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3 weeks ago | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn |Sandiso Phaliso
Housing budgets have been cut by R750-million due to “underspending” in the first half of the 2024/25 year by the Western Cape, Gauteng and Free State. The three provinces are challenging the rationale of the cuts, saying they were on track to spend their full allocations by the end of the year. The Western Cape and Gauteng say the cuts have affected their ability to pay suppliers for work already done.
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1 month ago | 
groundup.org.za | Marecia Damons |Daniel Steyn
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced increases to social grants during his budget speech on Wednesday. From 1 Aprilthe Old Age and Disability grants go up to R2,315 a month, up R130 or 5.9%;the Child Support Grant goes up to R560 a month, up R30 or 5.6%; andthe Foster Care Grant goes up to R1,250 a month, up R7 or 5.9%. The current inflation rate is 3.2%.
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1 month ago | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn |Ashraf Hendricks
“There’s a big anti-gender movement on the continent which is using faith as a weapon against queer people. We believe the resources of faith offer a lot for inclusion, love and justice,” said Louis van der Riet of the Interfaith Queer Collective. Van der Riet was one of hundreds at the Cape Town Pride Parade on Saturday morning.
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Dec 5, 2024 | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn
The Gauteng Care Crisis Committee, representing dozens of non-profit organisations funded by the Gauteng Department of Social Development, has obtained a third court order against the department. Earlier this year hundreds of organisations were left unpaid for months after the collapse of the department’s funding system. The Gauteng Care Crisis Committee first took the department to the Gauteng High Court in May.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn
Our prisons have about 105,000 beds but there are over 156,000 prisoners South Africa’s prisons are severely overcrowded, causing inhumane conditions for prisoners, which also impacts prison officials and society at large. Overcrowding is driven by a rising number of remand detainees, mainly due to delayed prosecutions and trials. The Department of Correctional Services says that if court processes are sped up, overcrowding will be solved.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn
The 2022 census cost R4-billion, an R800-million overspend, yet suffered an unprecedented 31% undercount. Demographer Prof Tom Moultrie says it is the highest undercount ever recorded by the UN Population Division. Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni acknowledged the census’s challenges, while maintaining the census was not a significant failure. The much criticised 2022 census cost R4-billion to conduct, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has revealed in Parliament.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn
The 2022 census cost R4-billion, an R800-million overspend, yet suffered an unprecedented 31% undercount. Demographer Prof Tom Moultrie says it is the highest undercount ever recorded by the UN Population Division. Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni acknowledged the census’s challenges, while maintaining the census was not a significant failure. The much criticised 2022 census cost R4-billion to conduct, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has revealed in Parliament.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn
About 33,000 people are meant to get drinking water from Amathole District Municipality’s Mncwasa Water Scheme. But since 2020, taps have often been dry. Equality Collective, an activist organisation based in the area, has been leading an initiative by villagers, traditional leaders and ward councillors to help the municipality fix the water scheme. In September 2024, the water scheme’s 31 reservoirs, on average, had water for 92% of the month, up from 41% in August 2022.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn
The National Treasury has propose raising excise taxes and introducing minimum unit pricing for alcohol to help curb harmful drinking. Alcohol policy activists support the proposal, citing its potential to reduce alcohol-related harms. Liquor companies say they need more time to comment on the proposal. National Treasury has released a policy review proposing changes to alcohol tax and considering the implementation of minimum unit pricing to curb harmful drinking.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
groundup.org.za | Daniel Steyn
The Johannesburg High Court has ordered the Gauteng Department of Social Development to provide a detailed report on why 26 non-profit organisations that have signed funding agreements have not been paid. Eleven additional organisations have still not received the full outcomes of their funding applications, almost 8 months into the financial year. The department appears to have run out of money to pay all the organisations it contracted.
