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Style: For more than three decades, Trompies have deliberately maintained their signature township boy attire of takkies and sporties. Photo: Supplied

Kwaito isn’t dead, it’s evolving

Trompies’ story reveals how true legends endure by evolving without losing their cultural centre

Four toilets, built in 2013 by the organisation Candice Andisiwe Sehoma founded, are still flushing, although floods of raw sewage flow daily through the streets of Alexandra. (Sean Christie)

Building toilets, fighting TB: Candice Andisiwe Sehoma’s life of activism

From discontinued insulin pens to overpriced TB drugs, meet the young South African holding drug makers to account on behalf of patients

Haves and have-nots: The skyline of Sandton, home to the richest square mile in Africa, forms the backdrop to Alexandra township in Johannesburg. Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Getty Images

Is God good to everyone?

If He is, then when will people like me get to experience his abundant goodness and mercy?

Baby Saver defends havens amid government claims of illegality

The Gauteng department of social development contends that the havens are illegal, encourage abandonment, and impede the rights of fathers

Many people lack reliable electricity, clean water and adequate housing. When the state fails to provide these services, rights such as dignity, equality and access to healthcare are undermined.
(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Alexandra township in the grip of toxic fumes from scrap metal collectors

A clean environment is a constitutionally recognised right in South Africa but one that is routinely violated

Electrical power lines hang from transmission pylons in the Tembisa township. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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WATCH: Tembisa residents speak out on load-shedding

People living in Tembisa have had enough of load-shedding. They want the government to do something about it

No nothing: Tembisa residents complain there is no rubbish collection, no electricity and there are also no jobs (above and right) in their once-vibrant township. (Photos: Delwyn Verasamy, M&G)

Load-shedding crisis: ‘The power to change is in citizens’ hands’

Many people in South Africa’s townships and suburbs have blamed the government for the ongoing blackouts that are harming their lives

Many people lack reliable electricity, clean water and adequate housing. When the state fails to provide these services, rights such as dignity, equality and access to healthcare are undermined.
(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Alexandra businesses struggle amid power outages as City Power cuts off non-payers

Some businesses have closed while others have had to let employees go because they cannot afford to pay them

Many people lack reliable electricity, clean water and adequate housing. When the state fails to provide these services, rights such as dignity, equality and access to healthcare are undermined.
(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Plasma gangs: How South Africans’ fears about crime created an urban legend

A tale of criminality, magic, violence and fear offered a way to foreground the contradictions that come with living in a township

Targeted: On the day the M&G visited the township, immigration officials arrested people without reasonable suspicion of a crime having been committed, allegedly for ‘looking like’ foreigners. Photos: Denvor de Wee

Diepsloot raids ‘illegal’, say lawyers

Harassment, xenophobia – and jubilation – are on display when Mail & Guardian visits the township

The power tility expects to return units to service over the next few days

Brace for above inflation electricity hike and municipalities’ power grab

The price of electricity could go up by 20.5% in April and an upcoming court bid could see users paying surcharges to municipalities

Private armed security officers take position during a joint operation with undercover and uniformed South Africa Police Service (SAPS) members in Jeppestown, Johannesburg, on July 12, 2021 during clashes with residents of the Wolhuter Men’s Hostel. – President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 12 said the deadly unrest gripping the country is unprecedented in post-apartheid South Africa as he deployed troops to help police crush the violence and looting sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)

Private security companies the ‘eyes and ears’ for police on public violence and looting

The private security guards were also first responders in some cases, and their helicopters provided information on emerging hotspots

The rights to dignity of the people of Alexandra were not protected and respected by the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), said the chairperson of the Human Right Commission (HRC), Bongani Majola.
(Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Alexandra residents’ basic human rights were violated, says the Human Rights Commission

An investigation found that the City of Johannesburg had not provided sufficient municipal services

Most of Gauteng and Western Cape schools are in Covid-19 hotspots.

Most Gauteng, Western Cape schools in hotspots

Out of more than 25 000 schools in the country, 8 047 were in hotspots and 6 995 of these were public schools. And most of Gauteng’s and the Western Cape’s schools are in hotspots

(Graphic: John McCann/M&G)

Relocation rears its head: Bringing de-densification home in Alexandra

About 1 600 families in the Stjwetla shack settlement in Alexandra, Johannesburg are standing on the verge of seismic change. This is one of their stories

Despair: People  queue to the end of the block at the Jo’burg labour department for UIF payments. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Workers battle for UIF payouts

Snarl-ups at the Unemployment Insurance Fund and bosses not assisting employees worsens people’s suffering

Keep it safe: Police enforce social distancing between people outside a supermarket in Yeoville, Johannesburg. (Marco Longari/AFP)

An end to police and army brutality is still urgent – Khosa family

The family of Collins Khosa, who died after police and army personnel assaulted him, says the easing of the lockdown does not spell the end of police abuse of power

Alcohol has been a central topic of discussion during the national lockdown.

Alexandra’s black market for booze under lockdown

Underground liquor has a long history in South Africa. Its next chapter is being written under the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown

(Oupa Nkosi/ M&G)

Remembering David Koloane

His work as a curator, teacher and mentor cemented his role as a hands on, revered voice in Africa’s artistic landscape.

?Linda Twala buries people and creates safe spaces for learning, helping to make him an invaluable part of the community. (Hiram Alejandro Durán/M&G)

Linda Twala — the father of the nation of Alex

​Linda Twala was born to one of the original residents of Alexandra. He is now known as the father of Alex, a title he takes very seriously