GroundUp

Damning draft report presented to SCOPA lists critical governance and financial failures across five cities 8 October 2026 | Feature | South Africa Add GroundUp on Google Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts received a damning report on the state of five metros on Tuesday, following oversight visits and hearings in Mangaung, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and eThekwini.

Nearly 100 households on the border of this sewage pond want the City of Cape Town to relocate them to safety. Archive photo: Sandiso Phaliso For the fifth day in less than a month, residents of Siyangena informal settlement in Philippi East, Cape Town, blocked the New Eisleben and Govan Mbeki intersection with burning tyres and rubbish on Wednesday. They are protesting over a lack of electrification and a pool of sewage overflowing into 94 homes.

Ageing infrastructure, limited municipal capacity and years of underinvestment are exacerbating the impact climate change is having on communities across South Africa. Illustration: Lisa Nelson When Ncamiso Mnisi turns on the tap in her home in Carolina, Mpumalanga, she never knows whether the water will quench her thirst or make her sick.

Delayed funding is leaving some organisations unable to pay their staff or sustain their services. Illustration: Lisa Nelson The Gauteng social development department has admitted that delays in its payments to non-profit organisations have left the beneficiaries of social work ultimately bearing the cost.

Emily Lepota in front of her incomplete RDP house. Photo: Steve Kretzmann Emily Lepota, 62, has lived in a two-roomed shack for 16 years, despite being granted an RDP house. The Housing Subsidy System shows that Lepota’s house is complete and was handed over to her. But when GroundUp visited Lepota, in Morolong, east of Bloemfontein, we found the house half-built, without windows or a roof. In 2009, Lepota’s original house was destroyed when a mini tornado tore through the area.

Picketers outside the Holocaust and Genocide Centre in Cape Town on Wednesday held a 20-metre-long shroud with the names of Palestinian children who have been killed since 7 October 2023. Photos: Matthew Hirsch The names of 22,434 Palestinian children killed since 7 October 2023 were written on a 20-metre-long shroud displayed during a silent demonstration in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube has endorsed the controversial catalogue for grade 1 to 3 learning materials. Archive photo: Velani Ludidi The Eastern Cape began ordering grade 1 to 3 learning materials from the new R1.6-billion Foundation Phase National Catalogue, while the Western Cape is holding off until procurement concerns are resolved.

The General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill currently before Parliament is intended to keep South Africa off the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force, but it risks making life unnecessarily difficult for non-profit organisations. Archive photo: Brent Meersman In our scramble to meet international requirements preventing financing of terrorism, South Africa risks making life unnecessarily difficult for non-profit organisations (NPOs).

A member of the vigilante group stands outside the Home Affairs gate. Police moved the group from inside the gate after the harassment of several asylum seekers. Photos: Joseph Bracken Immigrants queuing at Home Affairs offices in Durban to apply for asylum were harassed on Tuesday by a group of about 15 vigilantes. Some wore masks and most carried sticks. They pushed people in the queue in the parking area and shouted insults. Police sent them away from the parking area.

The labour department has conceded in court that its Newcastle pilot project does not exempt factories from labour laws or the clothing bargaining council’s collective agreement. Illustration: Bronwyn Webb The labour department has agreed to a court order confirming that it has no authority to grant clothing manufacturers a grace period or amnesty for failing to comply with labour laws. The National Bargaining Council said some Newcastle factories refused its inspectors access.