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PODCAST

The Lead

Seasoned broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer brings you The Lead, News24’s definitive podcast for in-depth reporting. Join us every Monday to Thursday at 19:00 SAST for candid conversations with our top journalists, and discover what they saw, heard, and uncovered in their relentless pursuit of the big story. Episodes drop on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube like clockwork. WhatsApp: 072 562 3179 or mail: thelead@24.com. This is The Lead, and this is the South African story.

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All Episodes

21:26

The first ‘Amerikaners’ leave SA, with Alex Mitchley

The Lead ·

2025/05/12

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 South Africa’s hard-fought transition to democracy, the first group of Afrikaners took up the Trump Administration’s offer to relocate to the United States as official “refugees”. And they flew out of Gauteng for Virginia with not so much as a song or dance. News24 journalist Alex Mitchley had no luck getting any of them to agree to an interview, but observed

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30:07

There’s more than enough good news to go around, here...

The Lead ·

2025/05/08

Between the headlines on disaster, corruption, and crime are stories that delight South Africans. In fact, some of the most read articles on News24 over the past month have been good news stories. News24’s Good News Editor Paul Herman talks to us about how a Kraaifontein man used his R350 grant to build a vegetable produce business, how budding Springbok star Siphosethu Mnebelele overcame the loss of his parents to make the national junior side, and how a Mitchells Plain man came from humble

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23:00

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

The Lead ·

2025/05/07

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 Safety and Security Mayoral Committee Member, JP Smith, is challenging the validity of a SAPS raid on his city council offices in January, claiming it was all meant to tarnish his political credibility. The raid follows a construction corruption trial implicating Smith’s ex-colleague and housing mayco member, Malusi Booi, and alleged gang boss Ralph Stanfield

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17:07

Families, survivors commemorate the George building...

The Lead ·

2025/05/06

Considered one of South Africa’s deadliest construction disasters, May 6, 2025, marks a year since 34 people were killed in the George residential building collapse in the Western Cape. As their families, friends and the 28 survivors pause to hold a memorial, justice in the wake of evidence of poor workmanship remains elusive. “It was really a sombre moment. We heard beautiful songs by some of the local choirs, and in the background, you could hear the family members breaking down and them wailing,“

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24:01

Zero accountability in Joburg cleaning tender saga

The Lead ·

2025/05/05

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 understood to be inflated payments, all for deep cleaning and sanitation at its premises. The Special Investigating Unit soon smelled a rat. Still, the entity's CEO, Helen Botes, became the city's acting operations executive (COO). And even got the backing of senior advocate Pule Seleka to claim the SIU's investigation into her dodgy contract awarding "lacked

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23:14

Tabling Budget 3.0 with Carol Paton

The Lead ·

2025/04/30

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 recent court case scrapping Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's proposed VAT increase of 0.5% percentage points means that it's also back to the drawing board for Treasury to craft a whole new fiscal framework to be tabled before parliamentarians on 21 May. This was revealed during a rare Treasury media briefing attended by News24 writer-at-large Carol Paton: "All

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37:05

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

The Lead ·

2025/04/29

On 'X', he goes by the name ‘Twatterbaas’, and his messages have attracted the attention of Elon Musk and, thus, the Trump Administration. Regularly, the anonymous account posts racist tropes and promotes selective views that have reinforced misinformation about South Africa. But now we know who is behind the account: Sebastiaan Jooste, a 46-year-old former farmer living in Gordon's Bay, near Cape Town. "These posts without nuance, with these racist undertones and overtones, are what makes this a

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35:04

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

The Lead ·

2025/04/24

Was South Africa's deputy president, Paul Mashatile, the recent target of an attempted assassination? If sources close to a SAPS ballistics report are anything to go by, the answer to that question may be a resounding no. In tonight’s episode, we discuss with News24 journalist Kyle Cowan what our team of investigative reporters have uncovered about the apparent shooting incident involving Mashatile's convoy on a Gauteng highway on the night of 30 March. "The overarching takeaway from it is that this

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30:02

Debunking Malema and Trump with Andrew Thompson

The Lead ·

2025/04/23

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 are not murdered in South Africa. The politician's April statements in Parliament in response to the Trump Administration’s US aid pullout were shared on social media without verification. That's until News24's Disinformation Desk got wind of them. The desk's investigative journalist, Andrew Thompson, has fact-checked Malema's assertions, as well as

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17:33

The police chief, the Cat and corruption with Jeff Wicks

The Lead ·

2025/04/22

South African Police Service (SAPS) top brass dragged their feet in cancelling a tender awarded to a businessman known as "The Cat". News24 specialist investigative journalist Jeff Wicks combed through an internal audit report. In it, he found that tender tycoon Vusimusi "Cat" Matlala should've never scored a R360 million health services contract with the SAPS, a deal now subject to criminal proceedings. "Vusimusi Matlala's company (Medicare 24 Tshwane District) should never have proceeded past

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22:24

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

The Lead ·

2025/04/17

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 father's now ex-partner, Amber Lee Hughes, who was also the little girl's former pre-school teacher. Hughes' trial – in which she is facing a count of murder and two of rape – got under way in the South Gauteng High Court this week, with the father, Elie Challita, taking the stand to testify against her. News24 legal journalist Bernadette Wicks has

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18:23

An Ace in the hole, with Karyn Maughan

The Lead ·

2025/04/16

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 Magashule pleaded not guilty to allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering charges in the asbestos tender scam trial. The former ANC Secretary-General and 17 others, including businessman Edwin Sodi are in the dock in connection with the R255-million scheme to audit and remove asbestos from Free State homes. State prosecutors have dubbed

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20:50

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

The Lead ·

2025/04/15

In this edition, we scrutinise whether sending former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas as South Africa's special envoy to America is the right choice. This comes as a video from 2020, wherein he calls US President Trump a "racist", "homophobe", and "narcissistic right-winger", spreads across social media. Andisiwe Makinana, News24 political editor, and Graeme Raubenheimer, host of The Lead, discuss whether Jonas will even get to Washington, seeing as his predecessor, Ebrahim Rasool, was branded

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31:55

The journalist uncovering SA's water crisis, one...

The Lead ·

2025/04/14

For tonight's episode of The Lead, we wade into the sewage-ridden waters of Mogale City with Sikonathi Mantshantsha, News24 specialist investigative journalist who on Friday took home the prestigious Taco Kuiper Award for investigative journalism for the series, Wasteland. He uncovered the true source of the region's unbearable smell: the Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was illegally dumping untreated, heavily polluted water into the Blougatspruit River that eventually feeds into the

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27:42

The case against Dali Mpofu SC, with Karyn Maughan

The Lead ·

2025/04/10

The Legal Practice Council, a national body meant to hold the legal profession to account, is launching a full-scale disciplinary inquiry into the conduct of Dali Mpofu. Among the slew of misconduct charges the advocate faces relate to comments he made while handling legal matters, including the parliamentary inquiry into former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office. "You've got charges that relate to a former Public Protector, a former SARS official, and five senior judges

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22:44

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

The Lead ·

2025/04/09

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 on the other. "Everyone is feeling the pinch; even the US markets are feeling the pinch," says News24 writer-at-large Carol Paton. The rand has been edging closely to the R 20 per US dollar mark as the sweeping tariffs take effect globally this week. "At this point, we are in a very bad place," adds Paton. SA's among sixty nations being slapped with hefty

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26:34

The Mashatile factor in the battle for the GNU with...

The Lead ·

2025/04/08

The ANC believes it's time to hit the reset button on the government of national unity (GNU) following the DA's "double-dealing" regarding the contentious budget vote in parliament. For now, though, the DA is not leaving the GNU, nor has it been kicked out. "No one wants to pull the plug. Neither the DA nor the ANC wants to walk out of this relationship. I think both those parties realise that it's incredibly important for the GNU to remain enacted for the future of South Africa," says News24

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22:32

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

The Lead ·

2025/04/07

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 MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko. Yet, News24's specialist investigative journalist Jeff Wicks has uncovered evidence to the contrary: that businesswoman Nhlake Priscilla Mothobuka knows the MEC well enough to be pictured partying with her. "This is our continued drive to keep the Gauteng health department accountable," says Wicks about his latest exposé. "We

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26:33

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

The Lead ·

2025/04/03

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 proposed 0.5% VAT hike, it seems as if the days of the GNU are numbered. We ask News24 political editor Andisiwe Makinana for her take on the matter. Then we discuss the newly announced Trump tariffs and what those mean for South Africa's economy. How does the 31% export tariff affect our pockets? Last, we take a look at Moonchild Sanelly who has been featured

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16:37

Will the Budget break the GNU? Carol Paton explains

The Lead ·

2025/04/02

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 sitting of Parliament, where a vote will be taken on the delayed budget tabled by finance minister Enoch Godongwana last month. We know the DA has rejected the budget and that the ANC has looked to other parties to fill the void. Is this the end of the road for the GNU? Or will the unlikely alliance partners find each other at the 11th hour? What can

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134 results

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