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

Loading player...
The Hawks’ Crimes Against the State unit believe they’ve caught a suspected senior leader in the Islamic State terrorist network operating right out of Johannesburg’s inner city.  Abubakar Ali (39) appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday to apply for bail after he was arrested in Fordsburg on a charge of carrying an unlicensed firearm. The Lead host, Graeme Raubenheimer, crosses to News24’s Tankiso Makhetha in court, who tells us why the case has been postponed to 11 June when other alleged ISIS-linked matters are due to be heard. Later in the show, the government’s new licensed lottery operator promises a jackpot shake-up, but a court case ensues. Finally, a viral Cape Town teen opens a sweets and chips business to pay for his upcoming matric ball. Mail your comments and voice notes to thelead@24.com. Editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Chapters
  • 00:01 Graeme's intro
  • 01:35 Crossing with Tankiso Mahketha
  • 13:54 Trending topic: New lottery operator woes
  • 15:27 And finally: CPT matric pupil business
  • 16:47 Graeme's outro
2 Jun 2025 English South Africa News · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

Herman Mashaba on refusing to work with Zille, declining a Cabinet post

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 ActionSA to do it again in 2026? The founder of Black Like Me is our guest this Newsmaker Thursday on News24's The Lead. Mashaba insists…
16 Apr 50 min

What will it take for Roelf Meyer to bend Donald Trump’s ear?

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 Cyril Ramaphosa is deploying former constitutional affairs minister Roelf Meyer to Washington, D.C., to try and salvage what's left of US/SA ties. We've…
15 Apr 26 min

Bribes for debt wipes? Slain Emfuleni whistleblower tipped officials

Fraudulent payments? Missing municipal funds? Bribes to wipe service providers' debt? Forty-year-old mother of one, Martha Mani Rantsofu, was no ordinary junior finance clerk in Gauteng's Emfuleni Local Municipality, because by our accounts, she was a whistleblower knocking on some dangerous doors. While the Gauteng Political Killings Task Team takes a closer look…
14 Apr 29 min

The DA is maturing and getting younger, with Carol Paton

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 party shed its perceived stigma of being a 20% party, mostly for whites? We'll take stock with our acting political editor, Carol Paton, who's been following…
13 Apr 27 min

Let's show SA who we really are, says DA leader hopeful Dyonase

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 picks Sibusiso Dyonase's brain on his 15-year journey in the DA, who he looks up to, and why challenging Cape Town…
9 Apr 37 min