costs add pain to grief of Covid-19 deaths
Global demand for timber and a huge increase in deaths means the soaring cost of a decent burial is beyond the reach of many impoverished South Africans.
Riots set back learning at damaged schools
Places of learning in KwaZulu-Natal were seriously damaged during the recent tumult in the province.
Deadly result as state forces seize ‘loot’ in Durban
In Madlala, the police and army broke into homes in an operation to retrieve stolen goods. After they left, a woman lay dead in a pool of her blood behind a shack.
Long Read | Durban’s homeless seek shelter
Life is tough for the thousands who sleep on the streets of KwaZulu-Natal’s major port city. While some organisations try to help, police and hospitals often don’t treat them as kindly.
Riots leave the dead unburied
Crematoriums, funeral parlours and cemeteries were forced to close, leaving the families of those who died during the unrest to live with their bodies.
Charitable acts cross many divides in KwaZulu-Natal
What was once a point of contention became a place of help and relief for the residents of a suburb in Durban, proving that humaneness crosses boundaries – real and imagined.
Reality bites as food shortages and rations remain
Although companies affected by the riots are working round the clock to get supplies to shops, South Africans are facing long hours in queues to get basic staples to their families.
No trucks, no supplies is the harsh SA reality
The burning of cargo trucks in KwaZulu-Natal just days before riots broke out appears to be an act of sabotage in a coordinated effort to stop essential supplies from reaching people.
LGBTQIA+ people live in fear in KwaZulu-Natal
Being queer in impoverished areas means facing the threat of murder or violent assault daily. As activists rally to make this discrimination a hate crime, it is too late for many.
The women who led the Ingonyama Trust case to victory
It started with land activist Sizani Ngubane and the women who put their names on the court application, but this landmark ruling will benefit women in rural areas for years to come.
The plight of female farm workers
After decades of enduring threats, eviction, violence and sexual abuse, women in rural KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga are banding together to advocate for their rights.
Residents breathe easier as Engen refinery to close
Long-suffering South Durban Basin communities have welcomed the decision to convert the oil refinery to a storage facility but activists worry the polluting will continue.
Dockers and pro-Palestinians unite in Durban
The anti-Israel protests in the harbour city are the latest in a long line of strikes at the port against colonisation and apartheid.
LGBTQIA+ people in South Africa ‘are under siege’
Murders of queer people in and around Durban recently again highlight their daily struggle to survive, let alone find acceptance, which only rarely are they fortunate enough to find.
Usethubeni prison school shows that education works
South Africa’s prison system is fraught with irregularities, with many institutions failing to rehabilitate offenders. One, however, is proving rehabilitation is possible.