Latest news with #Giyani
The Herald
23-06-2025
- General
- The Herald
Teachers battle the odds to boost literacy at rural Giyani school
Teachers at Vusizi Primary School in Mahlati village, Giyani, Limpopo, face many problems in their quest to improve literacy among their young pupils. They battle overcrowding in the foundation phase classrooms, a shortage of reading material and lack of parental support to encourage a reading culture at home. These challenges are compounded by the need to transition from mother tongue learning in Xitsonga to English when the pupils reach grade 4. 'As teachers we are struggling in terms of resources,' grade 4 teacher Irene Baloyi said. 'The school has limited resources such as reading materials. Learners do not have enough textbooks, and what they have is workbooks. 'Resources like pictures and posters are not available, and they are the most important resources that can be used to educate and help learners understand words easily.' The school, established in1963, serves a sprawl of rural villages in the Greater Giyani municipality and is classified as a no fee-paying school, making it accessible for pupils from poor households. It was built to accommodate a sizeable number of pupils but due to the growing need for education, enrolment numbers have increased exponentially in recent years, leading to overcrowded classes. Baloyi said the number of pupils in the lower grades kept growing every year. But the biggest hindrance to the ability of teachers to provide a quality education was a lack of resources. 'Some classes in the foundation phase are overcrowded, making it hard to provide quality education. We also have limited books and posters. 'To cope, we sometimes create our own teaching aids by drawing on large paper and writing letters for the kids to learn from. 'The other challenge we have in the foundation phase is our learners' medium of instruction is the mother tongue (Xitsonga) from grade R to 3, but in grade 4, the medium of instruction changes to English, which becomes very difficult for our learners to transition to and understand.' Despite all the challenges, the teachers continue to do their best to give their pupils the quality education they deserve to break the cycle of poverty at home. Grade 2 teacher Nomia Malatjie said she employed different methods of teaching to encourage her pupils to read. 'Group reading helps, and learners are grouped so that pupils can assist one another. Some learners also help others to read one on one after school. 'The school also employs phonics-based instruction, guided reading and reading aloud and discussion to help learners improve their reading skills,' she said. 'Our learners mostly come from poor backgrounds – sometimes child-headed homes or living with their grandmothers who are not educated. 'They do not have support from their families or at home. They have limited resources to help them.' Malatjie said most of the school's teachers worked overtime to help support pupils who were struggling to read in class by forming smaller groups for reading and storytelling. The school also held regular meetings with parents to encourage them to support their children at home by listening to them read after school. Teacher Lifbeth Risenga said Vusizi Primary needed a library to help improve pupils' reading and comprehension, as well as donations of books. The school's governing body chair, Thomas Mathebula, is concerned about the pupils' struggles to improve their literacy levels. 'We are doing our part to help disadvantaged pupils. When pupils struggle with reading and writing, we call a meeting with the teachers and principal before involving parents,' he said. Salphinah Makaringe, grandmother of a pupil at the school, said she understood that parental support was crucial in helping children improve their reading skills. 'I take care of my granddaughter while her mother is away. When she comes home from school, I ask if she has any homework. 'If she does, I help with what I can, but I am limited in my ability to assist with things I do not understand or know,' she said. This special report into the state of literacy, a collaborative effort by The Herald, Sowetan and Daily Dispatch, was made possible by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation
The Herald
21-05-2025
- The Herald
Police arrest Facebook scammer who lured victim and allegedly raped her
Limpopo police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe was contacted and immediately mobilised a team to search for the victim. 'Within five hours of establishing the search party, the victim and kidnapper were traced to a filling station in Giyani, Limpopo, where the con man had run out of petrol and did not have funds to fill up his motor vehicle.' Mathe said a ccording to the victim, the kidnapper goes by the name of Jeff Rals on Facebook and uses a picture and identity that belong to someone else. The suspect met the victim in Pretoria and immediately when the victim realised that the individual looked different from his Facebook profile, the suspect lied and said he was a driver sent by his brother Jeff Rals to pick her up. The scammer then drove to Limpopo with the victim under false pretences and proceeded to allegedly rape her repeatedly at his homestead. 'The SAPS takes this opportunity to warn online dating users to be extra cautious and not be so trusting. Online dating scams can often lead to requests to meet online lovers which could result in a kidnapping incident. 'These scammers often make the victim feel as though they have a genuine relationship. Once trust has been established, the scammer often requests money or to meet the victim, which results in kidnapping, as in this case,' Mathe said. She urged others who fell victim to the fake Facebook impostor to come forward. 'The young woman is being reunited with her family today and the suspect is in police custody and charged with rape and kidnapping.' TimesLIVE
The Herald
14-05-2025
- The Herald
Giyani man sentenced to 20 years for raping minor stepdaughter
A 36-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by the Giyani regional court on Monday after being found guilty of repeatedly raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter in May 2024 while her mother was at work. Limpopo police spokesperson Sgt Maropeng Alpheus Mashapa said the victim was with her stepfather inside the house at Giyani Section F while her mother was on night duties at her workplace. During that period, the man sexually assaulted the minor. On May 29 2024, the man asked his wife to call a family meeting, saying he had a burning issue that should be addressed in front of the family members. Mashapa said 'the meeting was arranged, and he revealed that he had sexual intercourse with the child, and it was not for the first time'. S ocial workers were alerted and advised the mother to report the matter to the police. A rape case was opened immediately. Mashapa stated that the suspect was arrested on the same day and was denied bail. Limpopo police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe welcomed the court verdict. TimesLIVE
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Giyani Progresses to Production Ramp-Up at the Demonstration Plant
TORONTO, Jan. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV:EMM, GR:A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company"), developer of the Battery-Grade Manganese Project in Botswana (" or 'the Project'), is pleased to provide an update on the start of production at the Demonstration Plant ('Demo Plant') in Johannesburg. Highlights: The Production ramp-up (C5 Commissioning) phase has commenced, and the team continues to work determinedly towards first production of battery-grade manganese (HPMSM). The Demo Plant materially advanced Hot Commissioning (C4 Commissioning) during January 2025. C4 and C5 commissioning naturally progress in parallel in the final stages of commissioning. Demo Plant product samples are on track to be produced in Q1 2025 and then provided to potential off-takers to begin qualification trials as part of the offtake process, which will form an integral component of Project Financing. The Demo Plant is designed to identify opportunities, improve the design, and significantly derisk the project as Giyani will better understand how the Commercial Plant (to be built in Botswana) will respond in advance of construction, commissioning, and ramp-up. The Demo Plant also enables final optimisation of the engineering design and flowsheet in order to reduce operating costs and carbon profiles, in parallel with the Definitive Feasibility Study ('DFS') which is underway and expected to be completed in 2025. In addition to targeted operating cost reductions, Giyani announced last week the receipt of its Special Economic Zone ('SEZ') licence for its Commercial Plant which is planned for construction adjacent to Giyani's extensive, 100% owned manganese ore sources in Botswana. The SEZ licence will directly positively impact the Company, as the SEZ Licence brings with it fiscal and non-fiscal benefits. Important to note is that the Company will benefit from 5% corporate tax rate for the first 10 years of production from its Commercial Plant, increasing to 10% thereafter, a considerable benefit which was not included in the 2023 PEA. CEO Charles FitzRoy has also been in Johannesburg this week, seeing the Demo Plant progress ahead of our pre-Indaba investor site visit to the Demo Plant on February 1, 2025. The Giyani team are also attending the 121 conference and the Indaba conference in Cape Town next week, with a full schedule of off-taker, investor, and strategic meetings. Charles FitzRoy, President and CEO of the Company, commented: 'Giyani's Demo Plant is progressing to the production ramp-up commissioning phase , and the team continues to work determinedly towards first production of battery-grade manganese. We are targeting first production of HPMSM in Q1 2025. Our technical and operational teams are demonstrating excellent skill and resilience in navigating the usual late-stage commissioning challenges that occur when plants ramp-up toward production. All the learnings and identified adjustments we are making from the process underway further endorse the strategic decision to construct a Demo Plant at a 1:10 scale to the planned Commercial Facility. This significantly de-risks the final Project and provides Giyani with a unique platform to understand how its planned Commercial Facility will behave. The Demo Plant also provides Giyani the ability to conduct R&D on its process and ensure it maintains its early mover advantage. The Demo Plant is an essential component in Giyani's long-term strategy to deliver high-purity battery-grade manganese to the EV market. This production capacity establishes a strong foundation for Giyani to engage with potential offtake partners, as the continuous process flow of the Demo Plant will allow the team to target steady-state operations over extended periods, consequently proving Giyani's ability to produce consistent battery-grade manganese and satisfy offtake requirements. This continuous operation at pre-commercial scale also provides critical information for understanding how the Commercial Plant will respond, further de-risking the Project.'Figure 1: Left to right - Process Engineer Keitumetse Keiphetlhetswe, Lead Process Engineer Desiree Meyer, CEO Charles FitzRoy, Head of Corporate Development Sean Thijsse, and DFS Lead Andries Cilliers Demo Plant Commissioning and Production Update The construction of the Demo Plant, which consists of nine Process Modules (each a self-contained process system within a fixed frame), is largely complete. Since the news release ('NR') dated December 20, 2024, commissioning continued to advance the C4 commissioning phase in January (Hot Commissioning with reagents and steam). Commissioning challenges have included power outages, water supply disruptions, technical challenges with the commissioning of the control system and the holiday break which disrupted reagent and final equipment supply. C5 Production Ramp up commenced in January and is the final phase in the commissioning process and involves running ore through the complete process on a continuous basis. The Demo Plant laboratory, independently installed and operated by Quality Lab Services (QLS, a Minopex company), is at operational capacity. The key instrumentation of ICP-OES and XRF are both fully operational and the first sets of full analytical assays have been 2: Demo Plant Render Stages of commissioning: C1 – Full mechanical completion (individual Process Modules) C2 – Dry testing, direction testing, loop testing (individual Process Modules) C3 – Cold/Water Commissioning, software testing (individual Process Modules) C4 – Hot Commissioning with reagents and steam (typically full Process) C5 – Production Ramp-up (full Process)Figure 3: Onsite Independent Lab – Preparation Area In addition to progress at the Demo Plant, concurrent metallurgical test-work is underway to further optimize the flowsheet. Giyani is focused on further reducing reagent use and improving both the operating cost and carbon profiles for the Commercial Plant, planned for construction adjacent to Giyani's extensive 100% owned manganese oxide ore sources in Southern Botswana. The Demo Plant is designed at a scale factor of approximately 1:10 to the planned Commercial Plant. This provides robust and reliable scale-up from the Demo Plant data when the Commercial Plant is implemented. To illustrate, the leach tanks have a 60cm diameter in the Demo Plant and this is expected to be 8-10x larger at approximately 5m in the Commercial 4: Demo Plant Render Onsite Independent Lab – ICP-OES and XRF Instruments Demo Plant Operational Overview As the Demo Plant is a planned copy of the anticipated Commercial Plant, at a 1:10 scale, the overall operating requirements and system requirements are very similar. Alongside the engineering, commercial and research benefits of the Demo Plant, the availability of mature SOPs will facilitate a smooth transition to full-scale commercial production. The independent, fully ISO-certified laboratory will allow commercial-level metal accounting and provide rapid assay turnaround times to enable effective operation of the Demo Plant. The laboratory is operational with key equipment such as the ICP-OES and XRF already in active use. The laboratory, and all the procedures and methods associated with it, can be transferred directly to the Commercial Plant, enabling a tried and tested laboratory set-up available on Day 1 of Commercial Plant commissioning. About Giyani Giyani is focused on becoming a dominant western-world producer of sustainable, low carbon high purity battery grade manganese for the electric vehicle ('EV') industry. The Company has developed a proprietary hydrometallurgical process to produce battery-grade manganese (HPMSM), a lithium-ion battery cathode precursor material critical for EVs. The Company secured financing of US$26m in 2024 from two strategic partners, ARCH Sustainable Resources Fund LP and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, enabling it to progress the battery-grade manganese project in Botswana to construction by building and operating the Demo Plant and completing a Definitive Feasibility Study in 2025. Additional information and corporate documents may be found on and on Giyani Metals Corp. website at Qualified Persons / NI 43-101 Disclosures A National Instrument 43-101 ('NI 43-101') technical report including results of the PEA and the MRE can be found on SEDAR+ at and made available on the Company's website at Jeffrey Peter Stevens BSc (Chem Eng) Pr. Eng is a Qualified Person, as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Stevens is assisting the Company for DFS compliance with NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content contained in this news release and is independent of the issuer for the purposes of NI 43-101. On behalf of Giyani Metals Corp. Charles FitzRoy, President and CEO Contact: Giyani Metals FitzRoy, President & CEO cfitzroy@ +1289-291-7632 Tavistock, Corporate CommunicationsTara Vivian-Neal / Josephine Clerkin giyani@ +44 20 7920 3150 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. Such statements include without limitation: the Company the ongoing construction, commissioning and operation of the Demo Plant, and timing thereof, the completion of hot commissioning, the delivery of product, and entering into offtake agreements. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyani's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include anticipated operations in future periods, planned construction and development of its properties and facilities, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyani's ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licences and permits; risks related to Giyani's business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to the Company's mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to the Company's directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyani's forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information or statements. Giyani's forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of the Company's respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyani's continuous disclosure documents which are filed on SEDAR+ at Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
