Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Dennis Webster has a research background in labour, land and housing. He writes about cities, farmwork and popular politics in rural areas.
Ferrero factory workers have won the first battle in what might become one of South Africa’s next wars on casual and precarious work.
In an environment where activism against mining is becoming increasingly deadly, Nonhle Mbuthuma’s life may be at risk.
Years of poor management and administration coupled with a devastating Covid-19 lockdown mean that the coming economic storm will hit South Africa’s most vulnerable hardest.
Grant top-ups and the new social relief of stress grant must be extended beyond October as crucial indicators show that the country’s economic prospects remain grim.
One of South Africa’s biggest and most troubled development projects is entering a new phase, yet some of the same difficulties that have plagued it thus far remain unresolved.
The so-called Spanish Flu that marched across South Africa a century ago influenced the way our cities are laid out today. What can we learn from that earlier outbreak?
A century ago, so-called Spanish Flu was beginning a menacing march across South Africa. As we continue to endure the airborne coronavirus pandemic, what can we learn from the last one?
Two years ago, the Constitutional Court confirmed that firearm ownership is a legislated privilege, not a right. But a high court judge stepped in to protect criminal gun owners.
The coronavirus lockdown has added new dimensions to a decades-long struggle for electricity in the far west of Soweto, where residents have challenged the situation fiercely in recent weeks.
Economists and Nairobi water company cut off impoverished people’s water supply in the Kenyan capital in an effort to establish if landlords will pay their outstanding bills.
The first estimates of how the coronavirus has impacted livelihoods have arrived and the data is harrowing, showing women and lower-income black earners are disproportionately affected.
Tito Mboweni’s special adjustment budget shows that the slow implementation of the new grant to alleviate the economic impact of the lockdown has resulted in a decrease in available funds.
About 1 600 families in the Stjwetla shack settlement in Johannesburg are standing on the verge of seismic change. This is the story of one of them.
Under level four of the Covid-19 lockdown, the hours from 6am to 9am became the time when inner-city residents could use local parks to escape the nightmare around them.
The newly established grant intended to bring informal economy workers into South Africa’s social security net during the lockdown has had a disastrous start.
Street traders are central to food security in Johannesburg. But since being declared an essential service under lockdown, street trade in South Africa’s biggest city has returned to uneven ground.
When people call South Africa the most unequal country in the world, they’re talking about income. Now, we have a clear picture of how unequally the country’s wealth is distributed.
Underground liquor has a long history in South Africa. Its next chapter is being written under the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown.
In the calm, community members have been central to readying townships for Covid-19. But only the storm will tell if their efforts have been successful.
The economic shocks of South Africa’s lockdown will devastate impoverished communities. Proposals have emerged that may be sure bets to soften the blow.
Commuters who use public transport are at high risk of infection, but Johannesburg’s bus, rail and taxi systems are not yet prepared to stem the spread of Covid-19.