Flux Communications

Flux Communications Flux Communications is a hands-on publicity agency specialising in media coverage across all mediums for their clients.

Flux Communications is in the business of publicity. No, publicity is not advertising, or web design, or brochures or promo girls; or my personal favourite…..publishing books. Publicity is the careful art of placing a company’s information, key spokespeople or key messages into the public sphere in the very credible form of media editorials, ie, articles in newspapers, magazines, internet and blog

sites, social media and radio and television interviews to mention a few. Of all the various communication channels, one of the most valuable and powerful vehicles is that of publicity. Publicity can generate awareness and interest around your company and raise the profile of your offering to your desired target market. No campaign can be successful without a comprehensive marketing mix that includes a well thought out strategic publicity campaign.

Issued on behalf of The ICHAF Training InstituteThe 92% Gap: South Africa's Su***de Crisis Just Found a New Front Door B...
12/08/2026

Issued on behalf of The ICHAF Training Institute

The 92% Gap: South Africa's Su***de Crisis Just Found a New Front Door
By Devan Moonsamy - Mental Health Counsellor – CEO The ICHAF Training Institute PTY LTD

In my own work, I have watched people describe conversations they had with ChatGPT before ever speaking to another human being. They weren't looking for technology. They were looking for someone who would answer. That should concern every psychologist, teacher, parent and policymaker in South Africa. When someone in this country is in crisis, who is actually answering?
Increasingly, in South Africa, the honest answer is: nobody. So people — often young people — are turning to a chatbot instead.

South Africa has one of the highest su***de rates in Africa. SADAG, which runs the country's main su***de crisis line, estimates roughly 23 people take their own lives here every day — a figure that, if anything, likely understates the true toll, since independent modelling suggests official records undercount su***de deaths due to stigma and gaps in how deaths get registered. Su***de is the second leading cause of death among South Africans aged 15 to 29. Government's own Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has described it as an escalating national crisis.
None of that is new information. What's newer is the size of the gap between that crisis and the help available to face it.

92%

That's the share of South Africans living with a mental illness who, according to the country's only national psychiatric epidemiological survey, never receive treatment for it. For common conditions like depression and anxiety, three out of four people go without help. For the most severe cases — the ones carrying the highest su***de risk — fewer than one in ten get the care they need. As of the most recent professional registration data, South Africa has around 1.7 psychiatrists and 5.3 psychologists per 100,000 people overall. For the uninsured majority who depend on the public system, that collapses to well under one psychologist and a third of a psychiatrist per 100,000 — against a benchmark of roughly seven psychiatrists and nine psychologists per 100,000 in high-income countries.

Sit with that gap for a second, because it's the whole story. If you are a South African teenager or adult in crisis at midnight, with no medical aid, in a province with no child psychiatrist at all, there is, quite literally, no one whose job it is to answer.

Except there is now something that answers instantly, for free, every single time.

The Cape Town-based National Centre for Child Protection has found that, among the schoolchildren it works with across the country, 82 percent said they turn first — and sometimes only — to AI when they need comfort or support. SADAG's operations director, Cassey Chambers, has said the organisation increasingly hears from people who've already been talking to ChatGPT before they ever reach a human counsellor. She's called it a "gateway" — and to be fair, sometimes it is one: a chatbot that gently points someone toward SADAG's number is doing something a silent, stigma-bound household often won't.

But a gateway only works if what's on the other side of it can actually catch someone. Overseas, where the same unregulated products are used, that assumption has already failed, fatally. Character.AI is facing settled wrongful-death lawsuits from families whose children died by su***de after prolonged, emotionally intense chatbot relationships, and only banned open-ended chat for under-18 users after the fact. OpenAI is fighting a lawsuit from a family who says ChatGPT engaged with their sixteen-year-old son's suicidal plans rather than interrupting them. Those cases happened in countries with functioning emergency mental health systems as a backstop. South Africa doesn't have that backstop. We have a 92 percent gap, and the same unregulated chatbots, with none of the legal or regulatory pressure currently forcing incremental safety changes overseas — no FTC-style inquiry, no attorney general testing these products against local law, nothing in POPIA that governs how a chatbot should respond when someone tells it they want to die.

These systems aren't built to assess su***de risk. They're built to keep a person engaged. They don't get tired, don't set a boundary, don't notice that this week's conversation is worse than last week's, and — critically — they have no mandated duty to escalate a disclosure of suicidal intent to a human being, the way a counsellor, teacher, or even a trained SADAG volunteer is trained to. A person in genuine crisis needs someone who can assess risk, involve family, and get them to higher care within minutes. A chatbot can keep talking to them for hours instead, sounding supportive the entire time.

That isn't a hypothetical failure mode. It's the specific allegation at the centre of the lawsuits now working through courts on other continents.

Close the gap that's driving people to chatbots in the first place, not just regulate the chatbots. Investment in community-based counsellors, task-shifted care, and school-based support does more to reduce reliance on unaccountable technology than any age filter will.

Local crisis routing, not generic routing. If someone in South Africa discloses suicidal intent to a chatbot, the response should point to SADAG's 24-hour line, not a US number that doesn't work here.
Independent clinical audits of crisis response, with South African clinicians and su***de-prevention researchers at the table — not left entirely to companies whose primary incentive is engagement, and not only to American regulators.

A public position from South African authorities — the Information Regulator, the Department of Basic Education, SASOP — on what these products owe a country with our particular numbers, before a lawsuit forces the conversation the way it did elsewhere.

I understand exactly why a person in crisis reaches for a chatbot in South Africa: for 92 percent of people with a mental illness in this country, it may genuinely be the only thing that answers. That is precisely why it cannot be left this unaccountable.

________________________________________
If you or someone you know is thinking about su***de, SADAG's 24-hour Su***de Crisis Helpline is 0800 567 567, or SMS 31393. You don't have to be in a full-blown crisis to call.
References
South African su***de and mental health data
• SADAG (sadag.org) — Su***de Crisis Helpline; publicly stated estimate of 23 su***des and 230 serious attempts recorded daily in South Africa. (Note: SADAG has also cited a 20:1 attempt ratio elsewhere, implying ~460/day — the two figures haven't been reconciled in public materials; worth a follow-up query to SADAG directly before broadcast.)
• Wikipedia, "Su***de in South Africa," citing national and WHO-modelled estimates — approx. 13,000–14,000 estimated su***de deaths/year; 23.5 per 100,000 rate (2024); su***de as 2nd leading cause of death, ages 15–29.
• Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, via AllAfrica (26 Dec 2025) — statement on South Africa's escalating su***de crisis.
• Williams DR, Herman A, Stein DJ, et al. "Twelve-month mental disorders in South Africa" (South African Stress and Health Study), Psychol Med 2008;38(2):211–220 —Original source of the 92% national treatment gap figure.
• SASOP (Sept 2025). Mental health care out of reach for most South Africans — 92% treatment gap; treatment rates by severity.
• South African Health Review (May 2026), samajournals.co.za — HPCSA-registered psychiatrist/psychologist ratios per 100,000 (Oct 2025 data).
• ScienceDirect (2023) — provider ratios for the uninsured population specifically.
AI chatbots and mental health — South Africa
• IOL (26 July 2026). The loneliness economy — comments from Cassey Chambers (SADAG) and Danie van Loggerenberg (National Centre for Child Protection); 82% statistic.
• SASOP — AI can't replace humans in mental health treatment, comments from Prof. Christopher Szabo.
AI chatbots and teen su***de — international
• Reuters/CNBC/Fortune (Jan 2026) — Google and Character.AI settlement of wrongful-death lawsuits (Setzer case).
• Character.AI (Nov 2025) — announcement banning open-ended chat for under-18 users.
• Court filings/Fox News (Aug 2025) — Raine family lawsuit against OpenAI.
• Epstein Becker Green (2025) — FTC inquiry into seven AI chatbot companies (Sept 2025).

Issued on behalf of Unu HealthBurnout isn’t a badge, it’s a health issue!In South Africa’s ongoing conversation about ec...
12/08/2026

Issued on behalf of Unu Health

Burnout isn’t a badge, it’s a health issue!

In South Africa’s ongoing conversation about economic resilience, one of the most significant yet least visible threats is not a lack of skills, infrastructure or ambition — it is burnout.

This Women’s Month with the theme - Building Resilient Economies for All - attention is turning to the invisible load carried by women across the country. Beyond their roles in the workplace, women continue to shoulder disproportionate responsibilities as caregivers, parents, partners and household managers.

The result is a growing crisis of stress, anxiety and emotional fatigue that is quietly shaping career trajectories, limiting leadership potential and affecting national productivity.

While burnout is often discussed in individual terms, experts say it is increasingly becoming a systemic economic issue.

“Women's mental health is far more than just a wellbeing issue. It influences workforce participation, productivity and leadership potential—all of which contribute to building stronger, more resilient economies,” says Luvuyo Maloka from digital healthcare platform, Unu Health.

“When women are constantly stretched between work, family and financial pressures, their ability to rest, recover and make clear decisions is significantly reduced. Over time, this affects not only their health, but also their participation, confidence and long-term growth in the economy.”

Research supports this growing concern. According to the World Health Organization, anxiety and depressive disorders are among the leading causes of disability globally, with women
disproportionately affected. In South Africa, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) continues to report increasing demand for mental health support, particularly among women navigating financial pressure, caregiving responsibilities and workplace demands.

Burnout is no longer confined to high-pressure corporate environments. It is now deeply embedded in everyday life — particularly for women who are expected to balance paid work with unpaid domestic and emotional labour.

“Burnout does not happen overnight. It builds slowly through sustained stress, lack of recovery time and emotional overload,” Maloka explains. “What we are seeing increasingly is that women are entering healthcare systems not only with physical symptoms, but with emotional exhaustion. This affects concentration, sleep, energy levels and ultimately the ability to function effectively in both personal and professional spaces.”

Studies on workplace wellbeing consistently show that burnout reduces productivity, increases absenteeism and contributes to higher staff turnover. For South Africa’s already strained labour market, this represents a significant economic risk.

However, the issue is not only workplace-driven. Much of women’s burnout stems from what is often referred to as “invisible labour” — the unpaid and unrecognised work of managing households, caring for children, supporting ageing parents and maintaining family stability.

This constant mental load leaves little space for recovery or self-care, with healthcare often becoming another task to postpone rather than prioritise. In many cases, mental health support is only sought once symptoms become severe, at which point recovery can be more complex and prolonged. This is where access to preventative and continuous care becomes critical.

Digital health solutions and integrated care models are increasingly being used to provide more accessible mental health support, particularly for women who may not have the time or resources to attend traditional in-person consultations. These approaches allow for earlier intervention, ongoing check-ins and more flexible access to care — helping to reduce the progression of stress into chronic burnout.

“Supporting women’s mental health is not a luxury,” says Maloka. “It is a necessary investment in productivity, leadership and long-term economic resilience. When women are mentally well, they are more present in their families, more effective in their workplaces and more able to contribute meaningfully to society.”

A workforce cannot be resilient if a significant portion of it is operating under sustained emotional strain. And an economy cannot thrive if the people driving it are running on empty.

For more information, please visit www.unuhealth.org

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Arrie Rautenbach Parkinson's FoundationOne Ride. One Man. One Mission to Change the Way South Africa...
11/08/2026

Issued on behalf of Arrie Rautenbach Parkinson's Foundation

One Ride. One Man. One Mission to Change the Way South Africa Sees Parkinson's

For most people, cycling 4,000 kilometres across Europe would be the adventure of a lifetime. For former Absa CEO, Arrie Rautenbach, it is something far more personal. It is a statement of hope. It is a challenge to the misconceptions surrounding Parkinson's disease. And it is the first major awareness initiative of the newly established Arrie Rautenbach Parkinson's Foundation, which aims to educate South Africans about Parkinson's disease, encourage earlier diagnosis and inspire people living with the condition to continue living full, purposeful lives.
Rautenbach is currently taking on one of the world's toughest ultra-distance cycling adventures — the NorthCape4000 — a self-supported endurance ride spanning approximately 4,000 kilometres from Rovereto in northern Italy to the North Cape of Norway. The route takes riders across eight countries, through the Alps, Germany, Sweden, Finland and into the Arctic Circle before reaching Europe's northernmost point. Participants are entirely responsible for navigating the route, managing their equipment, sourcing accommodation and overcoming the physical and mental demands of the journey. It is regarded as one of the world's premier ultra-distance cycling experiences rather than a traditional race.
For Rautenbach, however, every kilometre has a purpose beyond the finish line. He is riding to shine a light on a neurological condition that affects millions of people worldwide yet remains widely misunderstood.
Parkinson's disease is often associated only with tremors, but it is a complex, progressive neurological disorder that can affect movement, speech, sleep, mood, balance and cognitive function. While there is currently no cure, growing evidence shows that early diagnosis, appropriate medical treatment and regular exercise can significantly improve quality of life.
It is this message that inspired the formation of the Arrie Rautenbach Parkinson's Foundation.
The Foundation has been established to increase awareness and education around Parkinson's disease in South Africa, helping people recognise the early signs, encouraging informed conversations and providing hope to individuals and families navigating the diagnosis.
For Rautenbach, who built a distinguished career leading one of South Africa's largest financial institutions before publicly sharing his Parkinson's diagnosis, the Foundation represents a new chapter of leadership. Not from a boardroom. But from the saddle of a bicycle.
"For many people, Parkinson's represents the end of the life they imagined. I want people to know it doesn't have to be the end of purpose, contribution or hope. This ride isn't about proving how strong I am. It's about showing what is still possible."
Throughout the journey, Rautenbach will battle fatigue, unpredictable weather, mountain climbs and thousands of kilometres of open road. Yet in many ways, those challenges mirror the reality faced every day by people living with Parkinson's. Every day requires determination. Every day requires resilience. Every day requires choosing to keep moving forward. The symbolism of the ride is difficult to ignore.
Each pedal stroke becomes a reminder that progress is not always measured by speed, but by the willingness to continue despite adversity. That message sits at the heart of the Foundation's mission.
"Parkinson's may change the way you move, but it should never define who you are. If this journey encourages even one person to seek an earlier diagnosis, ask more questions or realise they are not alone, then every kilometre will have been worthwhile."
The Foundation also hopes to challenge one of the greatest barriers facing people living with Parkinson's — misunderstanding.
Many South Africans remain unaware that symptoms can appear years before diagnosis and that Parkinson's affects every individual differently. By encouraging education and open conversation, the Foundation hopes to replace fear with knowledge and isolation with support.
As someone who has spent a lifetime leading organisations through periods of uncertainty and change, Rautenbach now finds himself leading a different kind of movement — one built not around business performance, but around compassion, awareness and hope.
His journey across Europe is not simply an endurance challenge. It is an invitation. An invitation for South Africans to learn more about Parkinson's disease. To recognise the importance of early diagnosis. To support those living with the condition. And to understand that while Parkinson's may change a person's life, it does not diminish their ability to inspire others.
Long after the final kilometres have been completed and the North Cape has been reached, the Arrie Rautenbach Parkinson’s Foundation hopes the journey will continue — one conversation, one family and one life at a time.
For more information about the foundation and all that Arrie is up to, please visit arrieforparkinsons.com

ENDS

Issued on behalf of The ICHAF Training InstituteHow the Praise Poem of a Revolution Became the Alibi of a NationTHE WEAP...
05/08/2026

Issued on behalf of The ICHAF Training Institute

How the Praise Poem of a Revolution Became the Alibi of a Nation

THE WEAPONISATION OF THE 'STRONG BLACK WOMAN' (IMBOKODO) MYTH

By Devan Moonsamy
Mental Health Counsellor – CEO The ICHAF Training Institute PTY LTD

A woman is murdered in South Africa roughly every three hours. In a single year, femicide increased by almost 34%, while more than 42,500 rapes were reported—figures researchers believe represent only a fraction of what truly occurs behind closed doors [1].

And yet, when she survives—when she buries a husband, raises four children on one income, cares for an ageing parent, walks away from abuse, and still arrives at work with her lipstick on—we call her a rock.

We call her Imbokodo. We mean it as the highest compliment. Perhaps it is time we asked whether it has also become one of our greatest psychological burdens.
In 1956, twenty thousand women of every race marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to challenge apartheid's pass laws. They sang:
Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo. "You strike a woman, you strike a rock." [2]

Those words were never intended to describe how women should live. They were a warning to power.

They declared that women would not be broken by injustice. The metaphor faced outward, confronting oppression. It celebrated courage, solidarity and resistance.

Nearly seventy years later, something has changed. The same words that once challenged institutions have quietly become an expectation placed upon women by those very institutions.
The praise poem has become a job description.

Somewhere between 1956 and today, resilience stopped being honoured and started being expected.

Today, approximately 42% of South African households are headed by women, while an estimated 7.4 million women are the sole or primary breadwinners in their homes [3].

At the same time, the Human Sciences Research Council found that approximately one in three South African women has experienced physical violence during her lifetime—more than seven million women [4].

Many of these same women are carrying another burden that receives far less attention: an escalating mental health crisis.

The South African Depression and Anxiety Group reports receiving approximately 3,000 calls every day, while fewer than one in ten South Africans living with a diagnosable mental health condition ever receive treatment [5].

In isiZulu, one of South Africa's most widely spoken languages, clinicians have noted there is traditionally no direct word for "depression" [5].

It is often not spoken. It is simply carried. And perhaps that is exactly the problem.

Every time a woman's suffering is reframed as proof of her strength, someone else is quietly relieved of the responsibility to change the conditions causing that suffering.

We celebrate endurance. We admire sacrifice. We applaud resilience.

But we ask far less often why extraordinary resilience has become necessary in the first place.

Psychologists have a name for this phenomenon.

They call it the Superwoman Schema—the internalised belief that a woman must always appear strong, suppress emotional pain, care for everyone else, and succeed regardless of the personal cost.

Dr Cheryl Woods-Giscombé's pioneering research linked this pattern with chronic stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and stress-related physical illnesses, including hypertension, obesity and adverse pregnancy outcomes [6].

More recent research has reached a similarly concerning conclusion: women who most strongly internalised the "Strong Black Woman" identity reported significantly poorer mental health outcomes than women who internalised it less strongly [7].

Strength, it turns out, can become psychologically expensive.
South African feminist scholar Pumla Dineo Gqola offers another lens through which to understand this reality. In Female Fear Factory, she argues that violence against women is sustained not only by those who commit it, but also by cultural narratives that make living with that violence seem normal or inevitable [8].

Seen through that lens, the weaponised Imbokodo myth becomes deeply uncomfortable.

It does not stop women from being struck. It simply makes us admire how well they survive the blow.

A rock does not ask for help. A rock does not need therapy. A rock does not need flexible working hours, paid leave, affordable childcare, functioning policing, trauma counselling or someone to say, "You don't have to carry this alone."

That is precisely why the metaphor has become so useful to everyone except the woman living inside it.

The cost is rarely dramatic collapse. More often, it is the woman who continues performing. She keeps working. She keeps parenting. She keeps caring for everyone around her. She smiles. She meets every deadline. She asks everyone else whether they are okay. All while carrying the invisible biological consequences of chronic, unrelieved stress. Resilience is not proof that someone is coping. Sometimes it is evidence that nobody came to help.
None of this diminishes what Imbokodo meant—or what it should continue to mean.

It deserves to be spoken with pride. It should remain a symbol of courage, resistance and the extraordinary contribution South African women have made to this country's history.

But there is a profound difference between honouring a woman's strength and quietly requiring it. South Africa has blurred that line. And women are paying the price in silence, in burnout, in illness, and in lives cut short.

Changing this narrative does not require abandoning Imbokodo. It requires restoring its original meaning.

At home, stop praising women only for how much they endure. Ask what support they need. Share caregiving, emotional labour and household responsibilities instead of assuming women will naturally carry them.

At work, organisations must stop rewarding silent endurance and start creating psychologically safe workplaces where asking for help is viewed as strength rather than weakness. Employee Assistance Programmes, flexible work arrangements and visible leadership support for mental wellbeing should become standard practice—not optional benefits.

As a society, we must stop celebrating resilience while tolerating the conditions that make resilience necessary. Preventing gender-based violence, improving access to mental healthcare, strengthening policing and supporting caregivers are not acts of charity. They are investments in the wellbeing of our nation.
Real empowerment is not measured by how much suffering women survive. It is measured by how much unnecessary suffering we prevent.

A rock can hold up a house for a hundred years. But even rock erodes when nothing is ever done to protect it. The question South Africa has never honestly asked is not whether its women are strong. Generations of women have answered that question already. The real question is why we have made strength their only acceptable state. Perhaps the greatest way to honour Imbokodo is not to keep asking women to be rocks.

Perhaps it is to build a country where they no longer have to be.
________________________________________
References
[1] IOL / HSRC. SA's GBV epidemic in numbers. November 2025; Human Rights Watch. Confronting South Africa's Crisis of Gender-Based Violence. November 2024.
[2] South African History Archive (SAHA); Google Arts & Culture. Accounts of the 9 August 1956 Women's Anti-Pass March, Union Buildings, Pretoria.
[3] Statistics South Africa. General Household Survey; reporting on female-headed households and primary breadwinners (Stats SA / Cape Times, May 2025).
[4] Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). First South African National Gender-Based Violence Study. 2024.
[5] South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), reported by Sunday Times (October 2023) and Mad In America (January 2025).
[6] Woods-Giscombé, C. L. (2010). Superwoman Schema: African American Women's Views on Stress, Strength, and Health. Qualitative Health Research, 20(5), 668–683.
[7] Erving, C. L., et al. (2024). Black Women as Superwomen? The Mental Health Effects of Superwoman Schema, Socioeconomic Status, and Financial Strain. Social Problems.
[8] Gqola, P. D. (2021/2022). Female Fear Factory: Unravelling Patriarchy's Cultures of Violence. Cassava Republic Press.

Issued on behalf of Marimba JamThe World's Marimba Players Descend on Cape Town for the First-Ever Marimba World Champio...
05/08/2026

Issued on behalf of Marimba Jam

The World's Marimba Players Descend on Cape Town for the First-Ever Marimba World Championships

In a vibrant display of rhythm, unity and youthful energy, 1000+ marimba players from across South Africa and around the world will gather at St. Cyprian's School, Cape Town, on 15–16 August 2026 for the inaugural Marimba World Championships.

Hosted by Marimba Jam, Guinness World RecordsTM Title Holders for the Largest Marimba Ensemble, the Championships brings together 100+ bands and players of all ages, turning Cape Town into the global home of the marimba for one unforgettable weekend. Musicians are travelling from every corner of South Africa and from countries beyond its borders to compete, connect and share the sound of African music with the world.

The visionary behind this event is Kiara Ramklass, founder of Marimba Jam, who has spent more than a decade building an organisation dedicated to spreading the joy of marimba music to schools across the country. The Championships is sponsored by the South African Music Performance Rights Association and hosted in conjunction with Marimba Education Foundation and the National Lotteries Commission. MWC, despite being a competition, seeks to unite people through its theme of Harmony in Diversity, showing that our differences are what define us but also what brings us together.

Held across two streams; the Golden Champs Stream in the Main Hall and the Main World Champs Stream in the Multi-Purpose Hall; the Championships run preliminary rounds throughout both days before building to a spectacular Finale Showcase on the evening of 16 August, where 15 of the finest bands from the competition perform and 4 compete for the title of world champion.The Finale Showcase will also have a performance from Biko’s Manna, the sibling trio from Johannesburg who participated in America’s Got Talent, where they advanced to the quarterfinal stages.

Rooted in Marimba Jam’s mission to use the power of African music to unlock the potential in every child, the Championships are as much a cultural gathering as a contest, offering audiences live performances and the unmistakable, uplifting sound of hundreds of marimbas played in celebration.

Media & Public Invitation
The public is warmly invited to witness history at the inaugural Marimba World Championships. Tickets are available on Webtickets.
Tickets: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/event.aspx?itemid=1595446820
Venue: St. Cyprian's School, Cape Town
Dates: 15–16 August 2026
Prelims:
- 15 August 2026, 08:00- 21:00, Main Hall & Multi-Purpose Hall
- 16 August 2026, 08:00- 16:00, Main Hall & Multi-Purpose Hall
Finale Showcase: 16 August 2026, 18:00–21:00, Multi-Purpose Hall

Any media representatives who would like to attend the Championships to email [email protected] for media passes.
In addition to the band performances, the weekend will include marimba demos, workshops, live leaderboards, photo opportunities, virtual reality experiences, food vendors and chill zones.

Join the celebration and follow the countdown with .
For more information, visit www.marimbajam.com

ENDS

Issued on behalf of and The woman who refused to let Type 1 Diabetes define her lifeAt nine years old, while the rest...
04/08/2026

Issued on behalf of and

The woman who refused to let Type 1 Diabetes define her life

At nine years old, while the rest of her family tucked into warm Christmas pudding, Imke Erasmus sat quietly eating sugar-free jelly. It wasn't the dessert she remembers most. It was the feeling. The feeling of being different. Only months earlier, she had been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes after rapidly losing weight, constantly being thirsty and making endless trips to the bathroom. At the time, neither she nor her family recognised the symptoms of an autoimmune disease that would change her life forever. For a little girl trying desperately to fit in, diabetes suddenly became the thing everyone noticed first.

"It wasn't just Christmas," she recalls. "I wasn't invited to many birthday parties because other parents were worried they wouldn't know how to look after me or what I could eat. My mom was always concerned I'd have a severe hypoglycaemic episode, so she didn't want me taking part in sport. More than anything, I just wanted to be like everyone else."

Nearly four decades later, Erasmus has achieved exactly that – and so much more. Rather than allowing diabetes to define her future, she has built a career helping people living with the condition, founded her own successful business, and has now returned to the diabetes healthcare industry as part of Ethitech, one of South Africa's leading diabetes medical technology companies. During Women's Month, she is helping launch SYAI, a new continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) solution designed to make life-changing diabetes technology more accessible to South Africans.

Type 1 Diabetes is frequently misunderstood. Unlike Type 2 Diabetes, it is not caused by lifestyle or eating too much sugar. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It cannot be prevented and requires lifelong insulin therapy.

"The biggest misconception is that people think you somehow caused it," says Erasmus. "Nothing I ate caused my diabetes, and there was nothing my parents could have done to prevent it." She believes another misconception is that diabetes is simply managed with an injection or two each day.

"The reality is that diabetes is a full-time job that you never get to clock out of. Every meal, every walk, every stressful meeting, every illness and even a poor night's sleep can affect your glucose levels. People might see you checking your blood sugar or injecting insulin, but they don't see the hundreds of decisions you make every single day just to stay healthy."

Even today, after almost forty years of living with the condition, the burden never disappears.

"I recently travelled to Greece, and although I wear a continuous glucose monitor, I never get to take a holiday from diabetes. You're constantly thinking about insulin, meals, exercise and glucose levels. Technology makes it easier, but it doesn't make diabetes disappear."

Looking back, Erasmus believes living with diabetes shaped her character in unexpected ways.

"I think feeling different made me incredibly determined. I wanted to prove to myself and everyone else that diabetes wouldn't define me, so I worked hard and excelled at school and later at university."
She initially studied to become a pharmacist because she wanted to work in healthcare, but quickly realised her greatest passion lay in helping people gain access to innovative medical technologies that could genuinely improve their quality of life. Living with diabetes herself gave her a perspective that could never be learnt from a textbook.

"I've sat on both sides of the table. I've been the patient, and I've worked alongside healthcare professionals. That combination helped me understand not only the science behind diabetes management but also the emotional reality of living with it every day."

Over the next two decades, she built a respected career within South Africa's diabetes healthcare industry, helping introduce technologies designed to improve the lives of thousands of people living with diabetes. After twenty years immersed in diabetes care, Erasmus made a decision that surprised many people around her. She walked away.

"There wasn't one dramatic moment," she explains. "It was more a gradual realisation that diabetes had become such a central part of my identity that I wanted to discover who I was outside of it."
That journey led to the creation of The Blossomry, a boutique flower business that started with bunches made in her garage for friends. Today, the business employs four people and operates from Midstream Super Spar, specialising in whimsical floral arrangements that reflect Erasmus's creativity.

"It was one of the best decisions I ever made," she says. "It reminded me how difficult building a business really is. Passion is important, but resilience, adaptability and the willingness to keep learning every day are just as important."

Yet despite building a successful new venture, something was missing.

"I realised I missed making a meaningful difference to people's health. Every time I spoke to someone living with diabetes or heard about new technology becoming available, I felt excited. That's when I knew this wasn't simply a career. It was my purpose."
Sometimes, stepping away is exactly what allows someone to see where they truly belong. That renewed purpose has culminated in the launch of SYAI – short for Synchronised Artificial Intelligence – distributed in South Africa by Ethitech and developed by a proudly women-led team with more than 100 years of collective experience in the diabetes medical technology industry. While artificial intelligence forms an important part of the innovation, Erasmus believes the real strength behind SYAI lies equally in the decades of experience, clinical insight and deep understanding of the daily realities faced by people living with diabetes. Their shared mission is simple: to make continuous glucose monitoring more accessible to South Africans.

For Erasmus, and the experienced team behind SYAI, this is about far more than introducing another continuous glucose monitoring system to the market. It is about combining decades of experience with new technology to offer people living with diabetes another trusted option designed to improve quality of life. Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) technology measures glucose levels continuously throughout the day and night using a small wearable sensor. Instead of relying solely on occasional finger-prick tests, users receive a complete picture of how food, exercise, stress, illness and sleep affect their glucose levels in real time.
"When I first started using CGM, I realised how much information I had been missing," Erasmus explains. "I finally understood what my glucose was doing between finger-prick tests."

The technology transformed her own diabetes management.

"It has given me confidence. I spend more time within my target range, experience fewer severe highs and lows, and make decisions based on real-time information rather than guesswork."
For families, the benefits extend far beyond numbers on a screen.
"The stories that stay with me most are those of parents who wake up several times every night to check their child's glucose levels. Continuous glucose monitoring doesn't only change the life of the person living with diabetes; it changes the life of the whole family."
Despite the proven benefits of continuous glucose monitoring, Erasmus says cost remains one of the greatest barriers for many South Africans.

"Far too many people still don't have access because they simply can't afford it. Many medical schemes don't provide adequate reimbursement, which means thousands of people miss out on technology that could improve their health and quality of life."
Having met countless families unable to access the technology, the issue is deeply personal.

"Those conversations are heartbreaking because you know this technology could genuinely improve someone's life, yet affordability remains the biggest obstacle." This is where SYAI plays a powerful role. "Our goal is simple. We want more South Africans to benefit from continuous glucose monitoring and the insights it provides. Access shouldn't depend on where you live or whether you have comprehensive private medical cover."

Artificial Intelligence often raises concerns, particularly in healthcare. Erasmus believes education is key. "AI isn't replacing doctors or making decisions on behalf of people living with diabetes," she explains. "It's there to help make sense of large amounts of glucose data and provide meaningful insights."
She compares it to the evolution of how people access information.
"We used encyclopaedias, then Google, and now many people use AI to understand information more efficiently. Healthcare is no different. AI is another tool that supports informed decision-making."

Importantly, she says people remain in control.

"If someone isn't comfortable using the AI features, they can simply switch them off. We call it SAFE AI because it is designed to support people, not replace them."

By identifying patterns and trends that may otherwise go unnoticed, AI has the potential to make diabetes management increasingly proactive rather than reactive.

Launching SYAI during Women's Month is particularly fitting. It is the story of a South African woman who has transformed personal adversity into professional purpose while leading businesses in two very different industries. Asked what she hopes readers take away from her story, Erasmus pauses before answering.

"I hope people realise that no diagnosis, setback or challenge has to define their future. We all face obstacles, but those obstacles can become the very thing that gives us purpose."

Her advice to women considering entrepreneurship is equally straightforward.

"Don't wait until everything feels perfect. Start before you're ready. Surround yourself with passionate people, ask for help when you need it and don't let fear stop you. South Africa needs more women building businesses and creating opportunities."
Erasmus hopes to help create a South Africa where every person living with Type 1 Diabetes has access to the technology they need to live healthier, fuller lives.

"If I've helped even one child grow up believing that diabetes will never limit their dreams, then I'll know I've made a difference."
It is a remarkable ambition for someone who once sat quietly eating sugar-free jelly while wondering why she couldn't simply be like everyone else. Nearly forty years later, that little girl hasn't simply refused to let diabetes define her life. She has chosen to use it to change the lives of others.

For more information about SYAI, please visit www.syaisync.co.za
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