Creator
Surika Van Schalkwyk
Guest Author
The nation’s unsung heroes
Grandmothers are often left to raise unwanted kids. Surika van Schalkwyk looks at the struggles they face.
Tiger launches new biodegradable plastic
But not everyone is impressed with this eco-friendly gesture, writes Surika van Schalkwyk.
Conditions remain dire in xenophobia camps
More than a month after xenophobic attacks shook Gauteng, feelings of desperation worsen among thousands of foreigners housed at temporary shelters.
‘We don’t trust the South African government’
Refugees from some countries are not seeking repatriation, having fled conflict at home.
Eskom behind ‘diesel use soaring’
Diesel use in South Africa, driven by home generators and the trucking of coal to Eskom power stations
Fuel the burn
As the sixth price rise of the year sent fuel heading towards R10 a litre this week — amid predictions it could reach R11 by year-end — there are few signs that South African…
Farmers hobbled by high input costs
Food prices are expected to rise rapidly in the next year because farmers are planting less as input costs escalate.
Increase in abandoned babies
Welfare workers are picking up an alarming increase in the number of abandoned babies, seeing in it the effects of growing economic distress — and particularly rocketing food…
Cold comfort for displaced foreigners
It’s freezing cold under a grey sky. Discarded pictures from a child’s colouring book swirl in the wind. A whistle blows and hundreds of people camping at the Jeppe police…
‘Shelters’, not camps, for foreigners
The Department of Home Affairs said on Wednesday it planned to establish shelters for foreigners who have fled xenophobic attacks over the last two weeks. The BBC reported on…
‘I saw my friend being killed in front of me’
”Regina Chinyandi (21), of Zimbabwe, arrived at the Alexandra police station on Monday with her one-day-old baby, Prince, wrapped in a napkin. Upon her return home from the…
‘Two bulls cannot rule in one kraal’
Ronnie Kasrils, Minister of Intelligence, said on Tuesday that "we are not just seeing spontaneous xenophobic attacks". "There are many social issues at the root of the problem,…
Out of the field
Alarming figures from the Department of Labour show a shortage of 220 000 farm workers on South Africa’s farms. Traditionally, agriculture has been a huge employer of people in…
Suffer the wheat farmer
South Africa faces a growing food crisis with declining domestic wheat production threatening to escalate food prices. Critics say the drop is because of a combination of…
Unions act to counter inflation fears
Inflation has broken through the 10% barrier — raising fears that South Africa is entering a period of "cost push inflation" as trade unions warn they intend to ask for…