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Angst: ANC heavyweight Tokyo Sexwale visiting a township. For those who remain in the townships, freedom
is imagined as elsewhere but leaving does not automatically translate to being free. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

The sound of freedom is not silence

Leaving the township can change your surroundings but unlearning the fear it taught your body is where the real work of freedom begins

Bomme, by Simphiwe Fuwe Molefe, can be viewed at the ‘I Put My Hand On My Chest To Feel My Heartbeat’ exhibition in Joburg. (Photo: Maribe Mokgobu)

Between Two Worlds: A reflection on identity

An exhibition of the work of 16 photographers from Thokoza reveals the many parts that make us who we are

The five people on trial — Ncube, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthokozisi Maphisa, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Fisokuhle Ntuli — have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition. (Gallo Images/OJ Koloti)

Meyiwa trial: State questions accused’s ‘police assault’ claims

Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya is on the stand in the trial-within-a-trial to determine whether confessions made by him and Bongani Ntanzi are admissible This content is restricted to…

Investigating officer Brigadier Bongani Gininda has denied that he offered R3 million to accused two, Bongani Ntanzi, to implicate the “right people” in the murder of football star Senzo Meyiwa. (Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Meyiwa murder: Defence alleges accused was assaulted until he ‘messed himself’

Defence advocate Thulani Mngomezulu told the Pretoria high court that state witness Constable Jabulani Buthelezi went beyond the scope of his work

Samaria Ndhove, 54, says she has ‘given up’ on receiving a house

Failed promises: The long and ‘hopeless’ wait for RDP houses

One resident said that if he could speak to the government, he would ‘plead’ for a safe house

Feast: ‘Seven colour’ Sunday lunches are now a thing of the past for many households because of rising food prices.

No more seven-colour Sundays

Thembisile Mthembu tells her story of how she grew up on seven colours but all she can afford is a two-colour Sunday meal

Breaking point: Maria Khoza used to buy a bundle of spinach for R12 but now she pays R25 and has to break the spinach into smaller bundles priced at R10 because her customers cannot afford R30. (Lesego Chepape/M&G)

Hawkers in dire straits

The livelihoods of people selling produce are being threatened by the high food prices

Big Nunu’s Little Heist: A crime comedy that ticks all boxes 

Andy Kasrils releases a exceptional crime comedy movie on Netflix

Clean cooking fuels are finally being taken seriously, gaining airtime at last year’s UN climate change conference, COP28.  (Photo by: Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Life without power: How South Africans are coping

Citizens are finding ways to survive during extended blackouts but this comes at a cost

Trashed: A polluted stream in Tembisa’s Kanana Extension 5. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

As waste piles up and the stench intensifies, Tembisa residents threaten protest

But the municipality has laid the blame for the filthy state of Tembisa at the feet of the community

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

Angry: People gather outside the Tembisa customer care centre after it was set on fire during a night of riots by residents demanding the improved delivery of basic services. (Guillem Sartorio/AFP)

Ramaphosa’s energy plan does not mean cheaper electricity

Experts warn that if Eskom and government does not come to grips with the tariff problem, continued social unrest is inevitable

(Mail & Guardian)

Politicians should fear more unrest

The July 2021 unrest was shocking and many have since warned that those tensions could be easily reignited

Scenes of destruction: Thousands of shops and businesses were looted following a wave of violent protest in July 2021. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Tembisa protests, Krugersdorp anger raise fears of new wave of violence

The spectre of the July 2021 riots looms large over the events in Gauteng of the last few days, and, as always, xenophobia is disgruntled South Africa’s faithful companion

A woman carrying a baby walks past a soldier stationed in Alexandra near a mall that was looted. (Ihsaan Haffejee)

Long arm of the riots still affecting health sector

The tumult in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng has forced people to go without chronic medication and check-ups, caused shortages at the blood bank and disruptions in the vaccine roll out

President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Lulama Zenzile/Die Burger/Gallo)

No action just yet on Digital Vibes report, Ramaphosa signals

‘I will come out and explain to the nation exactly how I will deal with [the SIU] report,’ Ramaphosa said during a walkabout at vaccine sites in Gauteng

Neighbours without homes: Zoliswa Mabena (above), Richard Maphaho and Somsy Matso are part of a community grouping in Ekurhuleni who
have taken their struggle for the RDP houses they were assigned but never received to the Constitutional Court.
Photos: Andy Mkosi

‘We can’t stop fighting for our dignity’: ConCourt hears RDP housing saga

One community’s 25-year battle has roped in the president, the Special Investigating Unit, public protector’s office and the highest court for an RDP house that means more than a…

(Mail & Guardian)

We are failing our children

Ten infants died at Tembisa hospital at the end of last year. The health department tells us this it is more than likely as a result of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The infections, all…

Victims of abuse, harassment and rape are too often confronted with obtuse bureaucrats behind the counter. (Media24/Lulama Zenzile)

Justice reconsidered for victims of sexual assault

With one in five men admitting to assisting in sexual assault, it is vital that those who abet perpetrators be deemed liable