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GroundUp News

@groundup.org.za
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GroundUp brings you #NewsThatMatters. We report human rights stories across South Africa. Visit groundup.org.za

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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 53m
Scrap metal reclaimers say they are battling to make a living wage as prices have fallen. Read groundup.org.za/article/too-... by Kimberly Mutandiro
groundup.org.za
Scrap metal reclaimers battle to make ends meet
Government policies are making survival difficult for scrap collectors
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 2h
The findings of a 2023 forensic audit resulted in dozens of organisations being defunded by the Gauteng Department of Social Development. Read groundup.org.za/article/insi... by Daniel Steyn, Raymond Joseph and Joseph Bracken
groundup.org.za
Inside Gauteng’s welfare corruption investigation
A forensic audit caused dozens of welfare organisations to be defunded. These were the findings against them
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 2h
Freshwater streams across Matlosana municipality that lead to the Vaal River are polluted with sewage. The government has been warned for years that this is putting communities and ecosystems at risk. Read groundup.org.za/article/nort... by Seth Thorne
groundup.org.za
Elections 2026: This municipality is pouring sewage into the Vaal River
Streams that feed the river are being contaminated by failing wastewater treatment in Matlosana municipality
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 2h
The case involving the alleged theft of 42km of state railway line in the Eastern Cape has dragged on for seven years, with multiple postponements due to one of the accused, Nadir Mohiudeen, juggling lawyers. Read groundup.org.za/article/rail... by Steve Kretzmann
groundup.org.za
Rail theft case: accused changes lawyers for 7th time
Lawyers approached by Nadir Mohiudeen say he “appears unable to honour his financial undertaking to us”
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 21h
The Gauteng Department of e-Government has issued a statement about the security failures of its e-Panic Button app. Read groundup.org.za/article/gaut... by GroundUp Editors
groundup.org.za
Gauteng government thinks we are hackers. We are not
Response to e-Panic button security vulnerabilities is misleading
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 29/09/2026
Every evening, Jayden Haarvoor, 13, memorises words, sometimes as many as 500. This is because she has qualified for the national round of the Sanlam WOW Spelling Festival and she believes she can win it. Read groundup.org.za/article/spel... by Alice Scott
groundup.org.za
Spelling star, 13, needs funds to reach national final
Northern Cape learner Jayden Haarvoor has qualified for the Sanlam WOW Spelling Festival finals - the largest competitive spelling event in SA.
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 29/09/2026
At least R3.2-million has been spent on forensic audits by the Gauteng Department of Social Development. Action on an audit that exposed corruption in 2019 was not taken until 2023. Read groundup.org.za/article/how-... by Daniel Steyn, Raymond Joseph and Joseph Bracken
groundup.org.za
How not to fix a corrupt and incompetent government
The Gauteng Department of Social Development is a masterclass in how not to deal with mismanagement and corruption
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 28/09/2026
Members of shack dweller movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, Cry of the Xcluded and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) marched to the Kempton Park police station on Monday following the murder of a 12th woman in Ekurhuleni. Read groundup.org.za/article/marc... by Jabulile Mbatha
groundup.org.za
Activists demand police action after 12th woman killed
“I lock myself in the house by 7pm every day,” says woman from Soweto
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 28/09/2026
Gauteng’s e-Panic Button app exposed the names of people who made crime reports, the reports themselves, locations of the people making the report and people accused of committing crimes. Read groundup.org.za/article/peop... by Joel Cedras
groundup.org.za
DA to report e-Panic data breach to Information Regulator
A week since we reported it, the Gauteng government has said nothing
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 28/09/2026
About 70 activists and community representatives attended a panel discussion about the possible impact of a proposed hyperscale data centre in Cape Town. The application to rezone King Air Industria was approved by the Municipal Planning Tribunall Read groundup.org.za/article/we-w... by Alice Scott
groundup.org.za
“We were never consulted” – Cape Town residents challenge Equinix data centre
Rezoning appeal has temporarily halted plans
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 28/09/2026
Under a new draft by-law, all Cape Town properties used for short-term letting must be registered. Read groundup.org.za/article/new-... by Steve Kretzmann
groundup.org.za
Cape Town Airbnb hosts could pay triple rates
Short-term letting properties may be subject to commercial rates
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 28/09/2026
Teenagers and adults came together in crime-ridden Browns Farm over the Heritage Weekend for a three-day Ward Sports Festival, playing netball, chess, soccer and indigenous games. Read groundup.org.za/article/fun-... by Sandiso Phaliso
groundup.org.za
Fun and games unite teens and adults in crime-ridden Philippi
Teams competed for sheep and prize money
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 28/09/2026
The Beauty Hub Academy, a hair and beauty training school, received R144-million from the Gauteng Department of Social Development to train 1,800 students over seven years. Read groundup.org.za/article/gaut... by Joseph Bracken, Raymond Joseph and Daniel Steyn
groundup.org.za
Gauteng government’s R144-million gift to beauty training company
Officials are still on duty, despite serious forensic audit findings
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 28/09/2026
The City of Matlosana Local Municipality in the North West is under a financial recovery plan after years of mismanagement, with billions of rands owed. Read groundup.org.za/article/elec... by Seth Thorne
groundup.org.za
Elections 2026: How this North West town went from boom to bust
Matlosana municipality is under a financial recovery plan after years of mismanagement
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 25/09/2026
Eugene Cloete spends his afternoons fixing potholes on Swartklip Road, Khayelitsha, that form constantly because of an overflowing sewage pump station. Read groundup.org.za/article/meet... by Vincent Lali
groundup.org.za
Meet the man who fills in potholes in Khayelitsha every afternoon
Eugene Cloete spends five hours a day filling potholes caused by sewage on Swartklip Road
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 25/09/2026
The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development has approached the SIU to investigate the failure of farm worker equity schemes. Civil society organisations have for years been campaigning for an investigation of this nature. Read groundup.org.za/article/siu-... by Liezl Human
groundup.org.za
SIU asked to investigate farm worker equity schemes
Nearly R700 million was disbursed to equity schemes. Most of them have failed.
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 25/09/2026
Even though South Africa produces about 1% of the world’s greenhouse gases, the Climate Action Tracker has rated South Africa’s targets as “insufficient”. Read groundup.org.za/article/sa-r... by The Outlier and GroundUp Staff
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 25/09/2026
The hills around Makhanda, Eastern Cape, have some of the country’s best wind power potential. But this is also a sensitive landscape. Community members are concerned about the risks of a wind farm in the area. Read groundup.org.za/article/deba... by Gcina Ntsaluba and Asemahle Vumsindo
groundup.org.za
Debate over new Makhanda wind farm
Questions raised about jobs, community benefits, ownership and environmental impact of proposed 37-turbine facility
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 25/09/2026
“One cannot complete one’s identity without language,” says award-winning author and poet Gaireyah Fredericks. She was speaking about the rich history of Kaaps at the Iziko Bo-Kaap museum’s Heritage Day event on Thursday. Read groundup.org.za/article/poet... by Liezl Human
groundup.org.za
Heritage Day: poet celebrates Kaaps dictionary
The first-ever Kaaps Woriboek was released earlier this year
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 25/09/2026
About 200 activists, including people who live along the N2 in Cape Town, gathered along the Sea Point promenade on Heritage Day to oppose the municipality’s planned “N2 Edge” wall safety project. Read groundup.org.za/article/crow... by Abonge Chiya
groundup.org.za
Hundreds march through Cape Town against planned N2 wall
“It’s going to make us live as if we are prisoners”
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 24/09/2026
Tswaing Local Municipality in the North West has been fighting costly court battles with the provincial government. Meanwhile, residents are fighting their own battles to get water, sanitation, electricity and waste removal. Read groundup.org.za/article/elec... by Seth Thorne and Ihsaan Haffejee
groundup.org.za
Elections 2026: This failing town is knee-deep in sewage
Tswaing municipality in the North West spends money on court battles and consultants
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 24/09/2026
In Ngcobo, an Eastern Cape town about 85km from Mthatha, Intercape buses will be using the police station as a bus stop in terms of a recent court order. Read groundup.org.za/article/inte... by Johnnie Isaac
groundup.org.za
Intercape secures court interdict after Ngcobo taxi strike
Buses will load passengers outside the police station
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 24/09/2026
Protesters have disrupted essential services and traffic in Philippi, Cape Town, for three days since last week. On Monday, Philippi Village issued a warning to its tenants and visitors to avoid travelling to the site until further notice. Read groundup.org.za/article/siya... by Sandiso Phaliso
groundup.org.za
Cape Town roads blocked in electricity protest
Philippi informal settlement residents want the City of Cape Town to negotiate with the private landowners to install services
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 24/09/2026
GroundUp freelance reporter Warren Mabona was detained for two hours while reporting on water challenges in Bronkhorstspruit. Read about it here: groundup.org.za/article/my-t...
groundup.org.za
My two-hour “detention” while reporting on water challenges in Bronkhorstspruit
Nothing will deter me from doing my work and defending press freedom
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 23/09/2026
Scores of people marched to Parliament on Wednesday, demanding the release of state-owned land for housing. Read groundup.org.za/article/acti... by Matthew Hirsch
groundup.org.za
State land must be used for housing, activists say
Applications were submitted three years ago, but vast areas of government-owned land remain unused
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 23/09/2026
The Premier Group is offering Western Cape peach producers R3,250 per tonne to settle their supply agreements as it closes its Tulbagh fruit-processing factory. Read groundup.org.za/article/peac... by Greg Dor
groundup.org.za
Peach farmers offered cash to end Tulbagh cannery contracts
Premier is offering producers R3,250 per tonne to end their contractual obligation to supply Tulbagh cannery
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 23/09/2026
Many people who report with TB symptoms at South Africa’s public sector clinics do not receive TB tests. Testing more of these people is one of the most effective things we can do to reduce rates of TB disease and death, according to a new study. Read groundup.org.za/article/test... by Marcus Low
groundup.org.za
Test more people to reduce new TB deaths, study finds
New tests can be done in clinics and are much easier for patients
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 23/09/2026
Gauteng’s e-Panic Button app exposed the names of people who made crime reports, the reports themselves, locations of the people making the report and people accused of committing crimes. Read groundup.org.za/article/gaut... by Joel Cedras
groundup.org.za
How Gauteng’s new panic app exposed your data
Reports about domestic violence and assault, including images and locations, could be accessed by a tech-savvy computer user
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 22/09/2026
Private companies are to be asked to make foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines, agriculture minister Willie Aucamp told Parliament on Tuesday. Read groundup.org.za/article/loca... by Nathan Geffen
groundup.org.za
Local companies to be asked to make foot-and-mouth disease vaccines
Agricultural Research Council cannot meet demand, Minister of Agriculture tells Parliament
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 22/09/2026
Social Development minister Dina Pule and Themba Matlou, CEO of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) conducted an oversight visit to the Delft office in Cape Town on Monday. Read groundup.org.za/article/sass... by Sindisiwe Tshona and Abonge Chiya
groundup.org.za
SASSA: Pensioners complain to minister about deductions from their grants
Social Development minister and SASSA CEO visit Delft office
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 22/09/2026
A project to build 571 subsidised houses for Gugulethu backyarders was supposed to be completed in the 2023/24 financial year, but construction has still not begun. Read groundup.org.za/article/gugu... by Mary-Anne Gontsana
groundup.org.za
Gugulethu backyarders fed up waiting for promised houses
Despite funding being secured and a contractor appointed, the housing project has stalled
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 21/09/2026
To mark ten years of the Enable Through Dance programme, learners with disabilities took centre stage with professional dancers from the Moving Into Dance company at the Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre at UJ Arts Centre on the weekend. Read groundup.org.za/article/movi... by Ihsaan Haffejee
groundup.org.za
Enable Through Dance: breaking barriers for dancers with disabilities
“It’s about giving young people living with disabilities a chance to explore potential that they have not before”
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 21/09/2026
The trial of three police officers accused of torturing a barber nearly three years ago has been set down for 19 May 2027. Read groundup.org.za/article/elev... by Mary-Anne Gontsana
groundup.org.za
Police torture case postponed for 11th time
Trial set for May 2027, three and a half years after Mowbray barber was assaulted by SAPS
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 21/09/2026
Clint Ovrenovitz was murdered by a man who was out on bail for another murder. The Eastern Cape High Court has found the Minister of Police and National Director of Public Prosecutions liable for damages to Ovrenovitz’s family. Read groundup.org.za/article/poli... by Tania Broughton
groundup.org.za
Police and NPA liable for murder by man out on bail
The Gqeberha High Court has found the Minister of Police and National Director of Public Prosecutions negligent
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 21/09/2026
People queue from 4am to apply for a social grant or to have a flagged grant reviewed at the Umlazi SASSA office, south of Durban. More often than not, they get turned away just after lunchtime because of water outages. Read groundup.org.za/article/sass... by Tsoanelo Sefoloko
groundup.org.za
SASSA: Long queues, broken toilets and no service after lunchtime
People have to make repeat visits to get help at the Umlazi SASSA office
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 21/09/2026
Households in Misgund, a farming settlement in the Eastern Cape’s Langkloof, only get water for an hour a day or sometimes go without water for days. Read groundup.org.za/article/resi... by Marecia Damons
groundup.org.za
Elections 2026: This town only gets water for an hour a day
Kou-Kamma Local Municipality says it needs R210-million to upgrade and maintain water and sanitation infrastructure
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 21/09/2026
South African journalist Micah Reddy and his local fixer Kooki Mahmoud have been missing in Djibouti since about noon on Saturday. Read groundup.org.za/article/sout... by GroundUp Staff
groundup.org.za
South African journalist Micah Reddy missing in Djibouti
Local fixer, Kooki Mahmoud, also missing since Saturday noon
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 18/09/2026
The rate at which the Pacific Ocean surface waters are warming in the current El Niño cycle is “highly unusual”, the South African Weather Service has warned. Existing temperature records are being broken. Read groundup.org.za/article/exce... by Steve Kretzmann
groundup.org.za
Exceptional El Niño puts southern Africa on drought alert
Pacific Ocean temperatures far above normal raise the risk of low summer rainfall, heatwaves and pressure on food production.
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 18/09/2026
The City of Cape Town will be upgrading the Nyanga Public Transport Interchange soon, including trading areas and other infrastructure. Read groundup.org.za/article/trad... by Emihle Ngwane
groundup.org.za
Traders, taxi drivers welcome long-awaited Nyanga rank upgrade
During the major upgrade, the Nyanga Sports Field will temporarily accommodate Golden Arrow buses, taxis, traders and toilets
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 18/09/2026
On 23 August 2023, communities, social movements and civil society organisations applied for access to state-owned land for housing. Read groundup.org.za/article/thre... by Luyanda Mtamzeli and Nonceba Ndlebe
groundup.org.za
Three years of silence on state land, communities pay the cost
Government asked communities applying for land to follow the rules. Then it went silent.
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 18/09/2026
Everything you flush down a toilet or pour down a drain is supposed to be properly treated. Read groundup.org.za/article/raw-... by The Outlier and GroundUp Staff
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 18/09/2026
South African public schools may have to rely on a 15-year-old Foundation Phase textbook catalogue next year, as the rollout of new materials remains frozen. Read groundup.org.za/article/text... by Velani Ludidi and Mandisa Makgaka
groundup.org.za
Textbook saga may delay plans to improve child literacy
New catalogue for grades 1-3 is expected to be based on latest research
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 18/09/2026
The Constitutional Court ruled that there had not been proper public consultation on the new Public Procurement Act. It was rushed into law. Read groundup.org.za/article/new-... by Tania Broughton
groundup.org.za
Procurement Act struck down by Concourt
Parliament failed to allow proper public participation on a new law that the City of Cape Town said creates red tape
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 17/09/2026
Populist leaders, including some in the ANC and minority parties, pose significant threats to South Africa’s constitutional order. Read groundup.org.za/article/bewa... by Azhar Cachalia
groundup.org.za
Beware of populist leaders, warns judge
Justice Azhar Cachalia makes a clarion call for the rule of law underpinned by universal human rights and an independent judiciary
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 17/09/2026
COSATU was unable to reach a quorum at its 15th National Congress this week. Affiliate unions were split, mostly along sector lines, about who should lead the union. Read groundup.org.za/article/why-... by Greg Dor
groundup.org.za
Why COSATU’s congress collapsed
For the first time in its 40 year history, SA’s biggest union gathering did not reach quorum
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 17/09/2026
Government has limited sardine catches until 2 October because of the ongoing mass sardine die-off. Read groundup.org.za/article/stop... by Alice Scott
groundup.org.za
Stop sardine fishing, warn conservationists
Mass die-offs of sardines have prompted the government to limit sardine catch until 2 October, but conservationists say this is not enough
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 16/09/2026
About 100 people picketed outside Cape Town City Hall and the police station on 16 September, in response to the murders of eight women in Kempton Park since July as well as the murder of a ten-year-old girl from Kraaifontein on Monday. Read groundup.org.za/article/abou... by Liezl Human
groundup.org.za
Picketers outside City Hall demand safety for women and children
Women and civil society groups call for government to act against femicide
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 16/09/2026
The upgrade to double the capacity of Makhanda’s James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works began in 2015. It was supposed to be completed at the end of 2017. Read groundup.org.za/article/makh... by Sindisiwe Tshona and Loyiso Dyongman
groundup.org.za
Makhanda’s decade-long struggle for reliable water
Upgrades to the water treatment plant to solve the crisis that started in 2015 are yet to be completed
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 16/09/2026
We visited the Beaufort West Local Municipality, which has seen ten years of political instability and financial mismanagement. Read groundup.org.za/article/beau... by Mary-Anne Gontsana
groundup.org.za
Elections 2026: N1 town’s decade of decay
Beaufort West municipality says it does not have enough money to fix its ageing infrastructure. But the problem is self-inflicted
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 16/09/2026
The City of Cape Town announced the release of Annandale Farm, nearly 72 hectares of land near Dunoon, for affordable housing through public-private partnerships. Read groundup.org.za/article/rele... by Peter Luhanga and Abonge Chiya
groundup.org.za
Dunoon residents’ housing hopes dashed
City plans mixed-income development not state housing for 72-hectare site
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