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Mail & Guardian
heidi swartlatest news & developments
SAPS sources told the Mail & Guardian that the cameras had not worked for a year.

Activist murder reveals Joburg street cameras are “turned off”

CCTV footage from the day an Ethiopian activist was gunned down in Johannesburg appears to not exist

Lonmin forecast annual platinum sales of more than 750 000 ounces in the year through September. (Madelene Cronje, M&G)

Lonmin faces community showdown

The Bapo Ba Mogale community claims that the mining giant Lonmin has fudged its profits and owes them millions in royalties, writes Heidi Swart.

Lonmin forecast annual platinum sales of more than 750 000 ounces in the year through September. (Madelene Cronje, M&G)

Bapo community wants Lonmin rights back

The community that owns the land mined by Lonmin is planning an application to cancel mining rights of the world’s third-largest platinum producer.

For residents of the settlements

Fight for Philippi: Cape farmland could lose ground to housing

A stretch of farmland that could prove vital to Cape Town’s food security is threatened by development, illegal dumping and informal settlements.

Wildcat strikes at platinum

Labour action: A breakdown in collective bargaining

Wildcat strikes in the mining sector have set a new trend that could result in the unravelling of the formal system of collective bargaining.

The Lonmin workers are far from happy.

Lonmin miners crack under pressure

According to some Marikana miners, they are no better off than before the strike, after Lonmin this week offered striking workers a 22% pay hike.

Thuli Madonsela ­addresses the Bapo ba ­Mogale community

Bapo Ba Mogale community turns to public protector

Thuli Madonsela this week visited the Bapo Ba Mogale community to hear grievances about the North West government’s alleged mismanagement of money.

Makaliseng Motsebetsi witnessed a man suspected of being Jokanisi dying outside her shack after hearing shots and helicopters overhead.

Marikana miner’s mysterious date with death

Residents of Karee hostel in Marikana tell of police action days before the massacre, at the time their friend disappeared.

The 77-year-old South African

Jo’burg justice is a daily grind

Heidi Swart spent time in Johannesburg’s courts to experience how cases are handled – and delayed.

Community women assist the family prepare food for the Saturday funeral of Semi Jokanisi

Marikana miners’ families left reeling

Families in Pondoland, a traditional source of labour, bury their men and primary earners who worked at Lonmin.

Activists and academics say the Marikana shootings are part of a sustained pattern of intimidation and violence against the workers.

Deep Read: Marikana miners hit rock bottom

Before the Marikana massacre, the M&G’s Heidi Swart joined rock-drill operators at the bottom of a Lonmin shaft to see conditions there firsthand.

In the Newman shaft

Mining is hard work

The temperature can reach 45C underground and workers are at risk of heat stroke. They wear sleeveless vests and their bodies smeared with dirt.

How can government get people to participate more in how their country

Tragedy inflames burning resentment in Kagiso

In Kagiso, as in so many other settlements in South Africa, time moves on but the appalling conditions persist. Heidi Swart reports.

Cerebral palsy patient Tsholofelo Phiri has personally appealed for her home’s survival.

How government starves the welfare sector

Cash-strapped groups plead for more funds: Subsidies have fallen so short of the needs of NGOs that many face imminent closure, writes Heidi Swart.

The Bapo Ba Mogale community of about 30 000 people live on one of the earth’s greatest treasures

Platinum wealth holds no shine for people left in the dust

Throughout the platinum-rich North West, mining communities such as the Bapo Ba Mogale live in poverty. Heidi Swart reports on their story.

With no basic services such as electricity and running water

A broken system cannot fix the broken people

The Mail & Guardian’s Heidi Swart spent a heartbreaking few years trying to save children. These are her stories.

The Nkanyezi Stimulation Centre in Soweto waited for four months for its funding from the Gauteng department of health and social development.

Welfare groups fight for survival

Non-profit organisations fulfilling many of the state’s obligations are being crippled by its inefficiency and indifference, writes Heidi Swart.

Terrorised by perpetrators and victimised by the legal system

A rape case in which two men were arrested in 2007 for going on a 13-day sexual assault and crime spree in Cape Town is still in court.

Eugene Saldanha: The man who saw too much

Eugene Saldanha: The man who saw too much

He lived his life for others. But, in the end, Eugene Saldanha left himself out of the final equation.

Lotto delays may cut off LifeLine

Counselling organisation LifeLine says the slow release of funds from the National Lottery has left it dangerously in the red and may have to close.