Rumana Akoob

A driver has died, vehicles have been set aflame, and passengers are thinking twice before hailing a taxi - or at least an Uber. So what’s behind the conflict that some are calling “the Uber wars of 2017”? The Daily Vox explains. Firstly, what is e-hailing? E-hailing services like Uber, Taxify and Zebra Cabs allow users to order taxis through an app. They provide a reasonably priced, convenient and comfortable alternative to public transport and metered taxis, and have grown exponentially since they entered the local market…

We love to talk decolonisation in Africa and yet somehow we managed to miss the fact that in several African countries, lawyers and judges still wear those ridiculous white wigs that our colonial masters brought over a couple hundred years ago. This week the Washington Post’s Kevin Sieff asked why so many lawyers and judges in Africa still keep up the tradition 50 years after the British left the continent. African judges should no longer wear these colonial wigs https://t.co/Mzh2rxmjIB pic.twitter.com/QskeTsCKsA —…

A group of about 50 university students gathered outside the Randburg Magistrate's court on Wednesday to support former deputy minister of higher education, Mduduzi Manana, who was appearing on assault charges. The students sang and held placards that said “Manana has radically transformed TVET colleges” and “We are against women abuse”. Rumana Akoob spoke with them. Aluwani Choke, 21, student, UJ, Auckland Park We don’t condone the abuse of women but we also appreciate the rehabilitation methods that the former deputy…

Former deputy minister of higher education Mduduzi Manana has pleaded guilty to three counts of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm. Manana was in court on Wednesday on charges relating to the assault of two women at a Fourways nightclub on August 6. In a statement read out by his lawyer, Manana admitted to slapping, punching, kicking and dragging the survivors by the hair. He will be sentenced on November 7. * This story has been updated with additional details. Speaking to the media after the hearing, Manana…

Students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology protested at two separate campuses today. A building is believed to have been petrol bombed and private security used stun grenades to disperse students. Students are protesting over the suspension of four student leaders last month and a dispute concerning contracts for insourced workers. Underlying these issues is a dispute over a lack of residence spaces and a lack of facilities for students living in res. In April, when students marched to the CBD over their…

Cyril Ramaphosa is the latest high profile politician to face a sex scandal. The Sunday Independent has reported on not one but eight extramarital affairs the deputy president has allegedly been involved in. The article claims Ramaphosa maintains many of these women by paying their tuition fees and and expenses. Ramaphosa is currently campaigning to be the next president of the ANC. If he is voted in in December, he will run for president of the country in 2019. We asked Joburgers if these revelations mean Ramaphosa is fit…

Twitter had no chill after Babes Wodumo, the gqom queen who is most famous for the single, Wololo, outed herself as technologically challenged. On Monday, Babes posted a video on Instagram requesting a link to a USB she’d lost so she could delete her unmastered song Ghanda Ghanda. She captioned the post “Pls Guys 🙏🙏🙏😥😥😥😥 #Ghanda Ghanda wase #westinkrecords Nkulunkulu Wami.” Pls Guys 🙏🙏🙏😥😥😥😥 #Ghanda Ghanda wase #westinkrecords Nkulunkulu Wami. A post shared by Bongekile Simelane (@babes_wodumo) on Aug 26, 2017 at 3:23am PDT…

Workers from the Pelican Park branch of Shoprite in Cape Town lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Friday after they were jailed and dismissed for accepting tips from customers. Earlier this month, eight female Shoprite workers were charged with theft after refusing to sign admissions of guilt, and released on bail. Seven of the women had internal disciplinary hearings last week and were dismissed by the company. The eighth employee had her hearing on Monday and is awaiting the…

People who were arrested during #FeesMustFall protests may be in for a nasty surprise when applying for jobs or international studies if it turns out charges against them have not been dropped from their records. A #FeesMustFall student activist, who asked not to be named, was put in an awkward position recently when she secured a job offer, only to find out that she had a criminal record after a routine police clearance check. She was detained by police after a mass arrest on Wits University campus in February 2016. She…

The Soul City Institute launched its Safe Taxis Charter in Johannesburg on Wednesday. The Charter is a collection of contributions from women and women-centred organisations in an effort to make public transport safer. Matokgo Ndu Makutoane from @SoulCity_SA says the campaign came about after the rapes in taxis around the country. #safetaxisnow pic.twitter.com/uAmMtxDccd — The Daily VOX (@thedailyvox) August 23, 2017 It was a product of the #SafeTaxisNow campaign which started in May, which drew attention to the way in which…

Stop everything. Daario Naharis from Game of Thrones is in the country. As in, he is on the same land that you and I walk on. And not the creepy blond Daario either, this one: via GIPHY Dutch actor Michiel Huisman, who played the dashing Tyroshi sellsword and Daenerys Targaryen's advisor and love interest in seasons four to six of the wildly popular TV series, recently posted pictures on social media about roadtripping along the coast down to Cape Town. via GIPHY From his social media posts, it seems Huisman is in South…

Seven Shoprite employees appeared at the Wynberg magistrates court in Cape Town on Tuesday morning on charged with theft after they were accused of “stealing” tips given to them by customers. The employees of the retail giant's Pelican Park branch - all women, one of whom is pregnant - were released. Their case has been postponed to September 30. Cashier Chantay Potts, one of the workers who was arrested, told The Daily Vox the women were called to the manager’s office on Monday and shown video footage of tellers in the cash…

Research is underway to find out more about the Indian queer community in South Africa in order to fight persistent stigma against and social repression of Indian LGBTQIA+ people. Lead researcher Suntosh Pillay, a clinical psychologist based in Durban, told The Daily Vox the main reason for doing this research was to fill the academic gap. “The research has largely focused on fairly middle class white men ... There has been on the black LGBTQIA+ community but research on Indians is missing,” he said. Pillay said that when he…

A black couple was brutally attacked by six white men outside a KFC in Pretoria on Wednesday. The woman subjected to the attack filmed part of the ordeal. The video has gone viral on instant messaging platforms and social media. In the video, the woman, whose identity has not been confirmed, can be heard saying “Are you gonna hit me?” repeatedly before dropping the camera and beginning to scream. She is then heard pleading with the attackers to stop beating her husband. (Warning: The video contains disturbing sound and…

Thousands of cases of police brutality are reported in South Africa each year but only a fraction of them ever result in criminal charges. This was revealed in the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (Ipid) half-yearly report on cases lodged against police in 2016, released in July. Ipid tracks deaths in police custody, deaths as a result of police action, police shootings, rapes committed by police, complaints of torture or assault against police officers, and accusations of corruption within the police force.…

A group of grade R pupils from Elijah Mgijima Primary School in Alice, Eastern Cape, lit up social media this week  with their knowledge of our ministers' names and portfolios. Take this quiz to find out if you're smarter than they are. Can you name more ministers than these kids? A group of grade R pupils from Elijah Mgijima Primary School in Alice, Eastern Cape, lit up social media with their knowledge of SA cabinet ministers names and portfolios. Take this quiz to find out if you're smarter than a six-year-old. Who is the…

A group of grade R pupils have lit up social media with their knowledge of SA’s cabinet ministers. Lwazi Pakade tweeted the video of nine preschoolers on Tuesday and it has already been retweeted over 400 times. The kids are from Elijah Mgijima Primary School in Alice in the Eastern Cape. A recitation of Cabinet ministers and their positions by Grade R pupils 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Kuyafundiswa kwezinye iz'kolo 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/2GFiIUcDT7 — Phaks Photh'inja (@LwaziPakade) July 25, 2017 In the video the children are seen reciting the names…

MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi visited a Johannesburg school to investigate allegations of racism after a group of black girls was ordered to leave the school because of their hair. On Monday, the aunt of a pupil at Windsor House Academy in Kempton Park, Siyabonga Ngwenya, recounted the incident on Facebook in a post which has been shared over 1 000 times. She said her niece called her in the morning saying she and other girls who had dreadlocks, braids and “inappropriate” hair had been told to leave school and warned that…

Comedian Joey Rasdien was dragged by Muslims on social media this weekend after making a controversial comment during a comedy set at the Ilm Arts Festival, which took place at the Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday. In his set Rasdien questioned how Abu Hurairah, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, wrote more than 40 000 narrations attributed to the prophet in just two years. Narrations of incidents from the prophet’s life, or hadith, are a central part of Islamic belief. “There’s 365 days in a year which makes it 740…

There have been regular attacks on Uber drivers around malls, clubs and Gautrain stations since the company launched in South Africa in 2013. The violence has increased significantly since the beginning of the year. Earlier this week, an Uber driver whose car was set alight died in hospital of his injuries. The Daily Vox spoke to Uber and Taxify drivers about their work and the danger they face each day. Moses Anthony*, 46, East Rand, Uber driver This is my third year working as an Uber driver. I’ve been attacked four times,…