Innholdsfortegnelse for 2025-07-17 i Cape Argus

THE City's Law Enforcement Directorate will be instituting disciplinary action against one of their officers after his estranged partner took to social media with shocking images and allegations of physical abuse. The Facebook post by Shauna Rhoda shared widely this week, shows images of bruises to her face, legs and arms. Attempts were made to reach Rhoda via her Facebook account and telephonically but she did not respond. The post read: “Today, I choose to break my silence, not just for myself, but for every woman who has suffered in silence, been failed by the system, and told her pain wasn’t enough. For years, I endured sexual, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of someone who was supposed to protect and care for me, a man I was in…

THE family of murdered 17-year-old Cytheria Rex, who have waited 16 years for justice, have suffered another blow after the presiding magistrate was hospitalised and is no longer able to do the sentencing of her convicted killers. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, yesterday confirmed a new magistrate has taken over the matter, who will need to familiarise himself with the case. “The Virgil Sass and others matter has been postponed to August 26 for final transcripts as a new regional court magistrate has been appointed,” he said. The case, in its 16th year, is the longest running trial in South African history. Rex was stabbed more than 30 times and raped in 2009. During judgment, the magistrate detailed how the group had all played a role in her…

IT WAS a video of four adults – all dancers on the streets in the Cape Flats, trying to teach a 4-year old their dance moves. And soon, it captured the global audience on Tik Tok. Now, Cape Town’s viral sensation, The Street Kings, along with the child, are lighting up global timelines with their bold choreography, charismatic moves and unfiltered joy. We have tried several times to get hold of The Street Kings for an interview, but to no avail. They have over 2 million TikTok followers and counting. “You see it’s not easy teaching him. People think it’s just easy,” says one of the dancers with a smile on the TikTok but in the next video, there is the 4-year-old doing all the moves the adults are doing…

As the mystery surrounding the murder of 11-year-old Jayden-Lee Meek unfolds, reports of abuse allegations made to his school have risen. There have been reports that the young boy, who attended Royal College in Florida, allegedly told his peers and educators about the abuse he was suffering. Jayden-Lee is alleged to have talked about how he was left alone, did not always have something to eat, and had visible bruising. Earlier this week, the young boy’s mother, Tiffany Meek, appeared in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court. The 31-year-old mother faces charges of murder, crimen injuria, attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice, and defeating or obstructing the administration of justice. IOL reached out to the Gauteng Education Department, requesting answers as to why no one responded to Jayden-Lee’s cries…

A BACKABUDDY campaign has been launched to help 76-year-old Mandisa Cynthia Magwa, a long-time resident of the streets of Muizenberg and Fish Hoek, find a permanent home. Known simply as Cynthia to many locals, she has become a familiar figure outside Checkers in Muizenberg, where she sits quietly, surrounded by her bags, burning incense, and praying. Originally from the Eastern Cape, Magwa moved to Cape Town in search of work, but after leaving an abusive partner, she became homeless. “She radiated joy and laughter, even in the midst of her circumstances. Over time, I started viewing her as a third grandmother,” said Jeanelle Huskisson, who started the BackaBuddy campaign to help Magwa. Huskisson first met Magwa in October last year and started supporting her through small donations and collaborative yoga…

DURING this past week we had two pieces of news which will shake our joint quest to create jobs in South Africa. Firstly, the bad – US tariffs introduce a nightmare and secondly good, the largest asset manager (Public Investment Corporation – PIC) which has more than R3 trillion in assets under management. The National Treasury is now stepping in to play a strong oversight role. This news is good and will be unpacked further down. The bad news is the US tariffs destined to kick in on the August 1. The consequences in employment in South Africa are already starting to show how devastating it really is. In essence, this upsets most of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) which has up until…

YOUR Monday edition, “Macpherson targets corruption with lifestyle audits”, refers. Well done to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure. To my recollection President Ramaphosa demanded that every department does a lifestyle audit in order to ensure that people are kept away from putting their “fingers in the cookie jar”. In essence, it becomes very suspicious if a senior staffer earning R30 000 a month arrives at work in a new suit and a gleaming Jaguar. This show-off would have to explain that either his grandmother has passed away and left him a fortune or he has just won the jackpot. Short of these two factors it might be worthwhile having a look into the acquisition of these assets. At the same time, I know…

Chinese women who publish homoerotica online say they are being threatened with fines and jail time, as increasing enforcement of vague obscenity charges targets a rare space for LGBTQ identity and feminism. In recent months, Chinese police have detained dozens of writers on Haitang Literature City, a Taiwan-based website known for publishing serialised Boys’ Love, a genre of erotic fiction mainly written and read by heterosexual women. Originating as a strand of Japanese manga comics in the 1960s known as “yaoi”, the genre has attracted a cult following in Asia and beyond, leading to popular screen adaptations and web series. The stories defy social stereotypes about the roles of men and women, a 22-year-old writer who asked to go by the pseudonym Miu Miu, said. “It’s a kind of resistance...…

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has confirmed that the club will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after being demoted from the Uefa Europa League. Palace secured a place in the Europa League following their shock FA Cup final victory over Manchester City in May – the first major trophy in the club’s history and their maiden qualification for European competition. However, Uefa, European football’s governing body, has ruled that Palace must drop down to the Europa Conference League due to a conflict of interest involving former club director John Textor, who also holds a significant stake in French side Olympique Lyonnais. Textor stepped down from his role at Palace at the start of July, but the issue stems from the end of last season, when Palace…

Months after Jessica Alba split from her husband, Cash Warren, the Honey actress was spotted kissing a mystery man earlier this year, who has now been identified as Captain America actor Danny Ramirez. According to TMZ, the two were spotted boarding a plane in Cancun, where they had spent time together, and later headed back to Los Angeles (LA) on an American Airlines jet. Ramirez, 32, known for his role in the Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, played a character in the Captain America franchise. Currently, he is filming Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled for release in December next year. According to sources, including a report from People, Alba has been enjoying her singleness and has not been dating anyone seriously. Before their Cancun vacation, Ramirez and the…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has defended his decision to establish a commission of inquiry to look into the recent allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Tabling the budget of the Presidency in the National Assembly yesterday, Ramaphosa said Mkhwanazi alleged that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu had interfered with sensitive police investigations and colluded with business people, including a murder accused, to disband the Political Killings Task Team based in KwaZulu-Natal. Ramaphosa said it was “strange” that some people voiced strong opposition to the establishment of the commission of inquiry into Mkhwanazi’s allegations. “Some have said that I should take immediate punitive steps against the minister on the basis of untested allegations. Not only would this be unfair, but it would create a dangerous precedent. The commission should be allowed…

SCORES of young Capetonians turned out at Athlone Stadium for the Day of 1 000 Opportunities where job-seekers were introduced to the call centre industry this week. The event is administered by CapeBPO in collaboration with the City of Cape Town, Western Cape Government, and Futur-ED. CapeBPO is the City and the Western Cape’s business partner responsible for the growth and development of the Business Process Outsourcing industry. Fourteen companies attended the event including Ascensos; Boomerang; Capita; Concentrix; DSG; EXL; Foundever; IGT Solutions; TPSA; TTEC; TELUS International and WNS / Ucademy. Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and mayco member for Economic Growth, James Vos, went to the event to meet some of the youngsters and share a few words of encouragement. “Cape Town has become a premium global choice for…

THIS is not war – this is industrial-scale slaughter carried out with foreign-backed money and weapons. Every bomb that reduces a Gaza neighbourhood to rubble carries the fingerprints of powerful nations, and every bullet that tears through a child’s body was financed by taxpayers around the world. Our inaction is our signature on the execution order. They tell us these are “precision strikes”, but where is the precision in bombing a refugee camp to kill one man and murdering 126 civilians instead? Where is the accuracy in shelling a UN school sheltering displaced families, leaving the walls painted with children’s blood? These aren’t military operations – they’re extermination campaigns. Day after day, body bags are stacking higher as they methodically dismantle an entire people, house by house, school by school,…

IN A a nation still reeling from rising criminality, unemployment, and economic stagnation, political arrogance is no longer just a public relations blunder, it is a direct threat to societal stability. South Africa finds itself at a crossroads where public trust in state institutions is crumbling, and the line between order and chaos is thinning. The recent wave of reaction to KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations is a revealing indicator of how desperate citizens are for honest, fearless leadership amid pervasive corruption and lawlessness. Meanwhile, arrogance among some political leaders is pushing the nation closer to the edge, echoing the violent tremors of the July 2021 unrest, which were sparked by former President Jacob Zuma’s incarceration. According to the 2024 South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics, murder…