Latest news with #CapeTimes
IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Cape Times Launches R100 000 Youth Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition with UWC Partnership
Cape Times Unveils R100 000 Youth Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition. Image: File picture The Cape Times is proud to launch the Youth Month Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition as part of this year's Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) Youth Expo. The competition aims to empower young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 by providing them with the opportunity to win a R100 000 media package to promote their business and gain national visibility. Participants are invited to submit a one-page summary of their business and a two-minute video pitch introducing themselves and their company. The top 10 finalists will be selected to pitch live at the Cape Times Youth Month Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition, taking place at CTICC 2 on June 25–26, 2025. The winning entrepreneur will receive a R100 000 media package, editorial and digital exposure through the Cape Times and IOL, and direct access to decision-makers, potential customers, and industry leaders. The winner will also receive a R45 000 Fellows Course sponsored by UWC CEI, with placement in either the ABSA Fellows or Sanlam Fellows program, offering identical experiences. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Other prizes will be issued on the day. Cape Times editor Siyavuya Mzantsi said: 'This initiative is more than just a competition, it's an investment in the future of our country. We are proud to give young South Africans a platform to showcase their talent, tell their stories, and build businesses that can contribute to economic growth and job creation. 'Our partnership with the University of the Western Cape adds a meaningful educational component that will empower these entrepreneurs long after the pitch event ends.' The competition is part of the publication's initiative focusing on youth empowerment and economic inclusion. Entries must be submitted to competitions@ by Friday, June 13, 2025. Cape Times
Express Tribune
29-05-2025
- Express Tribune
Mother who sold daughter to healer for $1,100 jailed for life in South Africa
In a case that gripped South Africa and sparked nationwide outrage, a high court on Thursday sentenced Racquel 'Kelly' Smith to life in prison for trafficking her six-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith, who vanished in February 2024 from the town of Middelpos, Saldanha Bay. Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking the child to a traditional healer for R20,000 (about $1,100). A witness told the court that Smith admitted to selling Joshlin, allegedly due to the child's desirable "eyes and skin." Despite widespread searches and national pleas for help, Joshlin has never been found. The child's disappearance stunned the country, with many initially sympathising with Smith, who claimed she had left Joshlin in Appollis's care the day she vanished. WATCH: Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, Steveno van Rhyn, Jacquen 'Boeta' Appolis and Lourentia 'Renz' Lombaard step into the dock in the Vredenburg Magistrates Court. — Cape Times (@CapeTimesSA) July 15, 2024 High court judge Nathan Erasmus said drug use by the trio was no excuse for their actions and handed down the maximum sentence, stating: "There is nothing redeeming here, nothing deserving of leniency." Each of the accused received an additional 10 years in prison for kidnapping. The case remains a painful chapter for South Africa, with public calls for continued efforts to locate the missing girl.
IOL News
29-05-2025
- IOL News
Beaufort West ‘racist' wants to erase blackness
In one of the videos that has since gone viral on social media, the man can be seen spraying the women, while they ask him to stop, desperately covering their faces. Image: Screenshot 'I WILL erase your blackness.' These words still haunt two Beaufort West students following what they believe was a racial attack by a man captured on camera spraying them with what he claimed was 'holy water' using a pesticide sprayer. The two students, whose identity is known to the Cape Times, believe that the liquid inside the sprayer was in fact bleach. In one of the videos that has since gone viral on social media, the man can be seen spraying the women, while they ask him to stop, desperately covering their faces with their hands folded over their heads. 'I will erase your blackness', he says in the video taken in the street. He is also seen in their home where some of the women were half naked. They are all seen hiding in the back, while the man is walking through their home spraying the walls with 'holy water'. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ One of the students told the Cape Times that they had been on their way to a nearby takeaway after midnight on Monday, when they were confronted by the man, a neighbour, who threw rubbish at them saying it belonged to them. Recalling the incident, one of the victims said: 'We took the rubbish. Then we walked past his house and he said are you giving it back to me? Then he was pushing my cousin then I said 'don't push her, what did she do to you?'. Then the guy with the prayer came towards me and started to spray. After he sprayed me he went to my cousin and sprayed her. He (said he) was removing the blackness, he is going to change us to white. We don't deserve to be here, this is not our town, we should go home.' 'He didn't stop. I think his wife or girlfriend pulled me by my hair and I fell.' The altercation went on for a while before the man with the sprayer went to their house. 'I am traumatised, we are so scared. He said it was holy water he was spraying on us to take out the demons. If it was holy water, why were our clothes damaged, why were our eyes red and itchy from the chemicals?' The public management college students said they had been living in the town for two years and everything was fine until this incident. Instead of reaching the takeaway, the women said they headed straight to the police station. Approached for comment with the case number, the police said they would respond in due course. EFF provincial treasurer and EFF Member of Parliament deployed to Beaufort West, Aishah Cassiem said she was concerned to learn that the case was allegedly withdrawn despite video evidence. 'When I called the station, I was told by the Brigadier that it was due to lack of evidence that the case was closed. He failed to give facts around the case of the female students and why it was closed despite evidence of the racial attack. He was more concerned about speaking about the 'complainant' (the racists) who in his view also opened a case against angry residents who showed up at their home but who later withdrew it.' She said her party will not allow for such a case to be swept under the carpet. 'Will make sure those responsible for ensuring the safety of these young girls do so, especially when they are running to the police or courts for protection. We will not step back until justice has been served,' Cassiem said.
IOL News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
I'm a victim of witch hunt, says ex-city housing boss
Former human settlements mayco member Malusi Booi. Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers FORMER human settlements mayco member Malusi Booi has implicated two senior City officials in what he described as a witch hunt leading to his arrest over tender collusion charges, which the National Prosecuting Authority subsequently withdrew on Friday. Booi was arrested last year, one year after his offices were raided and his electronic equipment seized. The charges against him related to alleged tender collusion linked to construction companies owned by alleged underworld figures such as Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson. In an exclusive interview with the Cape Times yesterday, Booi spoke of what he believed led to his arrest, his time as the mayoral committee member and his future in politics. 'I do think it was (a political witch hunt), it has been confirmed on a number of platforms because in the first place there was no R1 billion tender fraud. Even if something happened at the supply chain, I don't have any control on who gets to be appointed or not being appointed. I've got no role in appointing contractors. I was viewed as someone who awarded a contract to a contractor, the people who did that knew very well that it does not exist because that is purely administrative, it is done by City officials. It is not done by politicians, our role is purely oversight. We meet contractors that had already been appointed on site. "The company in question was never appointed by the City, they were appointed by the provincial government in 2014. I was not even working for the City at the time, so there was no way I could have championed the appointment. I joined in 2016, appointed as sub council chairperson for subcouncil 21. I only joined human settlements in December 2018. It was four years later that the company was appointed. I was taken aback when I was accused of facilitating this appointment," he said. Upon his own investigations, Booi said he learned that the tenders in question were even cancelled before they were awarded. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'There was a narrative created that the City lost a billion when they knew the City never lost a cent. There was no money taken but the impression created was that Malusi ran away with a R1billion, I mean, it's not possible. No money lost by the City. During my tenure we achieved 99.3% of delivery. So I was shocked to understand that all of a sudden there are these issues.' He said he knew who was behind the orchestrated move against him. He said one of the officials had made statements saying he was the one who gave police information about Booi, while another made remarks in a CCMA case that 'he wanted to deal with me harshly'. Asked why he would be the target of these attacks, Booi said he was not in favour and did not support the re-appointment of one of the officials. 'A lot of things were not going right under his watch, a lot of service delivery issues.' Booi said the entire saga had been draining both psychologically and physically. 'It took a (huge) toll on my family but I am relieved now all these charges have been dropped so that one can continue with life. From day one, when they came to the office, it has always been a very difficult moment but I've tried to remain calm under the situation. I lost my job that I enjoyed doing the most. It's been very stressful.' Booi said he would not be considering returning to the City given the opportunity to do so. He plans to settle in the Eastern Cape where he wants to focus on a family-run farming business.
IOL News
26-04-2025
- IOL News
Police crack down on car thieves
Cape Town – Five suspects were expected to appear in court following their arrest for possession of stolen and hijacked vehicles. Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said officers were on patrol in Zwelitsha when they saw two suspects carrying parts of a vehicle. 'When questioned, the suspects told the police where they got the parts and they directed the police to where the vehicle was. "On arrival, the members found another suspect busy stripping the vehicle. The vehicle was discovered as reported stolen in Gugulethu this month.' The trio, aged 20, 24 and 39, were arrested. In another incident, officers arrested two suspects aged 25 and 26. They were caught taking apart a vehicle in Ramaphosa informal settlement in Browns Farm. 'The vehicle was reportedly hijacked an hour before the arrest in Monwood Drive in the same vicinity," said Van Wyk. "The driver of the company vehicle, a Toyota Avanza, had just finished dropping the last staff member when he was approached by two armed men. "One suspect searched the driver and took his wallet and the other suspect got into the driver's side and they drove away with the vehicle.' The 26-year-old suspect was apprehended with a replica firearm. The suspects were scheduled to appear in the Athlone Magistrate's Court on charges of theft and possession of a hijacked vehicle. Cape Times
