GroundUp

Judge finds environmental approvals were lawful and orders residents’ group to pay punitive costs 1 July 2026 | Law | Boland Add GroundUp on Google The Botmaskop Estate at Helshoogte outside Stellenbosch before an April 2025 interdict prohibited any further construction. Photo from an appendix in court papers. The High Court has dismissed an application to halt the 77-unit Botmaskop Fynbos Estate development on the slopes above Helshoogte Pass near Stellenbosch.

A Malawian man waits in a hall at the Callie De Wet Sports Centre in Robertson. Around 300 Malawians have been awaiting repatriation. More than 300 Malawian immigrants have taken shelter at a Robertson community hall after threats, evictions and fears of xenophobic violence. The Langeberg Municipality says many people arrived from the surrounding areas after they were evicted by landlords or threatened. Five buses arrived on Wednesday to transport Malawian nationals to Musina for repatriation.

The soccer field at the Vuyiseka Sports Complex is barely usable. Photos: Sandiso Phaliso Six years ago, the City of Cape Town spent R25-million on repairs to the Vuyiseka Sports Complex in Philippi East, but today the facility is vandalised and in a state of disrepair. The City had planned to spend R51-million on the project, but national grant funding dried up before it could be completed. City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said the centre is still used by soccer and netball teams.

One of the temporary houses where relocated residents have spent 15 years. Photo from court papers. About 300 people relocated to temporary prefabricated houses near Butterworth in 2011 are asking the High Court to force government departments and municipalities to come together and resolve their plight. Residents say they have lived for 15 years without proper housing, next to a river that floods and where two children have drowned.

Large crowds in Gauteng and KZN, with reports of looting and violence 30 June 2026 | News | South Africa Add GroundUp on Google Thousands of protesters gather in the Johannesburg CBD. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee Demonstrations against illegal immigration on Tuesday morning drew large crowds in Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria, and smaller crowds in other parts of the country.

A former awaiting-trial prisoner has been awarded more than R1-million after contracting tuberculosis in Pollsmoor Prison from June 2000 to August 2003. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks. A former awaiting-trial prisoner has been awarded more than R1-million after contracting tuberculosis while detained at Pollsmoor Prison. The state agreed to pay R350,000 in damages, but more than R700,000 was added in interest because of delays in finalising the case.

Members of the Ngcobo Yethu Civic Organisation marched to the offices of Dr AB Xuma Municipality on Monday. Photos: Johnnie Isaac Members of the Ngcobo Yethu Civic Organisation marched to the offices of Dr AB Xuma Municipality on Monday, in support of municipal workers who are staging a sit-in. The workers are complaining that their contributions to medical aid, provident fund, UIF and tax are not being paid over by the municipality. The municipality says it is investigating.

Kouga councillor Luvuyo Nkilishane (EFF) at a farm dam where effluent flows from the KwaNomzamo Wastewater Treatment Works. Residents say they have long been concerned about the quality of the water. Photos: Joseph Chirume The Department of Water and Sanitation says the treated water leaving the KwaNomzamo Wastewater Treatment Works is not consistently meeting regulatory quality standards.

The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria had the highest number of late judgments, with 54 matters outstanding for longer than six months. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks. Acting judges continue to account for more than half of the backlog in the number of late court judgments across the country. Judgment was reserved in 1,778 matters, of which 301 had been outstanding for more than six months. This is one fewer than the 302 late judgments recorded in the previous term.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has until Tuesday, 30 June to ensure that all Western Cape police stations are stocked with child rape kits. Last week, the chairperson of Parliament’s select committee on security and justice, Jane Mananiso, said oversight visits to various police stations by MPs had revealed shortages of rape kits for children and forensic laboratory backlogs in sexual offence cases.