The Lead
Episodes
Emfuleni’s by-election won’t fix its worsening service delivery crisis
27 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a preview for the November municipal polls, the people of Beverly Hills in Evaton in the Vaal municipal district of Emfuleni are voting for a new w...
Return to the Bellville South house of horrors
20 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this edition, The Lead returns to the Bellville South house of horrors with News24 court and crime journalist, Lisalee Solomons. She reports that ...
PowerBall? The lotto king’s curious business ties
18 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The licence to operate the Lotto is about to change hands to Sizekhaya Holdings, not without claims of alleged misconduct by those left out of the ult...
Your ultimate Phala Phala couch catch-up
13 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
President Cyril Ramaphosa reckons he's got a fair chance of challenging an independent panel's findings that he may have broken the law in rel...
OR Tambo gold bust haunts SAPS major generals. Plus: Cape storm wrap
11 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We kick off this news week with two more senior police figures in the dock, this time facing serious charges in connection with a peculiar unwrought g...
The City of Gold is bankrupt
07 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The City of Gold is bankrupt. And don't take our word for it, the finance minister says so! Enoch Godongwana has even instructed Johannesburg May...
A textbook case of a problematic state publishers' deal?
06 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From one Limpopo company charging up to R19 000 for a teaching aid that may only cost R200, to a completely unknown publishing house based out of a Si...
AI ‘hallucinations’ spark credibility crisis in SA policy
04 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the past two weeks, News24's eagle-eyed journos have uncovered evidence that artificial intelligence (AI) conjured up incorrect and misleading ...
Is this Jozi’s monument to poor service delivery?
30 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Is Johannesburg's vacant, derelict civic centre the ultimate monument for the metro's perceived legacy of poor service delivery? Well, a rece...
Media storm as SIU probes lottery funds linked to editor
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has set the cat among the pigeons in Mzansi’s news media world this week. The SIU red-flagged more than half a ...
Another multibillion-rand Chinese energy project red-flagged
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A global Chinese construction giant and its staff overseeing a gargantuan wind and solar farm in the Karoo are facing mounting allegations of not only...
Fannie Nkosi shares a prison with the ‘Cat’ in Pretoria
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He's been close to the notorious “Cat” before. And now he'll be even closer to alleged criminal tender don Vusimusi Matlala, as they share...
Dark clouds gather over SA’s largest solar project, with Azarrah Karrim
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's a multibillion-rand solar panel farm, said to be the most ambitious of its kind on African soil, all to boost our rehabilitated energy grid. ...
Herman Mashaba on refusing to work with Zille, declining a Cabinet post
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He led Mzansi's newest green party to fifth place in the 2021 municipal polls, so the question is: what will it take for Herman Mashaba's Acti...
What will it take for Roelf Meyer to bend Donald Trump’s ear?
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
They met behind closed doors on the sidelines of the News24 On the Record Summit in Cape Town in March, and now we finally know the outcome. President...
Bribes for debt wipes? Slain Emfuleni whistleblower tipped officials
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Fraudulent payments? Missing municipal funds? Bribes to wipe service providers' debt? Forty-year-old mother of one, Martha Mani Rantsofu, was n...
The DA is maturing and getting younger, with Carol Paton
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The DA led a landmark elective congress this past weekend, leaving it with an introspective question. In this new Geordin Hill-Lewis era, can the part...
The DA is maturing and getting younger, with Carol Paton
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The DA led a landmark elective congress this past weekend, leaving it with an introspective question. In this new Geordin Hill-Lewis era, can the part...
Let's show SA who we really are, says DA leader hopeful Dyonase
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He thought: What have I got to lose? Let me take on the man widely tipped to lead the DA next. In this edition, The Lead host Graeme Raubenheimer pick...
Revising SA’s school history curriculum – what we know so far
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift – a more human face.”Who said that? The late great Ste...
From Nkosi to Malema – your Madlanga catch-up with Karyn Maughan
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He may not be your average police sergeant. Fannie Nkosi, who this Tuesday appeared before a Pretoria magistrate on several criminal charges, has bee...
Show us your slips! Cracks revealed in state lifestyle audits
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to global corruption indicators, South Africa continues to languish in the red, according to NGO Corruption Watch, as local efforts to d...
April Feels Day stories to beat those fuel price blues
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you're desperate for some good news this April, you've come to the correct place. From a 6-year-old author with three books to her name, t...
This is no April fuels joke
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This Tuesday, News24 fielded numerous reports of petrol stations across Mzansi shutting shop and turning away motorists desperate to fill up ahead of ...
You’ve met the “Cat”, but who is Mike van Wyk?
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's quite evident that the attempted murder- and tender fraud-accused Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala relied on several allegedly crooked cops to seal...
100 days to kickoff, here’s your Boks ‘26 test guide
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Let it be known: Thursday, 26 March, marks exactly 100 days before the inaugural Nations Championship kicks off. With one successful alignment camp al...
The ‘Cat’ and a dozen cops in cuffs for alleged graft. Plus: EC ANC mess
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The crucial work by our News24 Investigations team, in collaboration with journalist and author Jeff Wicks, over the past more than three years has fi...
Inside the Bellville South house of horrors
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Every now and then, South Africans are rocked by the depravity of a heinous act of crime. This week, we learnt of a 63-year-old woman who stands accu...
Graft-spotting? Texts reveal ex-Prasa head’s alleged corruption
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What is the public not getting to see after the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) was ordered to keep the findings of a damning forensic i...
Hear from new NPA boss, and the summit births two jobs
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On Day Two of News24’s On The Record jobs summit, we weigh the severe toll crime and corruption have taken on the state of South Africa, and hear fr...
On The Record: Hear insights from Paton, Ramaphosa, Manuel, Kieswetter
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We're a country of around 65 million people. Now, if you consider the expanded definition of unemployment in South Africa, which is nearly 43%, th...
Key ‘hitmen’ in Murray, ‘Witness D’ murders and their tobacco industry links
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This Wednesday on The Lead on News24, we drill down, layer by layer, into two high-profile murder cases: the Murray murders and the killing of the Mad...
Commission continued: Same name, different stories, one rampant police crisis
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From Pretoria to Parliament: we hear from two Fannies in the SAPS this Tuesday. One, a sergeant, Fannie Nkosi, who claims that national deputy top cop...
98 then 94, now 97% complete! Will Jozi’s forensic super lab finally open?
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's meant to revolutionise the processing time it takes to crack critical criminal cases in Gauteng. But no, Mr Panyaza Lesufi, claiming that the...
Mmusi Maimane on the DA’s ‘toxic’ politics and why the N2 wall won’t work
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2011, he was but a DA spokesperson. Today, 15 years later, he's part of a centrist collective of opposition political parties preparing to shak...
ANC-linked Carrim, the ‘Cat’ and Maumela do ‘business’, or is it money laundering?
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He claims he was caught up in the web of doing business with people he eventually became afraid of disobeying. But the Madlana Commission has put it t...
Should SA shore up its fuel reserves? Plus: Jooste’s mansion sold
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
With global oil prices skyrocketing, largely due to rising conflict in Southwest Asia, South African industry experts are concerned that we should be ...
The Ximba connection exposed in R1.8bn Ekurhuleni toilets tender
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We now know that City of Ekurhuleni financial auditor Mpho Mafole put his life on the line to raise red flags about the metro's R1.8 bn toilets te...
Geordin Hill-Lewis on why he can be SA’s president and the ‘disgraceful’ Steenhuisen vs George spat
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He’s the preferred candidate whose name is on the lips of many senior DA party members. Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis sits down to lunch with T...
Your SA guide to understanding the US, Israel, Iran conflict
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The conflict situation in the Middle East is fluid. South Africans in Dubai and Bahrain tell of the terror of Iran’s retaliatory strikes after Israe...
Arrests as HIV funds wasted on probing health ministry whistleblower
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Senior Health Ministry officials face the music for allegedly siphoning off around a million rand from the Global Fund, which is actually meant to ass...
Jetting off to London and then a fuel tender? Jeff Wicks investigates
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Oh, no, it wasn't a gift… That's the insistence from former Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi, who in 2022 hopped on a R3.5-million, pr...
Two sides of a coin? Examining O’Sullivan and Mogotsi
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Are they two sides of a similar coin? Parliamentarians have spent the past few weeks grilling the rather cryptic backgrounds of both investigator Pau...
Tax breaks galore, reforms and economic growth forecast in Budget 2026
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t worry, folks, it appears 2026 is a good news Budget. In a nutshell, Treasury has spared us the pain of universal tax increases, while also int...
The Joburg water crisis is not over
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Coronationville, Westbury and Melville are among the Johannesburg suburbs still suffering from a perpetual water crisis. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesuf...
Alleged bribes, price gouging the locomotives for Prasa deal?
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Multi-millions of our hard-earned taxes have gone towards a mass Metrorail train refurbishment project but allegations of bribery between the contract...
Inside the spectacle that was SONA 2026
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The opening of Parliament, albeit from Cape Town City Hall, is anything but a quiet affair. Let The Lead host, Graeme Raubenheimer, take you inside th...
Special Panel – Will you fix the water crisis, Mr President?
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This is The Lead, and this is the South African story. Joining host Graeme Raubenheimer for a special roundtable discussion, asking whether or not Pre...
The reality of KZN’s FMD outbreak. Plus: Tony Leon on next DA leader
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
KwaZulu-Natal has emerged as the epicentre of the current devastating outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) among cattle, with farmers, desperate f...
Johannesburg Water strike called off but supply crisis deepens
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We begin this late Tuesday edition of The Lead with breaking news: Johannesburg Water says an unprotected strike by some of its staff has been called...
Red tender flags, yet PP clears Gauteng in Mashatile sons’ deal
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
They scored big contracts with the Gauteng government. And, according to News24 investigations, the Public Protector’s about to clear the province’...
Here we AGOA again, but no silver bullet for US-SA trade
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration has now signed off on a new AGOA deal, allowing South Africa duty-free access to the US market. But do not celebrate too qui...
Who succeeds Steenhuisen? With Pieter du Toit and Velani Ludidi
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In an about-turn, John Steenhuisen has decided to bow out as DA leader. It’s left the party’s upcoming elective congress all the more intriguing. ...
Witness F’s WhatsApps to Matlala, Sibiya and Mabuza. Plus: Steenhuisen’s done?
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
They are one of the most critical witnesses yet…In the Madlanga Commission’s view, the implicated police officer known as Witness F was the “go-...
The Cat’s wife’s R3.7m training tender. Plus: Epstein’s SA links
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
While the notorious Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala gunned for dodgy multimillion-rand payouts with the Tembisa Hospital extraction scandal, the police, an...
Is SA getting ‘bad’ cars? With Wendy Knowler and Driving with J9
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we ask: Are we being forced to buy inferior new cars? There’s no sugarcoating the latest crash test results for Hyundai SA’s Grand i10, wh...
No more state deals for ‘Stuttgart’ company tied to Mashatile’s son
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
His son has links to a company that once raked in millions from a questionable Gauteng Health Department contract. Now, this business, tied to Deputy ...
Senona spills on Mkhwanazi’s meeting with ‘Cat’ Matlala
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Madlanga Commission’s work deepens this week with KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss, Lesetja Senona, coming clean on his and his son Thato’s proximity ...
New cellphone data rollover rules explained. Plus: Oscars 2026
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Say you’ve used only a quarter of an expensive data bundle, and its 30-day use period is about to expire? Well, the Independent Communications Auth...
The Lead hits 1 million listens! We cross to Davos for WEF and US-SA trade talks
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Lead on News24 has finally reached more than one million listens, and one million page views, in under a year. Thanks go to all of the excellent ...
From Iran’s navy with love: What’s next? With Carol Paton
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Who, in our country’s signal of command, didn’t get the memo or ignore the president’s order to tell the Iranian navy to pull out of the recent ...
‘Day Zero’ looms large for drought-stricken Knysna
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A real Day Zero scenario looms large for the people of Knysna. Bad seasonal rains, claims of a lack of water infrastructure maintenance – and the us...
More tough questions for Ekhuruleni mayor over DJ’s murder
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
There is a long list of burning questions piling up at the door of the Ekhuruleni mayor’s office these days. News24 investigations’ Sikonathi Mant...
‘Cat’ Matlala tried to open an ultra-lux OR Tambo airport terminal
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When the “Cat” wasn’t sneaking his way into the heart of police operations, the controversial tender don was also trying to build a private inte...
Is the ‘prime lending rate’ just a load of BS?
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Is the so-called “prime lending rate” – the fancifully advertised rate that banks use as a reference or pegging point to sell bonds and loans to...
Everything you need to know about the 2025 matric results
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Back to school, back to reality…With schools about to reopen, senior education journalist Prega Govender takes stock of the 2025 matric results. Thi...
Is KZN’s paper-thin coalition on the rocks?
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Provincial coalition politics in KwaZulu-Natal are on shaky, uncertain ground, with the small kingmaker National Freedom Party trying to call the shot...
Should SA get involved in the US-Venezuela crisis?
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
While the SACP marched on the US Embassy in Pretoria on Thursday to denounce the Trump administration’s abduction of another sitting head of state, ...
From SIU head to NPA boss, Andy Mothibi’s surprise leap raises eyebrows
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A surprise appointment to be sure… Corruption buster Advocate Andy Mothibi has his work cut out for him as the new head of the National Prosecuting ...
Why are SA shoppers still using savings stamps? With Maya Fisher-French
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In our second edition of the new year so far…They’re by no means a new invention. But they appear to be as popular as ever, according to one major...
Analysing Bafana’s Afcon exit
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to 2026 Lead listeners…From municipal elections to the FIFA World Cup, it is going to be a banger of a year… and we’ll be with you telli...
The government of national unity (barely) survives 2025, with Jan Gerber
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Touch wood, South Africa’s government of national unity has survived 2025. But the tested national coalition between two of the country’s most dev...
Are we turning into an assassination nation? With Sikonathi Mantshantsha
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sadly, assassinations will come to define the 2025 news agenda. From Ekhuruleni financial auditor Mpho Mafole to Brakpan crimefighter Marius van der M...
Jeff Wicks tells us how Vusimusi Matlala became the ‘Cat’
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vusimusi “the Cat” Matlala has been a name tough to keep out of our top news headlines of 2025. From the Tembisa Hospital extraction scandal to a ...
Woolies cash bags and info peddlers: Madlanga musings with Karyn Maughan
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Another high-profile commission of inquiry wasn’t on our news bingo cards for 2025.But we’re not surprised another one was established, either. Bo...
Revealing ‘Twatterbaas’, the X Boer who hasn’t posted since April
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You may be wondering these holidays, around the braai, “hey, I can’t remember but…” what set off the US Trump Administration in 2025 to punish...
Protea fire blazes bright, the Boks’ amazing year and Afcon loading
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When, eventually, we peer back at the annals of South African sport in 2025, cricket will come out tops. That’s the argument from our News24 Sport e...
The toll of Cape Town’s unending gang war
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Western Cape gang crisis is at fever pitch. The latest stats show nearly 100 people were killed in gang violence every month for the past six mont...
Who killed DJ Warras and why? PLUS, meat prices soar
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Media personality turned businessman Warrick “DJ Warras” Stock tasked himself with restoring some order in Johannesburg’s maze of problematic, h...
Pierre de Vos judges the judiciary in 2025. PLUS, KZN legislature chaos
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have you clocked out for the year already? On the beach yet? Switched off? Well, constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos has, but not before giving u...
Can the black middle class save the ANC from collapse?
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The ANC is introspecting. If its National General Council is anything to go by, the continent’s oldest liberation party appears to be serious about ...
Inside the ANC’s soul-searching NGC – vote buying, step-asides and succession
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An end to vote-buying at elective conferences. And a stricter step-aside ruling for those accused of corruption. These are just some of the party poli...
ANC and DA succession races – Didiza rising, Hill-Lewis waiting?
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The DA won’t be led by John Steenhuisen forever, and this is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s final turn at the helm of Africa’s oldest liberation mo...
‘Vlam’ extinguished - why was crimefighter Marius van der Merwe killed?
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicknamed “vlam”, or flame in English, 41-year-old Brakpan crimefighter Marius van der Merwe was shot and killed last Friday at his home. It’s m...
Dlomo in the dock cracks open SSA looting legacy of the Zuma years
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Once upon a time, he was former president Jacob Zuma’s so-called super spy. Heading up a secretive sub-section of the State Security Agency, all in ...
Families desperate as 17 SA men remain stuck in Russian conflict
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A resignation from Parliament. Charges and counter charges filed. Denials and disappointment. And still, nothing right now can return 17 men to South ...
Gqeberha’s governance crisis: Who can fix the Windy City?
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Broken lamp posts, litter and a good ‘ol serving of corruption….It sounds like the standard recipe for any South African town these days, and Gqeb...
Mayoral misleadings in Mafole murder?
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Greetings from Boksburg on Gauteng’s East Rand, Lead listeners...Today, we get an update from senior investigative journalist Sikonathi Mantshantsha...
REWIND: After nearly 50 years of SA TV, can SABC, DStv live on?
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Please note this is an older version of The Lead, reuploaded specifically for our Spotify and Apple listeners. South Africa has been watching televisi...
REWIND: Zuma funder, diamond ‘conman’ Louis Liebenberg’s guitar, pool table under auction
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Please note, this is an older version of The Lead reuploaded specifically for our listeners on Spotify and Apple. He is accused of being one of South ...
REWIND: Why is Riaan Manser going WILD with News24? PLUS: Bafana’s triumph
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Please note, this is an older episode of The Lead we're republishing for your listening pleasure on Spotify and Apple only.. “The outdoors is sc...
The Cat, the Hat and the Woolies shopping bags of money
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Cat, the man with the iconic hat, and black Woolworths shopping bags filled with hard cash. Alleged attempted murderer and tender don Vusimusi “...
Indian fake news farm fuels Sassa lies. PLUS, probing ‘cheap flights’
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did an obscure northern Indian digital agency turn into a global fake news factory spouting all sorts of Sassa nonsense in SA? It’s a burning qu...
Power surge, Carol Paton on Mzansi’s new electricity revolution
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If, like me, you’ve seen these headlines of new independent power producers emerging to feed into the national grid ... and you’re wondering, when...
Ubuntu diplomacy lands at Jozi G20 as US stays away
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first G20 summit on African soil has flown by and, barring the United States’ view, it appears that President Cyril Ramaphosa has come in for ne...
SA’s high stakes G20 and whiplash from Washington
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We start this edition of The Lead tonight with the breaking news from President Cyril Ramaphosa that Washington has done a u-turn and is now showing a...
Unravelling Brown Mogotsi’s conspiracies with Karyn Maughan
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We begin this special edition of The Lead with the very latest charge from Madlanga Commission evidence leader, Matthew Chaskalson, that notorious Nor...
78-year-old District Six resident beats 2023 eviction order
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every now and then, a modern-day David and Goliath story comes along that warms our hearts. Today, this story is about 78-year-old Noor-Banu Allie, a ...
How the DA axed its own minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
First came Andrew Whitfield’s axing – and now the DA’s had to see the environment minister, Dion George, fired too. This time for failing to toe...
Lawless lawmen? Inside the AmaPanyaza saga, with Khaya Koko
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
They’re called the AmaPanyaza. Meaning: Panyaza’s boys. These are the more than 6 000 anti-crime wardens appointed as a task force in the name of ...