The Lead

Are we turning into an assassination nation? With Sikonathi Mantshantsha

Sadly, assassinations will come to define the 2025 news agenda. From Ekhuruleni financial auditor Mpho Mafole to Brakpan crimefighter Marius van der Merwe, several South Africans have paid the ultimate price for doing the right thing. Our senior investigative journalist, Sikonathi Manthshantsha, is live on the line with us in…

23 Dec 22 min

The government of national unity (barely) survives 2025, with Jan Gerber

Touch wood, South Africa’s government of national unity has survived 2025. But the tested national coalition between two of the country’s most devout enemies, the ANC and the DA, has the war wounds to show for it. And senior parliamentary correspondent Jan Gerber has borne witness to most of these…

23 Dec 23 min

Woolies cash bags and info peddlers: Madlanga musings with Karyn Maughan

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. Born out of two parts: one, News24 picking up slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran’s investigation into the Tembisa Hospital extraction scandal, and two, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s bombshell press…

23 Dec 22 min

Jeff Wicks tells us how Vusimusi Matlala became the ‘Cat’

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 failed hit on his former lover, actress Tebogo Thobejane, all while brushing shoulders with former police commissioner and long-time minister Bheki Cele –…

23 Dec 17 min

Revealing ‘Twatterbaas’, the X Boer who hasn’t posted since April

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 South Africa with tariffs, a White House press ambush, and a ghosting at the G20 in Johannesburg? Well, not one factor, person or organisation is…

23 Dec 34 min

Protea fire blazes bright, the Boks’ amazing year and Afcon loading

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 editor, Lloyd Burnard, who believes the Proteas’ fire is blazing bright for both the men’s and women’s sides. Burnard joined The Lead in our…

22 Dec 33 min

The toll of Cape Town’s unending gang war

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 months. Families are shattered, police detectives are strained to capacity, and trauma doctors are burnt out. We give the “War at Home” in…

18 Dec 43 min

Who killed DJ Warras and why? PLUS, meat prices soar

Media personality turned businessman Warrick “DJ Warras” Stock tasked himself with restoring some order in Johannesburg’s maze of problematic, hijacked buildings. We look at why Stock, a former 5FM DJ and private security company boss, was shot and killed in broad daylight on a public holiday meant to celebrate our…

17 Dec 21 min

Pierre de Vos judges the judiciary in 2025. PLUS, KZN legislature chaos 

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 us his last interview for the year. Touching on all his highs and lows for the judiciary in 2025, from one judge allegedly receiving church…

15 Dec 27 min

Can the black middle class save the ANC from collapse? 

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 reversing its sliding scale of victory. But the yellow and green giant forged in the images of Luthuli, Sisulu and Mandela cannot rebuild without the full…

11 Dec 37 min

Inside the ANC’s soul-searching NGC – vote buying, step-asides and succession

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 policy changes the African National Congress (ANC) is mulling over at its current National General Council in Boksburg. As our political reporter, Soyiso Maliti debuts on…

10 Dec 18 min

ANC and DA succession races – Didiza rising, Hill-Lewis waiting?

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 movement, the ANC. While most of us have our minds on the beach at this time of year, News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson has some very informed…

9 Dec 22 min

‘Vlam’ extinguished - why was crimefighter Marius van der Merwe killed?

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 mere weeks after he, as Witness D at the Madlanga Commission, detailed an alleged 2022 murder cover-up involving deputy Ekurhuleni top metro cop, Julius Mkhwanazi. And it…

8 Dec 19 min

Dlomo in the dock cracks open SSA looting legacy of the Zuma years

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 the name of only protecting number one: Umsholozi. But this week, the NPA’s no-holds-barred Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) unit arrested and charged Thulani Dlomo for…

4 Dec 27 min

Families desperate as 17 SA men remain stuck in Russian conflict

A resignation from Parliament. Charges and counter charges filed. Denials and disappointment. And still, nothing right now can return 17 men to South Africa who were unknowingly deployed to the frontlines of the Russia/Ukraine war. We get the latest from the man who broke the MK Party and Russian military…

3 Dec 26 min

Gqeberha’s governance crisis: Who can fix the Windy City?

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 Gqeberha’s been no exception under chaotic coalition rule. Political journalist Siyamtanda Capa is keeping a close eye on Nelson Mandela Bay these days as the DA…

2 Dec 30 min

Mayoral misleadings in Mafole murder?

Greetings from Boksburg on Gauteng’s East Rand, Lead listeners...Today, we get an update from senior investigative journalist Sikonathi Mantshantsha on the murder of City of Ekurhuleni financial auditor Mpho Mafole. And how, clear evidence suggests, Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has publicly tried to draw links between Mafole’s murder and other City…

1 Dec 21 min

The Cat, the Hat and the Woolies shopping bags of money

The Cat, the man with the iconic hat, and black Woolworths shopping bags filled with hard cash. Alleged attempted murderer and tender don Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala claims he showered former police minister Bheki Cele with R500 000 to try and get police investigators off his back. Senior parliamentary correspondent Jan…

27 Nov 25 min

Indian fake news farm fuels Sassa lies. PLUS, probing ‘cheap flights’

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 question that we discuss with our Disinformation Desk editor Andrew Thompson. Because even after being exposed for how it peddles completely made-up stories about…

26 Nov 36 min

Power surge, Carol Paton on Mzansi’s new electricity revolution

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 will we finally wean ourselves off a century-old Eskom monopoly and realise cheaper power prices? Then stick around for my conversation with specialist journalist Carol Paton in…

25 Nov 30 min