http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-foreigners-live-in-fear-alex

Foreigners live in fear in Alex

Kwanele Sosibo

Residents of Alexandra's RDP houses have reacted to menacing calls for foreigners to vacate RDP houses in the township within seven days with a mixture of fear and nonchalance.

Last weekend groups of residents, some co-ordinating their movements by phone, moved around extensions seven, nine and 10 handing out ­flyers and putting up posters warning foreigners living in RDP houses to vacate within seven days or risk "being pushed like animals or aliens".

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-05-06-a-tale-of-two-city-struggles/

A tale of two city struggles

The Social Justice Coalition's (SJC) perfectly orchestrated march on Freedom Day for safe sanitation featured a long queue for the toilets at the Cape Town mayor's offices.

The first thing I noticed was that most of the more than 2 000 marchers were children, which made sense -- they are especially vulnerable to the heath dangers posed by inadequate sanitation. The second was that the handwritten placards all bore the same handwriting.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-21-who-was-andries-tatane

Who was Andries Tatane?
KWANELE SOSIBO - Apr 21 2011

Street in Ficksburg's Market Square where Andries Tatane died after police allegedly beat and shot him during a march to the Setsoto local municipality offices on Wednesday last week.

Phillip Selokoe, his former high school teacher, showed the Mail & Guardian an oval mark not far from the municipal building entrance where Tatane was apparently shot in the chest. Then he pointed out a smaller, spherical one about 10 metres further on where Tatane is said to have collapsed some minutes afterwards.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-11-developerdriven-housing-leaves-citys-poorest-in-the-cold/

Developer-driven housing leaves city's poorest in the cold
KWANELE SOSIBO - Apr 11 2011 11:27

Perched on the western bleachers of the Orange Cruyff Court at the BG Alexander housing complex it's hard not to buy into Madulammoho Housing Association's idyllic vision of Hillbrow.

Just south of the Astro Turf pitch, donated by the Dutch football team, the building's imposing facebrick Block A obscures the downtown skyline. Across the fence, on the corner of Claim and Smit streets, is Europa House, a converted former den of sin and the company's flagship project, which comes complete with demure sea-green balconies capped with requisite satellite dishes. A little further up the street is the austere Elkero House, a refurbished former old-age home that lounges languidly in the Friday sun.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-01-stay-of-eviction-victory-for-residents/

Stay of eviction victory for residents
KWANELE SOSIBO AND NIREN TOLSI JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Apr 01 2011 00:00

The threat of mass evictions has been lifted from residents of Cape Town's Joe Slovo informal settlement.

On Thursday the Constitutional Court discharged an earlier supervised eviction order handed down by the same court. The ruling allows residents to continue engaging with the government over an upgrade of the settlement.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-03-25-violence-on-tape-confirms-police-tactics/

Violence on tape confirms police tactics

A cellphone video clip showing the South African Police Service's tactical response team (TRT) abusing a man in Wesselton township has lent credence to widespread claims of police brutality during service delivery protests in the township last month.

The 26-second video, shot in the Wesselton's Thusi section on February 16, two days after the protests began, shows a young man rolling on the ground while being trailed by armed TRT members, one of whom is perched on the police vehicle's bonnet. According to the man who captured the footage on his cellphone, the youngster in the clip was coming from the nearby shops with a female friend when he was summoned to the officers' vehicle, questioned and allegedly shot at several times with rubber bullets.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-03-11-here-it-is-every--man-for-himself

'Here it is every man for himself'
KWANELE SOSIBO - Mar 11 2011 13:58

Last week, when I first met Sipho Dlamini and Nomantombi Mdodana, both "temporary" residents of the Moth building in Noord Street, they ushered me into a dank boardroom before launching into a tirade about the building's condition.

Mdodana, dressed in her security guard uniform, sat at the head of the table and spoke softly, gesturing with her hands. Dlamini kept finishing her sentences and conveyed his annoyance through the intermittent gruff boom of his voice.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-28-profile-of-a-town-on-fire

Profile of a town on fire
KWANELE SOSIBO

The fear of police brutality is so tangible in Ermelo's Wesselton township that it is hard to separate it from the blanket of coal fumes that floats in the quiet night air.

Paranoia, too, is palpable as we talk to a group of youths in a tavern in Phumula, near the epicentre of recent rioting. As they regale us with their stories, which are repeated during our stay in Ermelo, they take turns in heading to the door, making sure that no police are inching their way towards the nondescript drinking hole.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-18-dreaming-of-a-home-in-defunct-factory/

Click here to see a slideshow.

Dreaming of a home in a defunct factory

Kwanele Sosibo

At first, I thought the photographer and I were lost, or the story was further inside the unassuming block of flats. Even more confusing, the tall, dark and stony-faced fellow hawking fruits and vegetables outside knew the man we were looking for, but was hesitant to usher us in.