GroundUp’s favourite photos of 2025 show South Africa as it really is… battered in places, brilliant in others and always worth fighting for.
South Africa (29 December 2025) – South Africa’s story is not a single narrative; it is thousands of moments happening at once. GroundUp’s favourite photos from 2025 reveal those moments with honesty and empathy.
GroundUp, a South African non-profit news agency, publishes human-rights-focused, public-interest journalism. Their stories are free to read and republish, and Good Things Guy is one of the platforms that proudly syndicates their work (with permission), bringing their reporting and photography to our audience. It is journalism driven by impact and integrity.
Not sensationalism. Not clickbait. Just real humans and what happens in their lives.
As GroundUp explains, “GroundUp’s work is inspired by the human rights in the South African Constitution, including housing, education, health, safety, justice, food and dignity. These rights remain out of reach for most people in our country. With dwindling budgets, newsrooms are shrinking, especially at the community level. As a result, the stories of everyday South Africans and their struggles get lost. We aim to fill the gaps. Our journalism shows the reality of human rights in daily life. Our reporters across the country highlight the most pressing issues faced by vulnerable people and underreported communities. We report on the work of activists who go against the grain. We investigate and expose the state and private-sector failures that impact people’s rights.”
Every year, GroundUp compiles a photo series of moments that shaped their reporting. Not the loudest or neatest moments but the meaningful ones. The ones that show who we are, what we are up against and how people respond.
This year’s selection spans everything from rescues and rebuilds to protests and performance.
You’ll see rescue, eviction, homelessness, environmental strain, community care and livelihoods under pressure. There are protests, marches, service delivery struggles, small businesses holding on, families seeking justice and people rebuilding what they can. And there are gentler moments too… creativity, curiosity, nature, heritage and everyday life unfolding in quiet ways.
If you needed a reminder that there is heart here, that progress has a pulse, and that people are still choosing each other, look no further than this annual photo series.
Rescuers retrieve a cage in Stilfontein in the North West in January 2025. Over 200 miners were rescued and over 70 bodies were recovered. Photo: Ihsaan HaffejeeA homeless man sleeps in the ruins of Eldorado Park stadium in January 2025. Park stadiums, soccer fields, and public pools have been badly vandalised and neglected in the area. Photo: Kimberly MutandiroAbout 30 people living inside the three-storey building on 104 Darling Street, and dozens more living in an informal settlement in the property’s parking lot faced eviction. Photo: Matthew HirschA boat rows through a thick layer of weed in a dam in Johannesburg. The Salvinia Molesta, more commonly known as Kariba weed, is an invasive species that threatens the indigenous ecosystems. Photo: Ihsaan HaffejeeThe Khoisan settlement in Grabouw, Knoflokskraal, has a restaurant, a nursery, livestock farming and vegetable gardens, but little water. Photo: Ashraf HendricksA wildfire scorches Cape Town’s Silvermine reserve in April 2025. Photo: David HarrisonA cat sleeps among rosehips in Lesotho. Lesotho’s wild-harvested rosehips are an important industry for the small country’s economy and provide a source of income for thousands of people in rural villages. Photo: Sechaba MokhethiDogs recovering from anaesthesia after being sterilised in De Doorns. Every two weeks, volunteers and the Sidewalk Specials team vaccinate, sterilise and treat dogs and cats in the community. Photo: Ashraf HendricksFossil technician Sipho Makhele moves around the darkness deep underground at the Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg. Fossil technicians search for bones that can help unlock the mysteries of our past. Photo: Ihsaan HaffejeeThe home of 76-year-old Annie Zwane after it was damaged by heavy floods in KZN. After not receiving any assistance by the government, the community came together and helped restore a rondavel for Zwane to live in. Photo: Bongane MotaungPeople Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) march against gang violence in Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats in September 2025. Photo: Ashraf HendricksPeople swim in the Tugela-Vaal canal in KwaZulu-Natal. Some people want this canal to be closed off and fenced. Photo: Sean ChristieA child collects water before 6am from an informal wellpoint in the bushes in Maitland, Cape Town. The child was seen collecting water during a protest for better services like electricity, water and housing. Photo: Ashraf HendricksFive families who were moved 20 years ago to make way for the Mohale Dam in the Lesotho Highlands lost a court battle for compensation. Photo: Sechaba MokhethiA Pick ‘n Pay asap! delivery rider heads out along Rondebosch Main Road in Cape Town with a load of groceries. Photo: David HarrisonFirefighters at Wingfield in Cape Town stand where a white marquee was burnt to the ground in November 2025. The tent was used to shelter hundreds of refugees. Photo: Brenton GeachChildren in Manenberg gather in a street to watch films at the open air cinema arranged every second Saturday by Darion Adams, founder of The AIM Society (Arts In Manenberg). Photo: Ashraf HendricksNaresh Kooverjee stands in front of Babu’s Footwear in Wynberg. The shop was first opened by his grandfather in 1921. Photo: David HarrisonProtesters at the Constitutional Hill Precinct in Johannesburg lie down during a nationwide protest against gender based violence. Photo: Ihsaan HaffejeeHippos wander into town every night in St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal. Photo: Barry Christianson
GroundUp provides independent news about events and people in South Africa. If you would like to support the work they are doing, you can donate here, visit the website here or follow them on Facebook or Instagram.
Source: GroundUp News
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