Table of contents for 2022-11-24 in Cape Times

CILO CYBIN Holdings’ initial public offering (IPO) to raise R500 million was unsuccessful, leading it to delay JSE listing plans for now. Cilo Cybin said yesterday that it had only managed to raise R20.5m and did not meet the JSE Limited minimum capital requirement for a listing. “The Cilo Cybin board are humbled and express gratitude for the support Cilo Cybin received from the general public during the IPO process. “A total of 1 892 members of the public subscribed for an aggregate amount of R20.5m of Cilo Cybin shares. “Unfortunately, the JSE Limited minimum capital requirement for a listing as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) as set out in the Cilo Cybin Prospectus, has not been met within the set timeframe, and the listing on the…

THE Gauteng Health Department has interdicted four public sector unions and non-unionised members from acts of violence and intimidation against its staff members who are not involved in strike action regarding the government’s 3% salary increase offer. Gauteng Health lodged an application in the Labour Court against Nehawu, the Public Servants Association, National Union of Public Service & Allied Workers, Hospersa and Denosa after they were part of a national day of action on Tuesday. Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said his department obtained the court interdict to prevent their members from obstructing the rendering of health services to patients. The interim interdict is applicable with immediate effect and prevents striking public servants from assaulting, threatening, intimidating, and inciting violence with respect to any employees or staff members across…

THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has listened to the requests of thousands of students for their allowance to be increased as the cost of living continues to spike. Policy changes for the 2023 academic year will result in an inflation-linked increase of 5% in student allowances, and a 7% increase in the allowance for accommodation. According to the NSFAS, allowances were subject to annual increases determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Student Onthatile Mathonsi started a petition, which has now gained 56 307 signatures, claiming the current monthly allowance of R1 500 was not enough for students to meet their basic needs, owing to inflation. When he was briefing Parliament about readiness for the 2023 academic year, NSFAS chief operating officer Nthuseng Mphahlele acknowledged that students…

TWINS who were born prematurely and underweight will soon experience their first Christmas with their parents after a rocky start to their lives. Little did the parents know, the healing power of cuddles and kangaroo care would be a big part of their babies’ recovery. “Our twins, Aryan and Arianna, were delivered early at 33 weeks and were small babies; one was under two kilograms and the other just over,” said the babies’ mother, Nourah Wax, 10 months after their birth. The newborn boy and girl were having difficulty breathing and had to be transferred to the specialised neonatal unit at Netcare Garden City Hospital, Johannesburg. “These are my first children, and it was very nerve wracking to be separated from them, as I had to remain in the hospital…

One of the many advantages of living in China is you can hop on to a low-cost airline and visit any of the neighbouring countries. Since my Sussex days, a trip to Bali has been on my bucket list. A classmate in the UK came from Indonesia and had a background in tourism. In fact, to this day she runs a tourism business and was studying the developmental effects of tourism from a political and governance slant. In her study, and one supposes in any research, there was no better case study than Bali. The contradictions of development through tourism were, therefore, stark when our vacation finally came in January 2019, just before Covid-19. The developmental effect that tourism has on the local Balinese economy has been significant, bringing many…

Russia rained down missiles across Ukraine yesterday, forcing shutdowns of nuclear power plants and killing civilians as Moscow pursues its campaign to plunge Ukrainian cities into darkness and cold as winter sets in. Officials across the border in Moldova said electricity was also lost to more than half of their country, the first time a neighbouring state has reported such extensive damage from the war in Ukraine triggered by Russia’s invasion nine months ago. A blackout forced the shutdown of reactors at the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, and the Khmelnitskyi and Rivne plants in the west, the state-run nuclear energy firm Energoatom said. Air raid sirens blared across Ukraine in a nationwide alert. Explosions could be heard on the outskirts of Kyiv, which was pitched into darkness.…

A Walmart employee killed six people and wounded several others before fatally shooting himself at a store in Chesapeake, Virginia, authorities said yesterday, in the latest episode of gun violence in the US. The shooter, who had not been identified, used a pistol in the shooting on Tuesday, wounding at least four people in addition to the fatalities, police said. In addition to seven confirmed dead, including the shooter, four people were being treated at hospitals in the area. One employee said the shooter was a manager at the store. “I looked up and my manager just opened the door and he just opened fire,” Briana Tyler said. It is not the first mass shooting at a Walmart, which has thousands of stores across the US. |…

SON Heung-min will be able to play in South Korea’s opening World Cup match against Uruguay this afternoon despite wearing a mask after facial surgery, coach Paulo Bento said. The Spurs attacker and South Korean skipper had surgery earlier this month after suffering a fracture around his left eye in a collision during a Champions League game. “Son can play and will be able to play,” Bento said yesterday. It remains to be seen to what extent the South Korean talisman features, with the Portuguese boss cautioning: “He knows and we know that after this injury we cannot take any risks.” The 30-year-old Son has been training in Qatar in a mask and South Korean fans have been eagerly awaiting updates on his fitness. At one training session in Doha…

ON THE eve of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign, the most recent crime statistics paint a bleak picture of the country’s fight against gender-based violence, with nearly 1 000 women murdered between July 1 and September 30 this year. During this period, 989 women and 315 children were killed. A total of 1 277 women were victims of attempted murder while 294 children were. There were 13 701 cases of assault of women and 1 895 of children. Briefing the National Assembly’s police committee yesterday about the shocking increase in the number of murders, rapes and other crimes against women and children, Police Minister Bheki Cele said the rate at which women were abused, violated and some killed in South Africa…

THE family of Struggle icon Dulcie September may be one step closer to justice, as they say they recently met with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) to look into her death. The development comes after the Tribunal judiciare de Paris (Court of Paris) last week heard final arguments in a civil case to determine whether the French state should have provided her with protection, more than 34 years after September’s assassination. The case between the family and the French state hinged on the fact that September before her assassination had twice approached French authorities for protection, informing the local police that her life was in danger, but they allegedly did nothing about it. September was shot in the head from behind five times with a 22-calibre silenced rifle…

WHILE the City says it has a record of three official accidents at the infamous Muizenberg “truck-eating” bridge this year, residents say they have witnessed around 30 incidents. The bridge is known to be problematic because of its height, at 2.5m, with trucks often getting stuck underneath, resulting in traffic chaos. The bridge has garnered the nickname “Biddy” and locals refer to vehicles getting stuck, as the bridge grabbing a “nibble”. While the City has made interventions through signage, it has not been successful with incidents still recorded almost monthly, according to residents. Heide Goodman of the Muizenberg Lakeside Residents Association said: “I've lived here for more than 10 years. It’s always happened, (and is) happening more frequently, getting two hits a week on average. The bridge is low but…

Reports perpetuate victim shaming and sensationalism South Africa is a country that experiences a very high level of gender-based violence. During the UN’s annual international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the country’s news media coverage of violence against women and children increases. As well-intentioned as this may be, studies have exposed several shortcomings in the coverage, noting that these undermine what the campaign aims to achieve. This matters because of the importance of news outlets in our media-saturated world. Research into the factors that shape opinions on violent crimes and the criminal justice system argues that most people’s views are not based on personal encounters with the system. Instead, perspectives are formed primarily from seeing, reading, or listening to secondary sources, such as mainstream news media. French…

With flags, appeals to patriotism and reminders of its revered revolutionary leader, Burkina Faso has been calling for volunteers to join a battered civilian force fighting ruthless jihadis. The authorities have been seeking 50 000 members for the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), an auxiliary force that supports the country’s poorly equipped army in its seven-year struggle against insurgents. At a gathering in the regional governor’s office in Ouagadougou, the fervent tone was set by Alouna Traore, a close aide to Burkina Faso’s firebrand former leader, Thomas Sankara, who 35 years after his assassination remains idolised today. Traore, the only survivor of the attack that gunned down Sankara and his inner circle, made an entrance on a motorbike with a Burkinabe flag. At the age of 65,…

BEIJING: Violent protests have broken out around Foxconn’s vast iPhone factory in central China, as workers clashed with security personnel over pay and living conditions at the plant. In video on social media, hundreds of workers can be seen marching on a road and confronted by riot police as well as people wearing hazmat suits. Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn confirmed the unrest. The confrontations broke out after employees signed an agreement with the factory to work 30 days in return for a one-time payment of 3000 yuan (R7 250) saw the figure slashed to just 30 yuan, a source said. The tech giant saw a surge in Covid-19 cases at its Zhengzhou site, leading it to shut the complex. The huge facility has been operating in a “closed loop” bubble.…

Award-winning South African teen author, Stacey Fru, was recognised in Cameroon yesterday for her literary works. The 15-year-old international multiple award-winner will be honoured in Yaounde by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Bidoung Kpwatt Ismaël, who will bestow her the Cameroon Order of Merit. “I am excited to be recognised out of home once again. “This recognition comes at a good time when I want to let the world know that my sixth book, and a full length novel of 260 pages, has been published. “I am truly honoured that as an African child, my works are being recognised in different countries at different levels. “What a great way to end 2022,” said Fru. At the age of seven, the Joburg-based literary child whizz wrote her first book, Smelly…

THE Atteridgeville family of two minor girls who were raped at the Pretoria Hotel in 2020 said they were devastated that the convicted culprit continued to insist the girls volunteered to go with him to the scene of the crime. This came after counsel for the 46-year-old man, convicted of kidnapping and raping the girls, aged 11 and 13, at the Pretoria Hotel partially read out the psycho-social report in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday, as part of the pre-sentencing proceedings. The matter was postponed after the State advocate informed the court that she would be unable to proceed after midday due to a scheduled doctor’s appointment. However, before the adjournment, the defence read out the compiled report that detailed how the man had been convicted of assault with the…

“I HAVE put Gugulethu on the map.” These were the words of Banyana Banyana head striker, Noxolo Cesane, who recently penned a deal to join French championship club, Stade de Reims Féminines. In examples like Cesane’s, aspiring South African youth find living proof that township talent is nothing short of world class. This is the sense of pride that will pervade the upcoming RCS Gugulethu Reconciliation Day Race – an event that will see thousands of runners take to the streets of one of the country’s most iconic townships. Now in its 22nd year, the race brings together runners from all corners of the country in a bid to encourage the development of sports and culture in under-resourced areas. The race was established by The Amy Foundation, a non-profit organisation…

TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula’s decision to appeal against a Makhanda High Court judgment directing him to take steps to protect Intercape buses and its passengers is barely surprising, judging by his dismal track record. The fact that it took the court ruling for Mbalula to actually know he should assume some responsibilities in making the operating environment safe for the bus company should be enough to tell you he is sleeping at the wheel. Intercape should not even have had to approach the courts in order to have Mbalula and his colleagues in the police intervene and help bring to an end these senseless attacks on buses. It’s perhaps worth reminding the honourable minister of the following: more than 150 violent attacks on Intercape buses have been recorded, including the…

Explosions hit two bus stops in Jerusalem yesterday, killing a teen and wounding 14, in unclaimed attacks cheered by Palestinian militant group Hamas. The first bombings to hit Jerusalem since 2016, according to security officials, targeted an area frequented by ultra-Orthodox Jews at the western exit from Jerusalem. A 16-year-old boy was killed and 11 people wounded in the first blast, before a second hit a stop nearby, wounding three people, hospitals treating the casualties said. A photographer said the blast had ripped a hole through a metal fence behind the bus stop, with an electric scooter and a hat lying on the ground. The photographer heard the second blast, which he said tore through the side of a bus. The twin blasts struck half an hour apart, police said.…

Britain’s highest court yesterday rejected a bid by the devolved Scottish government in Edinburgh to hold a new referendum on independence without London’s consent. The unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court torpedoed the Scottish nationalist government’s push to hold a second plebiscite next year. The Scottish National Party (SNP) had said that in that event, it would turn the next general election into a de-facto vote on splitting from the rest of the UK, threatening constitutional chaos. First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she respected the ruling but was “disappointed”. If Scotland cannot “choose our own future without Westminster consent”, the idea of the UK as a voluntary partnership was exposed as a “myth”, she tweeted. The UK government, which oversees constitutional affairs for the whole country, has…

LISBON: Thirty-five people suspected of involvement in human trafficking have been arrested in a massive operation that mobilised around 400 officers in Portugal’s southern Alentejo region, police said yesterday. A total of 65 raids were carried out, resulting in the arrest of alleged members of a human trafficking ring that illegally brought migrants to work in Alentejo’s farms. The suspects, aged 22 to 58, were both Portuguese and foreign nationals, and the victims were from countries including Romania, Moldova, India, Senegal, Pakistan, Morocco and Algeria. Labour trafficking has risen as Portugal’s native population has declined amid falling birth rates and emigration to other EU countries. | Reuters…