http://mg.co.za/article/2011-03-25-violence-on-tape-confirms-police-tactics/

Violence on tape confirms police tactics

A cellphone video clip showing the South African Police Service's tactical response team (TRT) abusing a man in Wesselton township has lent credence to widespread claims of police brutality during service delivery protests in the township last month.

The 26-second video, shot in the Wesselton's Thusi section on February 16, two days after the protests began, shows a young man rolling on the ground while being trailed by armed TRT members, one of whom is perched on the police vehicle's bonnet. According to the man who captured the footage on his cellphone, the youngster in the clip was coming from the nearby shops with a female friend when he was summoned to the officers' vehicle, questioned and allegedly shot at several times with rubber bullets.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-03-11-here-it-is-every--man-for-himself

'Here it is every man for himself'
KWANELE SOSIBO - Mar 11 2011 13:58

Last week, when I first met Sipho Dlamini and Nomantombi Mdodana, both "temporary" residents of the Moth building in Noord Street, they ushered me into a dank boardroom before launching into a tirade about the building's condition.

Mdodana, dressed in her security guard uniform, sat at the head of the table and spoke softly, gesturing with her hands. Dlamini kept finishing her sentences and conveyed his annoyance through the intermittent gruff boom of his voice.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-28-profile-of-a-town-on-fire

Profile of a town on fire
KWANELE SOSIBO

The fear of police brutality is so tangible in Ermelo's Wesselton township that it is hard to separate it from the blanket of coal fumes that floats in the quiet night air.

Paranoia, too, is palpable as we talk to a group of youths in a tavern in Phumula, near the epicentre of recent rioting. As they regale us with their stories, which are repeated during our stay in Ermelo, they take turns in heading to the door, making sure that no police are inching their way towards the nondescript drinking hole.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-04-excluded-learners-take-to-the-streets/

Excluded learners take to the streets

Kamogelo Seekoei

About 60 parents and their children from the informal settlement of Thembalihle, southwest of Johannesburg, took to the streets of neighbouring Lenasia on Tuesday after failing to find places in schools since they opened nearly month ago.

Their admission problems have been mirrored across the country, according to community representatives, children’s NGOs and helplines, and teacher unions.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-18-dreaming-of-a-home-in-defunct-factory/

Click here to see a slideshow.

Dreaming of a home in a defunct factory

Kwanele Sosibo

At first, I thought the photographer and I were lost, or the story was further inside the unassuming block of flats. Even more confusing, the tall, dark and stony-faced fellow hawking fruits and vegetables outside knew the man we were looking for, but was hesitant to usher us in.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-04-durban-bleeds-municipal-funds/

Durban bleeds municipal funds

Gross irregular spending, the continued haemorrhaging of municipal funds by projects such as uShaka Marine World and an inability to provide a "quality living environment" for the eThekwini (Durban) municipality's many shack-dwellers were just some of the auditor general's findings on the metro's recently released 2009-2010 finances.

Provincial auditor Herman van Zyl said the value of uShaka -- built by the city for R700-million -- had been "impaired" by R133,6-million over the financial year ending on June 30 2010.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-12-23-fear-and-loathing-in-obamaland

Fear and loathing in Obamaland

NIREN TOLSI - Dec 23 2010

The man cupping my testicles in his hand had an anodyne voice. Purposely so, it felt, as his fingers moved to the inner thigh and he kept talking about what he was doing to me.

His tone may have been trying to hide his embarrassment at the intrusion. Perhaps add a veneer of respectability to this public full-body grope.

Regardless, the voice felt matter-of-fact but extremely discomforting. As if he was a breathless pederast.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-11-19-ancyl-admits-to-role-in-cape-protest

ANCYL admits to role in Cape protest
GLYNNIS UNDERHILL | CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - Nov 19 2010

The ANC Youth League has openly thrown its weight behind continuing service delivery protests in Khayelitsha township, which turned violent when vehicles were stoned and a City of Cape Town bus for the physically disabled was ­petrol-bombed.

While there was initial confusion about who was involved, Andile Lili, the treasurer of the ANC Youth League in the Dullah Omar region, said residents had invited the league to take part in the protests, which took to the streets last weekend.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-11-10-jhb-hawkers-complain-of-police-harassment

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA Nov 10 2010 16:24

A memorandum of requests by informal traders who claim police abuse was read out at the mayor's office in Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon.

Assistant director of petitions for the municipality, Peter Kute signed the memorandum saying: "We are inviting the executive to the offices tomorrow to discuss their requests."

The memorandum, with a list of 29 requests, was read out by One Voice For All Hawkers Association president Zacharia Ramutulwana in front of a 300-strong crowd of informal traders and two representatives of the Johannesburg municipality.

Click here to see a slideshow on this eviction and its aftermath.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-18-there-is-no-human-who-can-sleep-in-this

'There is no human who can sleep in this'
KARABO KEEPILE | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 18 2010 15:30

Evicted shack dwellers from the Gabon informal settlement on the East Rand have refused to occupy the 72 corrugated iron shacks built for them by the Ekurhuleni Municipality. This after they were evicted and their shacks demolished on May 11.