Author: Ground Up

By Kimberly Mutandiro, For Ground Up Hundreds of people have flocked onto private land in Midvaal. They each paid a “donation” of R250 to a group of men leading the occupation who call themselves the Big Six. The Big Six say they will use the money to legally protect the occupation. The legal owners of the land say they have been threatened and fear for their families’ safety. Some private agricultural landowners in Walkerville, Elandsfontein, Midvaal, say they have been subjected to assault and threats to their families by a group of men who call themselves the Big Six and stage…

For GroundUp and Spotlight staff Dexamethasone study is good news but caution necessary. Four suggestions for improving peer review in the wake of high-profile retractions. How deadly is SARS-CoV-2? This is issue 7 of Covid-19 Report. We point you to the latest quality science on the pandemic. If you come across unfamiliar terms, there is a glossary at the bottom of the article. Steroid reduces risk of death A randomised controlled clinical trial, Recovery, has found that the steroid dexamethasone reduces the risk of death. In this UK study, at 28 days the death rates of the 4,321 patients receiving “usual care…

By Raymond Joseph, For Ground Up The National Prosecuting Authority has declined to prosecute two criminal complaints of fraud lodged against Pretoria attorney Lesley Ramulifho in connection with a multimillion-rand Lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre near Pretoria. Over R20 million — and possibly more — of the total Lottery funding of R27.5 million for the project cannot be accounted for and almost three years later, construction of the rehab is still not complete. In response to an email to one of the complainants asking about progress in the investigation of the two complaints, Chris Smith, a senior state advocate from the NPA’s Specialised…

By Daneel Knoetze, For Ground Up The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has recalled two investigators from a special task team probing corruption allegations against top police officials, including former police commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane. The investigators have also been told to hand over their dockets to head office. Viewfinder has the names of the investigators and has seen documentary evidence from within IPID about the recall. Former IPID officials interviewed by Viewfinder see this as an attempt to scupper high-level corruption investigations and to protect accused cops from prosecution. IPID spokesman Sontaga Seisa responded to a query from Viewfinder. He…

By Tania Broughton, For Ground Up Justice in lockdown is being hampered because some judges, who earn almost R2 million a year, refuse to use their personal computers for “virtual hearings”. This has emerged in a letter written by the Chair of the General Council of the Bar, Advocate Craig Watt-Pringle, to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and judge presidents in which he cites several issues in getting access to high courts. While some courts are doing well under these difficult circumstances, he says, others are not, and there are huge disparities in how divisions are functioning. “Many judges complain that they do…

 By Kimberly Mutandiro, For Ground Up It is around 2pm on a cold afternoon in Tsakane. Two friends, Musa*, 12, and Thato*, 11, are trying to sell the last of the stock of cigarettes and rizlas which they hide in their pockets. They are not wearing warm clothes or masks, and they haven’t showered or had breakfast yet. There is nothing to eat at home. What they can get for the cigarettes will be their meal ticket. Musa has six siblings and they all live with their elderly grandparents. They hardly ever have enough food to eat at home. They used…

 By Jeremy Seekings, For Ground Up Summary The emergency ‘COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress’ grant was announced on 21 April and we were told that payments would begin on Friday 15 May SASSA’s slogan is that it gets the right payments to the right people at the right time. The right time is now. Setting up application, verification and payment systems is a massive challenge for SASSA. SASSA’s new application process will need to cope with millions of applications and allow for automated verification Payment requires unprecedented cooperation from banks (including the Post Office), mobile phone companies and retailers. The application system…

 By Bernard Chiguvare, For Ground Up Every day Dorres Molalakgotla from Ga-Kobe, Limpopo, walks to collect water from a large flooded pit, five kilometres away from her village. At the pit, donkeys, sheep, goats and cattle drink while people fill their buckets. She takes three 25-litre containers by wheelbarrow on each trip, and she does about four trips a day. By the end of the day she has unbearable back pain, she says. The pit was created by Public Works employees while tarring a road through the village. It filled with water from heavy rains and has remained a water source…

When a novel coronavirus now known as SARS-CoV-2 first entered the world stage on the heels of the Chinese New Year in January 2020, little was known about it and its impact on people, health systems and countries. This was understandable given its recency, novelty and unknown transmission dynamics. Early on, in an anxious and data-sparse time, models were relied upon in order to guide country responses to the menace of a new pathogen. The lockdown that began in South Africa 52 days ago was both rational and a necessary response. It bought the country precious time in which to…

By Nicholas Ashby,  For Ground Up While there is general scientific consensus that the novel coronavirus is of zoonotic origin and various groupings are advising that wildlife markets must be closed, the South African government has been putting forward legislation that could massively expand the wildlife industry to become mass meat suppliers to the world. Last year, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development amended the Animal Improvement Act, redefining 32 wild species. The practical effect of this is “to legitimise this part of the ‘game meat value chain’ and therefore to develop the industry, especially the export of…