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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

00:38:15

Coalition crumbles and cloak and dagger dealings in...

The Lead ·

2025/08/12

The game of thrones, with its political musical chairs for coalition maneuvering now even has smaller parties pitted amongst each other in the government of local unity in the City of Johannesburg where local service delivery has suffered and urban decay has set in, in more recent years. Central to the latest bout of inter-political unhappiness is a long-winded investigation into an alleged device used to spy on councillors. Our metro reporter on the story Alex Patrick is joining us in this edition

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00:34:54

Exposing the pension agency’s near R1bn ghost...

The Lead ·

2025/08/11

Another day, another allegedly dodgy case involving a lesser-known state agency. This time, News24’s investigations team has uncovered evidence that the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) has issued millions to a company to facilitate its new headquarters in the capital, Pretoria. Yet contractor Shula Developers has not secured the lease to step foot in the building. Are we being duped as taxpayers yet again? Our senior investigative journalist, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, believes this is

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00:30:11

Inside Netshitenzhe’s speech on ‘white supremacy’ and...

The Lead ·

2025/08/07

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 left off. Now with the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, or Mistra for short – the same think-tank that facilitated a webinar at which Rasool uttered controversial comments about US President Donald Trump, Netshitenzhe echoed much of Rasool’s sentiment at a Standard Bank-sponsored event just this week. Our business journalist, Garth

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00:39:49

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

The Lead ·

2025/08/06

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 the opinion of one former DA leader-turned-ambassador, Tony Leon, who argues that SA’s current crop of leaders is failing the perfect storm test as we barrel toward Trump’s tariffs sans a senior diplomat in Washington. And what does he think about the Independent Development Trust bribe scandal? And the DA’s internal leadership battles for key posts? Find

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00:38:18

No deal (yet) - what does Trump’s 30% tariffs mean...

The Lead ·

2025/08/05

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. Can a last-minute phone call from President Cyril Ramaphosa curry favour and land a new US/SA trade deal? Business journalist William Brederode and The Lead host Graeme Raubenheimer are holding their breaths. For now, the pair discuss how the tariffs impact you, whether SA will trade with China more, and expectations for GDP and job losses. Later in the

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00:24:06

Shades of Babita - another auditor, another hit and...

The Lead ·

2025/08/04

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 soon-to-be married financial investigator was shot and killed not far from his Kempton Park home in late June. Mafole, a former staffer in the Auditor-General’s office, was only three months on the job in Ekurhuleni. And he is most certainly not the first municipal auditor to be targeted for combing through the metro’s books, but for what

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00:34:59

Criminal comrades? Pieter du Toit on THAT party...

The Lead ·

2025/07/31

“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 famous quotes and it has never rung truer in the South African context than today, 31 July 2025.As we wait for the Madlanga Inquiry’s first public hearings into alleged police criminal capture, the man at the centre of KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations, Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, just cannot stay out of the headlines. This time, it’s

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00:32:47

Oxygen thieves to blame in dodgy R800m tender? With...

The Lead ·

2025/07/30

An independent investigation into a massive government-sanctioned tender to provide 60 of our country’s hospitals with critical medical-grade oxygen has exposed many serious red flags throughout the procurement process. The DA’s Public Works and Infrastructure Minister in the government of national unity (GNU), Dean Macpherson, launched an investigation into alleged corruption within the state agency, the Independent Development Trust (IDT), late last year. The first findings from the

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00:38:23

Mashatile’s millionaire mansions – but who pays for...

The Lead ·

2025/07/29

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 can cruise down to Slaapstad to lounge by the pool in your Constantia palace. Both these properties have now been formally and publicly declared by Deputy President Paul Mashatile to Parliament, vindicating a long-standing media investigation led by News24. It’s the good life, good life, good life… Joining us in this edition of The Lead to colour in

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00:41:33

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

The Lead ·

2025/07/28

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 and noise and poor service delivery have come to characterise the small town. The arrival of a local coal mine has brought mixed fortunes for its people and now the town’s reality has sounded an alarm for the future of the entire Amajuba district. Here, the mineral resources ministry has fielded some 60 mining rights applications in recent years. In this

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00:35:32

Five months later and we finally have a Budget! With...

The Lead ·

2025/07/24

It’s felt like a never-ending story. But after five gruelling months for the government of national unity (GNU), President Cyril Ramaphosa’s coalition has finally passed a Budget - a critical oil for his administration’s engine to keep running. At the same time, National Treasury’s brought three new measures to ensure we don’t take this long for next year’s Budget process. Specialist journalist, Carol Paton, and the Lead host, Graeme Raubenheimer, together break down and chronologically track the

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00:33:57

Are INTEC, Damelin failing their students and staff?...

The Lead ·

2025/07/23

Is Educor setting itself up for deregistration by the government once again? Representing a host of private education institutions, including Damelin College, Educor has in recent years been drowning in a pile of complaints from staff and students about its poor teaching and administrative practices. Well, another of its institutions, INTEC, has now come in for sharp criticism from staff and students, past and present, complaining about a severe lack of academic support. We mark Educor’s test paper

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00:28:22

SAPS ‘capture’ web of intrigue widens with ‘Death...

The Lead ·

2025/07/22

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 hit on lounge club owner, DJ Sumbody, whose real name is Oupa John Sefoka, as well as his two bodyguards. Both Molefe and tender don, Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala, are understood to be central figures in the allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, which prompted the president to set up the Madlanga inquiry into police and the criminal

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00:29:11

Jozi’s construction cartel with alleged links to...

The Lead ·

2025/07/21

A top councillor, wearing the ANC colours in the City of Johannesburg, stands accused of meddling in and stalling key public infrastructure developments in Gauteng, extorting payments before work can even start. Sithembiso Zungu, though, has denied the claims, threatening our man on the beat, News24 journalist, Tankiso Makhetha, who joins us in this edition of The Lead. Zungu’s currently the ANC’s Chief Whip in council but it’s his former position of chairperson of the Ward 122 Business Forum, based

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00:33:39

Who’s coup is it anyway? With Amanda Khoza

The Lead ·

2025/07/17

As the Ramaphosa administration grapples with a warring police force, a hollowed out South African Air Force and a scuppered Navy, how real or imminent is the threat of a coup d‘état in South Africa in 2025? It’s a difficult question to answer given Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni’s latest remarks following the release of the National Security Strategy report for the years 2019 to 2024 in review. The report reveals security, geopolitical, and environmental factors that may well

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00:18:58

Latest twist in unfolding police war, with Tankiso...

The Lead ·

2025/07/16

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 claims that shady figures have captured the police. Like Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has also been forced to take a leave of absence. He claims that KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is conducting his own parallel probe, requesting details of certain case dockets

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00:30:03

How one act of kindness helped a family find their...

The Lead ·

2025/07/15

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 attending a Springbok match thanks to the goodwill of a fan, have since reunited, thanks in part to News24’s Good News coverage. Still, the sisters of the 49-year-old man, whose real name is Alan Strydom, face difficult decisions as he suffers with schizophrenia. Bringing us up to speed with this truly unique story in this edition of The Lead is our Good News editor,

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00:30:25

What to expect from the inquiry into SAPS ‘capture’,...

The Lead ·

2025/07/14

Another year, another commission of inquiry. Mbuyiseli Madlanga, the soon-to-be retiring deputy chief justice, will be chairing the country’s umpteenth commission of inquiry, this time broadly looking into alleged criminal and political interference in the South African Police Service (SAPS). This follows KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s claims that the SAPS has been captured by criminal syndicates. The inquiry’s scope will be broader than just the police; it will hone in on

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00:32:10

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

The Lead ·

2025/07/10

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 closure. But Gauteng’s new R703m Forensic Medical Services super-lab in Johannesburg’s Auckland Park near the Helen Joseph Hospital remains a ghost town for now. It’s 98% complete, but the building contractors refuse to lift another finger until they’re paid the final costs they claim they’re owed. A journalist who’s been on this story for many years is

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00:27:54

Consensual sexts or unwanted advances? Judge...

The Lead ·

2025/07/09

Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge remained under cross-examination this Wednesday over allegations that he sexually harassed a former court secretary, Andiswa Mengo. The now 41-year-old’s 2022-based complaint led to a tribunal brought by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), and if Mbenenge is found guilty of sexual harassment, he could be impeached. News24’s specialist legal journalist, Karyn Maughan, has been closely following proceedings at the Sandton-based JSC tribunal for us,

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125 results

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