The Lead

Unravelling the complex crypto fund that embroiled slain lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Four people continue to elude the Gauteng police’s grasp for the brazen murder of top Johannesburg insolvency attorney Bouwer van Niekerk. He was sh...

The Cat and the Hat - what did Cele do at Zimbali villa? PLUS: Charlie Kirk’s hit

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For our final edition of The Lead this week: it’s getting more difficult for former police minister Bheki Cele to downplay his past meetings with co...

Why is trans inmate taking state to court? PLUS: ‘Sweatshop’ sentencing

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to this bumper Wednesday edition of The Lead on News24. Our first topic deals with the case of a transgender inmate in Johannesburg Central Pr...

The brutal killing of ‘incorruptible’ lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk, with Kyle Cowan

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The hit on a top Johannesburg insolvency lawyer has reverberated throughout the country’s legal fraternity. Now, while the police attempt to arrest ...

Who is Andre Pienaar, the ‘low-level’ spook badmouthing SA in DC?

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the 100th episode of The Lead on News24, hosted by broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer. First, we’ll reflect on the moment with our ...

Council chaos in the wild, wild North West, with Siyamtanda Capa

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The North West province appears to be the wild, wild west these days. The audit reports for most municipalities in this often-forgotten province make ...

No laughing matter: How Mchunu set the Hawks on a TikTok satirist

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a story so out of left field and certainly not one we had on our bingo card for 2025! The Hawks, our supposedly elite crime-fighting unit, whic...

Looters’ paradise or critical body? Debate over role of state pensions agency

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been a national talking point these past few weeks thanks to our intrepid investigative journalist, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, who’s refusing to...

Witness the rise of our Springbok Women, with Lloyd Burnard

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

South Africa’s Springbok Women celebrated this weekend like never before with a truly historic win: their first triumph over Italy and their very fi...

Will the delayed Madlanga inquiry restore SA’s trust in the SAPS?

28 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It was all meant to get under way in Pretoria in the new week, but the Madlanga inquiry has been delayed, seemingly due to factors out of its control....

Denel sends US firm 2 old jets allegedly without ejector seats

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

State-owned arms manufacturer Denel, known for developing world-renowned defence weaponry, including the Casspir armoured vehicle and the Rooivalk att...

News24 probe spurs finance minister to intervene in state pensions admin agency

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a fairly obscure government agency, but with a big budget. And now a News24 investigation led by journalist Sikonathi Mantshantsha has spurred ...

Clocking in from jail? Overtime abuse with Mangaung on the brink

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It has been under national administration. And yet the financial books for the metro council in charge of Bloemfontein, Mangaung, remain firmly in the...

Which ANC bigwigs could face US sanctions? Check with Zondo

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Some US lawmakers remain relentless in drafting new legislation that seeks to punish South Africa on a range of policy fronts, going further than the ...

Babita Deokaran Day? 4 years later, calls to honour whistleblower

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This Saturday, 23 August 2025, marks exactly four years to the day since Babita Deokaran, a single mother, was murdered. Gunned down in a hail of bull...

Adriaan Basson names SA’s dirtiest politician

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a critical position in the now crumbling City of Johannesburg: a mayoral committee member for group corporate and shared services. It may sound...

How a Polish website drives fake news in SA

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A new report, put out by a research centre at Stellenbosch University, has now exposed a Poland-based news group called Visegrád24 for amplifying the...

What to do with a rogue general? With Pieter du Toit

14 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like anyone can become South Africa’s foreign policy spokesperson these days. Just ask the chief of our defence force. South African Natio...

Billions for blue lights, SA’s VIP protection splurge with Jan Gerber

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

R1.47bn. This is how much the government has spent on protecting its VIPs from the 2020/21 financial year to date. And it’s not even the full pictur...

Coalition crumbles and cloak and dagger dealings in Joburg metro

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The game of thrones, with its political musical chairs for coalition maneuvering now even has smaller parties pitted amongst each other in the governm...

Exposing the pension agency’s near R1bn ghost headquarters deal

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Another day, another allegedly dodgy case involving a lesser-known state agency. This time, News24’s investigations team has uncovered evidence that...

Inside Netshitenzhe’s speech on ‘white supremacy’ and a platinum bourse

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He’s a mostly quiet but key former policy mind for the ANC. However, Joel Netshitenzhe is now picking up where former US ambassador Ebrahim Rasool l...

Tony Leon on the state of the GNU, the DA, and brown envelopes

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The government of national unity (GNU) is MIA. And it’s not unified in the nation’s interests - it’s every man or woman for themselves. This is ...

No deal (yet) - what does Trump’s 30% tariffs mean for you?

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re edging ever closer to becoming one of the few countries in the world to bear the full brunt of the US Trump administration’s 30% tariff slap...

Shades of Babita - another auditor, another hit and more tender billions

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It may mean “place of peace”. But the City of Ekurhuleni has been on edge this year following the murder of its chief auditor, Mpho Mafole. The s...

Criminal comrades? Pieter du Toit on THAT party picture that says a thousand words

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”.If you haven’t read Animal Farm, that’s one of author George Orwell’s most famo...

Oxygen thieves to blame in dodgy R800m tender? With Jan Gerber

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An independent investigation into a massive government-sanctioned tender to provide 60 of our country’s hospitals with critical medical-grade oxygen...

Mashatile’s millionaire mansions – but who pays for them? With Kyle Cowan

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It must be super lekker to be the deputy president. During the week, you can live it up in your Waterfall mansion in Midrand. And on the weekends, you...

Is northern KZN becoming SA’s new coal belt? With Sakhiseni Nxumalo

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The people of Mbabane, a small rural town deep in northern KwaZulu-Natal, have had enough of coal mining in the area. Cracked walls, incessant soot an...

Five months later and we finally have a Budget! With Carol Paton

24 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s felt like a never-ending story. But after five gruelling months for the government of national unity (GNU), President Cyril Ramaphosa’s coal...

Are INTEC, Damelin failing their students and staff? With Prega Govender

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is Educor setting itself up for deregistration by the government once again? Representing a host of private education institutions, including Damelin ...

SAPS ‘capture’ web of intrigue widens with ‘Death Squad’ mastermind’s arrest

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

First came the “Cat’s” arrest. But Sandton figurehead, Katiso “KT” Molefe, is now in police custody, too. It’s in connection with the 2022...

Jozi’s construction cartel with alleged links to senior ANC councillor

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A top councillor, wearing the ANC colours in the City of Johannesburg, stands accused of meddling in and stalling key public infrastructure developmen...

Who’s coup is it anyway? With Amanda Khoza

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the Ramaphosa administration grapples with a warring police force, a hollowed out South African Air Force and a scuppered Navy, how real or imminen...

Latest twist in unfolding police war, with Tankiso Makhetha

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If claims are anything to go by right now, the top brass of the South African Police Service (SAPS) appears to be at severe odds following bombshell c...

How one act of kindness helped a family find their homeless brother

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a complicated story like so many aspects of modern life. Relatives of a homeless man in Cape Town, “Luigi”, who’d gone viral for attendin...

What to expect from the inquiry into SAPS ‘capture’, with Karyn Maughan

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Another year, another commission of inquiry. Mbuyiseli Madlanga, the soon-to-be retiring deputy chief justice, will be chairing the country’s umpte...

Why is Gauteng’s R700m forensic super-lab still closed?

10 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a state-of-the-art facility meant to speed up the processing of post-mortems and toxicology reports to give grieving families much-needed closu...

Consensual sexts or unwanted advances? Judge President Mbenenge under fire, with Karyn Maughan

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge remained under cross-examination this Wednesday over allegations that he sexually harassed a former court ...

The big, beautiful Trump tariff explainer with William Brederode

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In less than a month, South African produce and products being shipped to America will face remarkably higher tariffs. This came after US President Do...

Is the SAPS captured? With Jeff Wicks

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The gloves are off. In a startling Sunday press conference, KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, publicly claimed tha...

We chat about the Boks’ homeless superfan and a son’s cheeky Spur poster

03 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From a good Samaritan who gave his extra Bok ticket to a homeless man, to a woman who reforged her legacy after a forced marriage at 14; good news edi...

Charting the DA and ANC’s GNU collision course with Jan Gerber

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s surprise axing of DA deputy minister Andrew Whitfield has again set the cat among the government of national unity’s (...

Are we seeing glimpses of Rassie’s grand plan for 2027?

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Springbok test season is in full swing with a convincing win over the Barbarians, a first on South African soil this past weekend. Now, the Boks’...

Can Starlink stake its claim in South Africa? With Carol Paton

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lesotho has granted Elon Musk’s satellite internet streaming service, Starlink, a decade-long licence to operate there. How did Lesotho get Starlin...

101 dead in EC flooding after cold front, with another on the way

26 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At least 101 people have died and thousands left homeless after flooding hit the Eastern Cape earlier this month. As survivors catch their breath and ...

The sinking SA Navy, with Sikonathi Mantshantsha

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The South African Navy’s limited operational capability has been scuppered in recent years. Today, only five vessels can take to the seas along our ...

Meet the rogue soldiers who allegedly killed top cop, kidnapped ISIS bosses

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A dozen former and current South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members are, as we speak, in police custody in connection with the murder of a...

Mashatile, his sister-in-law and the R180bn Lotto deal

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s sister-in-law has reason to celebrate. It has been revealed that Khumo Bogatsu’s company, Bellamont Gaming, is ...

Karyn Maughan demystifies the NPA’s extradition ruling headache

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The way South Africa’s prosecutors go about extraditing the criminally accused from another country to face justice in a local court is currently un...

Iran, Israel conflict explained

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Despite calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, the Middle Eastern nations have, in recent days, exchanged a volley of missile strikes, adding ...

Streets of sewage and a ray of light in Krugersdorp, with Sikonathi Mantshantsha

12 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2024, News24’s Waste Land exposé uncovered the source of the Gauteng West Rand’s unbearable smell: the old Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment ...

Wouter Basson vs HPCSA round two, with Tammy Petersen

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) continues in 2025 to push for some sort of historical accountability from “Dr Death” Wouter...

The bloody diamond war in Namaqualand with Jacques Pauw (special edition)

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, the forgotten, desolate sands of the coastal Namaqualand region of the Northern Cape have offered both illicit diggers and influential ty...

Meet the Jozi broker who disappeared with millions from friends, family and clients

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A “smooth talker” who plied clients with fantastic food and drink, convincing many into handing over their precious millions, only to evade questi...

Has the NPA messed up again? Karyn Maughan on why Ace Magashule’s PA walked free

05 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

She’s a free woman. Moroadi Cholota, the former assistant to then-Free State Premier Ace Magashule, has won her special plea against the National P...

Bye-bye Floyd - why MK speared Shivambu as SG, with Andisiwe Makinana

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He took off his red beret to take up the spear. But the writing’s been on the wall for some time before the uMkhonto weSizwe Party on Tuesday booted...

Selling sweets to pay for matric ball and May’s best good news stories

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From a viral grade twelve pupil selling sweets every morning at the local taxi rank to attend his matric dance, to a young Ikeys rugby star who got a ...

Suspected ISIS SA leader appears in a Joburg court, with Tankiso Makhetha

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Hawks’ Crimes Against the State unit (CATS) believe they’ve caught a suspected senior leader in the Islamic State terrorist network operating ...

News24 finds ‘hornet’s nest’ of fake news, with Andrew Thompson

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Like most fake news these days, it all started with a friend’s WhatsApp message, sharing an article with the header: “Cape Town drivers to face co...

From Lesotho to Emfuleni, securing SA’s precious water sources

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a mammoth legacy project critical to keeping the taps flowing in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and the rest of Gauteng well into the future. However,...

Johannesburg’s R16.3bn blackhole, with Khaya Koko

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The City of Gold that once shone brightly has been dumped into darkness. This is partly due to the city’s troubled electricity entity, City Power, w...

Derailed - how Prasa fixes trains and then leave them to rot, with Sipho Masondo

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Remember those old yellow and grey Metrorail trains? The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is shelling out billions of your tax money to r...

Special edition: Trump vs Ramaphosa with News24’s top editors

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Unprecedented and historic scenes played out in the White House on Wednesday night when US President Donald Trump had a television rolled into the Ova...

Budget cuts, a fuel levy increase and SA’s debt crisis, with Carol Paton

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not a statement you would’ve seen two months ago. The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday said it’s “cautiously” supporting Finance Minist...

Deal or no deal? Ramaphosa ready for Trump

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can they strike a deal? This is perhaps the big question on the lips of geopolitical and economic analysts as President Cyril Ramaphosa and US counter...

Has Vusi ‘Cat’ Matlala run out of lives? Jeff Wicks on his arrest and tender trouble

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He is languishing in a prison cell for an attempted hit on his former lover, and now the walls are closing in on tender don, Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlal...

Is Ramaphosa wasting his time with Trump? With Pieter du Toit

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Youth unemployment, crumbling municipal infrastructure, persistent power cuts and escalating crime levels remain South Africa’s reality. Yet Preside...

NAMPO farmers tell Nick Wilson they’re staying

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Cyril Ramaphosa described the first group of so-called “Afrikaner refugees”, who took up the US Trump Administration’s invitation to r...

'I am an Afrikaner', with Adriaan Basson

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Whatever you'd like to call them; the "49ers", the "Amerikaners", the "Afrikaner refugees", they've officially d...

The first ‘Amerikaners’ leave SA, with Alex Mitchley

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The annals of SA/US relations are at a watershed. They’ll historically show that in early May 2025, after a run of public holidays celebrating Sout...

There’s more than enough good news to go around, here are News24’s best stories

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Between the headlines on disaster, corruption, and crime are stories that delight South Africans. In fact, some of the most read articles on News24 ov...

The ‘Sheriff of Cape Town’s’ case against the police and courts

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He’s sometimes referred to as the “Sheriff of Cape Town”. A senior DA politician who’s occupied a top City post for 16 years. The City’s Saf...

Families, survivors commemorate the George building collapse one year on

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Considered one of South Africa’s deadliest construction disasters, May 6, 2025, marks a year since 34 people were killed in the George residential b...

Zero accountability in Joburg cleaning tender saga

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the City of Johannesburg's Property Company entity shelled out more than R18 million in what's underst...

Tabling Budget 3.0 with Carol Paton

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A whole new Budget 3.0 aims to include everyone's proper buy-in and you won't be taxed more on most goods you buy. But the DA and EFF's re...

Exposing X-Boer, the ex-farmer in Elon Musk’s ear

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On 'X', he goes by the name ‘Twatterbaas’, and his messages have attracted the attention of Elon Musk and, thus, the Trump Administratio...

The Mashatile ‘hit’ that wasn’t, with Kyle Cowan

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Was South Africa's deputy president, Paul Mashatile, the recent target of an attempted assassination? If sources close to a SAPS ballistics report...

Debunking Malema and Trump with Andrew Thompson

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

EFF leader Julius Malema alleges it's a lie that there are farm killings in South Africa. Among other claims, Malema suggests that white people ar...

The police chief, the Cat and corruption with Jeff Wicks

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

South African Police Service (SAPS) top brass dragged their feet in cancelling a tender awarded to a businessman known as "The Cat". News24 ...

Why did Nada-Jane have to die? With Bernadette Wicks

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2023, 4-year-old Nada-Jane Challita was discovered dead in the bathtub of her Johannesburg home, with only one suspect to point the finger at: her ...

An Ace in the hole, with Karyn Maughan

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today on The Lead, we cross to Bloemfontein where specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan was in the Free State High Court, where former premier Ace...

Meet SA’s new envoy to America who called Trump a racist

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this edition, we scrutinise whether sending former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas as South Africa's special envoy to America is the righ...

The journalist uncovering SA's water crisis, one river at a time

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For tonight's episode of The Lead, we wade into the sewage-ridden waters of Mogale City with Sikonathi Mantshantsha, News24 specialist investigati...

The case against Dali Mpofu SC, with Karyn Maughan

10 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Legal Practice Council, a national body meant to hold the legal profession to account, is launching a full-scale disciplinary inquiry into the con...

Navigating the GNU, VAT, ZAR and Trump's tariffs with Carol Paton

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The South African economy faces potentially volatile times with the Trump Administration's tariffs on one side of the scale and a 1 May VAT hike o...

The Mashatile factor in the battle for the GNU with Adriaan Basson

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The ANC believes it's time to hit the reset button on the government of national unity (GNU) following the DA's "double-dealing" reg...

Exposing the close-knit ANC t-shirt tender with Jeff Wicks

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An ANC-linked businesswoman who bagged a R2.5 million t-shirt tender with the Gauteng health department has denied having any relationship with its ME...

The DA and GNU - will they stay, or will they go?

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Quo Vadis, GNU? With the ANC searching for support outside of the GNU and the DA approaching the courts to interdict the national Budget's propose...

Will the Budget break the GNU? Carol Paton explains

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, the government of national unity is facing its most formidable challenge. The future of the tumultuous union rests on the outcomes of the joint...

Celebrating SA's heroes on Good News Day

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On 1 April, here at News24, we ditch the pranks to focus on the feel-good factor for what we have dubbed Good News Day. Instead of making you wonder w...

Minister Simelane, Vitrovian and the Kusile cash grab

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane is in hot water, again. On Monday, News24's investigations team revealed that the minister bagged a coo...

SA steels itself against plant closures

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Three thousand five hundred jobs hang in the balance if ArcelorMittal were to close its two long steel plants in Vereeniging and Newcastle. Towns will...

Diplomatic dilemma: Trump nominates new SA ambassador

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's an extraordinary time for Pretoria and Washington. Both cities' embassies await new diplomats after SA / US relations took a turn for the worse. ...

Will Rassie cull some older Springboks before RWC 2027?

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The quality of depth in our Springbok men's squad is undoubtedly the envy of every rugby nation. Thanks, in large part, to Rassie Erasmus. But for...

Air Force None with Sikonathi Mantshantsha

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

South Africa's skies are primarily unprotected, which should be of concern. On Monday, News24 revealed that only six of the 330 SA Air Force aircr...

The good news edition

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We all deserve to stop, breathe, meditate and smile about the good things happening in our lives and South Africa today. Sometimes, we just need that ...

Are South African women safe in Ubers?

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are South African women safe in Ubers? This question comes after the e-hailing service stated that they have finalised their finding around the harro...

City Power fraud exposed: 15 staffers to be disciplined

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"City Power is taking disciplinary action against 15 of our staff members following a full-scale investigation,” confirmed Johannesburg City...

Persona non grata: The ousting of Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"They're (South Africa) taking away land, they're confiscating land. And actually, they're doing things that are perhaps far worse than that," US Pres...