Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Chris Makhaye

Creator

Chris Makhaye

Cyril Ramaphosa lays a wreath at the gravesite of former ANC president Chief Albert Luthuli in Groutville, South Africa.. (Photo by Thuli Dlamini/Sowetan/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The downfall of the ANC in Groutville – home to Albert Luthuli

The ruling party has dominated elections in KwaDukuza local municipality since 1994 but got only 49.56% of the vote in the November 2021 local elections

The entrance of Richards Bay Minerals at KwaMbonambi, north of KwaZulu-Natal. Photograph by Mlungisi Mbele

Mining in Richards Bay remains a double-edged sword

Sociopolitical conflict persists in the area because mining operations go hand in hand with filthy lucre that divides communities while devastating their natural environment.

A grave at a cemetery at St Wendolins Mission, west of Durban. It is one of the many cemeteries that are now full following the influx of bodies during the pandemic. (Rogan Ward)

A grave situation in eThekwini

A shortage of burial plots and viable land for new cemeteries has been worsened by the pandemic’s death toll, forcing people to buy rural land on which to bury their loved ones.

KwaZulu-Natal residents in riot-affected areas such as Umlazi, southwest of Durban, now have to travel far to banks and shops after their local malls were looted or damaged. (Rogan Ward)

Looters remorseful as daily life gets tougher

Some residents in areas affected by the July riots have lost their livelihoods, have to travel far to get to the jobs that remain and walk long distances to unaffected shopping…

Photo: Madelene Cronjé

Funeral costs add pain to grief of Covid-19 deaths

Global demand for timber and a huge increase in deaths means the soaring cost of a decent burial is beyond the reach of many impoverished South Africans

Msizi Zulu, chairperson of Abahlali baseMjondolo in Madlala, said the police must face the law. (Mlungisi Mbele)

Deadly result as state forces seize ‘loot’ in Durban

In Madlala, the police and army broke into homes in an operation to retrieve stolen goods. After they left, a woman lay dead in a pool of her blood behind a shack

Burden of grief: The late Njabulo Allen Dlamini, who was killed in Phoenix on 12 July, was finally buried on 21 July 2021. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP)

Riots leave the dead unburied and the living at risk

Crematoriums, funeral parlours and cemeteries were forced to close, leaving the families of those who died during the unrest to live with their bodies.

Margaret Rawlings on the farm in Ntunjambili village, near Kranskop in northern central KwaZulu-Natal, that the local traditional leader took from her. (Khaya Ngwenya)

Rural women take the Ingonyama Trust to court

Forced to sign lease agreements and pay rent for land they have been living on for years, residents have had enough and are taking the Ingonyama Trust to court