The Lead

Digesting the anti-immigrant marches, with Bongekile Macupe, Sakhiseni Nxumalo 01.07.2026 40min

In this edition of The Lead with Graeme Raubenheimer, we assess the immediate aftermath of the June 30th anti-immigration marches with News24’s deputy politics editor, Bongekile Macupe, and Durban journalist, Sakhiseni Nxumalo. Macupe witnessed firsthand how pockets of violence took over the mass demonstration in Johannesburg, while Nxumalo observed a largely peaceful “March and March” led through Durban city centre. National police report this Wednesday that while the vast majority of the around 300 gatherings across Mzansi went off without a hitch, criminals took chances at a handful of places, with 900 people arrested, most of whom undocumented immigrants, and many others cuffed for looting shops. We end off with On This Day in SA History, our regular segment, and it’s the late Botswana president, Sir Seretse Khama’s birthday. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop every week @ 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

What happens after 30 June’s anti-migrant marches? With Sakhiseni Nxumalo 29.06.2026 30min

With the clock ticking on the 30 June “deadline” set by anti-migrant groups, will peace prevail as marchers take to the streets this Tuesday? With so many foreigners queuing up in Durban and other parts of the country, to somehow find a way home, what happens then when this cutoff comes and goes? We try to make sense of it all with our KwaZulu-Natal-based journalist, Sakhiseni Nxumalo, who witnessed chaos unfold in Pietermaritzburg following a recent anti-migrant march in the city. Later, senior Crime Intelligence official, Feroz Khan, survives an apparent attempt on his life. Finally, on this day in SA history, our regular segment, an apartheid-era opposition coalition was formed in 1977, only to turn out to be an election flop. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop every week @ 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Emfuleni’s by-election won’t fix its worsening service delivery crisis 27.05.2026 33min

In a preview for the November municipal polls, the people of Beverly Hills in Evaton in the Vaal municipal district of Emfuleni are voting for a new ward councillor this Wednesday. This outcome may not change much, though, argues roving journalist Ntwagaae Seleka, because the service delivery crisis throughout Emfuleni has only worsened in recent months. Rubbish piles are only getting higher, sewage flooding is only getting deeper, and residents are only getting more fed up. Later in the show, Joburg and Cape Town’s budget rates increases are both firmly in the spotlight. Plus; Madiba arrived on Robben Island for the very first time, with On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday and Wednesday nights at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Return to the Bellville South house of horrors 20.05.2026 26min

In this edition, The Lead returns to the Bellville South house of horrors with News24 court and crime journalist, Lisalee Solomons. She reports that 63-year-old Aletta Rose, the murder convict accused of decapitating her Cape Town sister in March, has been giving court and remand prison authorities a headache. Rose, who now wants bail, doesn't like the media's cameras snapping pictures of her, and insists on an Afrikaans-speaking Legal Aid attorney. Later in the show, we recall the late Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's legacy during the Mbeki era, in our regular segment On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday and Wednesday nights at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

PowerBall? The lotto king’s curious business ties 18.05.2026 39min

The licence to operate the Lotto is about to change hands to Sizekhaya Holdings, not without claims of alleged misconduct by those left out of the ultra-lucrative tender. The man steering that outfit is Moses Tembe, a figure who's in business with at least three others precariously close to Deputy President Paul Mashatile. So much so that Tembe got a personal invite to this year's opening of Parliament, reports News24 investigative journalist Azarrah Karrim.In our trending topic, we ask: which SA retailer is streaks ahead so far with its self-checkout tills? News24's William Brederode tested them! Finally, later in the show, the early '90s SA democracy negotiations looked grim, as we discussed in our regular segment, On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday and Wednesday nights at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Your ultimate Phala Phala couch catch-up 13.05.2026 33min

President Cyril Ramaphosa reckons he's got a fair chance of challenging an independent panel's findings that he may have broken the law in relation to the 2020 theft of a large sum of money from a couch based at his Phala Phala game lodge. But this “Section 89” report, overseen by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, is not the only one Ramaphosa should be worried about. In this edition of The Lead, investigative journalist Kyle Cowan explains the critical importance of police watchdog IPID's revelations. And we rewind it all, to give you a much clearer sense of the entire Phala Phala saga up until now. Finally, later in the show, the Mayor of Welkom was tarred and feathered. On This Day in SA History is our regular segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

OR Tambo gold bust haunts SAPS major generals. Plus: Cape storm wrap 11.05.2026 19min

We kick off this news week with two more senior police figures in the dock, this time facing serious charges in connection with a peculiar unwrought gold bust at OR Tambo International Airport about five years ago. Major Generals Feroz Khan and Ebrahim Kadwa, and security company boss Tariq Downes, have all since been granted bail, reports News24's Tankiso Makhetha. Makhetha has found that Downes' alleged name-dropping of Khan during the bust and then getting off scot-free has now come back to haunt the three. In our trending topic, Cape schools shut this Tuesday in the eye of a destructive storm that has ripped roofs off homes, downed trees and blocked roads. Finally, later in the show, SA formally joined the global football world, On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

The City of Gold is bankrupt 07.05.2026 20min

The City of Gold is bankrupt. And don't take our word for it, the finance minister says so! Enoch Godongwana has even instructed Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero to halt a R10 billion wage hike for municipal workers, a move that may come back to bite the beleaguered administration. Here, in this edition, with all the details of Godongwana's naughty letter to Morero is News24 metro journo, Alex Patrick. Later in the show, US airmen touched down in apartheid SA in 1960 for a missile test, On This Day in SA History, our regular segment. Plus, can you crack ‘Rauby's Pointless Braai Quiz’? Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

A textbook case of a problematic state publishers' deal? 06.05.2026 40min

From one Limpopo company charging up to R19 000 for a teaching aid that may only cost R200, to a completely unknown publishing house based out of a Simons Town cottage that was handed 26% of the pie. Glaring problems have since emerged in the Basic Education Department's approvals, amounting to R1.6 billion, for the publication of new learning materials for grades one to three. Here, in this edition of The Lead, with all the details of these recent News24 exclusives, is our senior education journalist, Prega Govender. Later in the show, a Gqeberha woman is hanged for murder in Pretoria, On This Day in SA History, our regular show segment. Plus, can you crack ‘Rauby’s Pointless Braai Quiz’? Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

AI ‘hallucinations’ spark credibility crisis in SA policy 04.05.2026 39min

In the past two weeks, News24's eagle-eyed journos have uncovered evidence that artificial intelligence (AI) conjured up incorrect and misleading sources in two critical pieces of proposed government policy, one of which concerns the use of AI itself. The revelations have led to the suspension of top officials, and the DA, overseeing the two ministries where the policies were crafted, is enforcing stricter review measures in the government of national unity. We cross-check AI referencing in this edition with News24's Ethan van Diemen and William Brederode. Later in the show, Comic Con Cape Town has grown significantly over the past few years; organisers are eyeing an even larger venue for 2027. Finally, we mark Ruth First's birthday, with On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Is this Jozi’s monument to poor service delivery? 30.04.2026 18min

Is Johannesburg's vacant, derelict civic centre the ultimate monument for the metro's perceived legacy of poor service delivery? Well, a recent inspection by DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille has re-exposed the centre's long-standing problems, like its piles of unprocessed archive files and building plans gathering mould. This didn't happen overnight, though, as News24's Alex Patrick has been demanding answers about the Metro Centre's future for years now. Later in the show, a meeting of African leaders, one black, one white, happened in a mobile home in the bushveld, with On This Day in SA History, our regular segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Media storm as SIU probes lottery funds linked to editor 29.04.2026 29min

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has set the cat among the pigeons in Mzansi’s news media world this week. The SIU red-flagged more than half a million rand from the National Lotteries Commission, which in 2018 found its way to a communications company formerly belonging to the current Sunday Times editor and South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) chair Makhudu Sefara. But as Sefara steps aside from Sanef and takes special leave from the newspaper, he insists he has the receipts to show the funds were used for their intended purpose. Yet, about three years ago, an internal Sanef alarm was raised.News24 business journo Jan Cronje tells us more in this edition. Finally, you know what they say about history? It rhymes. An early form of press freedom was achieved in the then Cape Colony in 1829, On This Day in SA History, our regular segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Another multibillion-rand Chinese energy project red-flagged 23.04.2026 36min

A global Chinese construction giant and its staff overseeing a gargantuan wind and solar farm in the Karoo are facing mounting allegations of not only breaches of health and safety regulations, but also environmental violations, and even sexual harassment. Specialist climate journalist, Ethan van Diemen, has spent many months investigating the tsunami of claims swirling around Sinohydro's Oya Hybrid Energy Project outside Sutherland in the Northern Cape. This is not a conversation to miss. First, though, let host broadcast journalist, Graeme Raubenheimer, bring you the breaking news that president Cyril Ramaphosa has put the police's chief financial officer, Puleng Dimpane, in charge of our men and women in blue as acting national commissioner. Later, in our regular segment, On This Day in SA History, the late former AWB leader, Eugene Terreblanche, was sentenced to prison for trying to kill a black worker. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Fannie Nkosi shares a prison with the ‘Cat’ in Pretoria 22.04.2026 18min

He's been close to the notorious “Cat” before. And now he'll be even closer to alleged criminal tender don Vusimusi Matlala, as they share the same prison in Pretoria ahead of their respective trials. Facing unlawful firearm possession and obstruction of justice charges, suspended police sergeant Fannie Nkosi has now been denied bail. And our journalist, Tankiso Makhetha, explains the reasons in this edition. In our trending topic, could this be our first winter without load shedding in a long time? Touch wood! Finally, more than one and a half thousand people were detained by apartheid police following the Sharpeville Massacre, with On This Day in SA History, our usual segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Dark clouds gather over SA’s largest solar project, with Azarrah Karrim 20.04.2026 24min

It's a multibillion-rand solar panel farm, said to be the most ambitious of its kind on African soil, all to boost our rehabilitated energy grid. Yet, in her investigations, News24 journalist Azarrah Karrim has unearthed a series of alleged red flags in the Chinese state company-led construction of the Virginia Solar Park, a two-hour drive from Bloemfontein. From alleged B-BBEE fronting to claims of serious labour violations, there's plenty to answer for in this edition of The Lead. Later, in our trending topic, prosecutors push to keep controversial police sergeant, Fannie Nkosi, behind bars. Finally, 123 people perished in a Boeing 707 plane crash in Namibia, on This Day in SA History, our regular segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Herman Mashaba on refusing to work with Zille, declining a Cabinet post 16.04.2026 50min

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 that ActionSA is the only party growing its councillor base by attracting smaller parties to defect without having to win by-elections. Can he pick up where he left off as mayor of a now-broken Johannesburg? Mashaba promises to resume his project of reclaiming so-called “problem buildings” by, in part, rounding up illegal migrants in the inner-city. But what if he doesn't clinch the Jozi mayoral chain outright in the upcoming municipal polls and needs to form a coalition? Mashaba insists that even if that happens, he will refuse to work alongside his rival, DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille, again. Finally, on this day in 2004, 75 000-year-old shell beads washed up near Stilbaai, sparking global headlines. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

What will it take for Roelf Meyer to bend Donald Trump’s ear? 15.04.2026 26min

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 roped in News24's investigations editor and fellow history buff, Pieter du Toit, to help us understand the strategic nature of Pretoria's latest salvo, given Ramaphosa and Meyer's shared legacy in ensuring our transition to democracy. In our trending topic show segment, Facebook is a popular place for people to sell wildlife, but how bad is it? A new report sheds light. Finally, the newly-formed Union of SA issued its very first national weather forecast, On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

Bribes for debt wipes? Slain Emfuleni whistleblower tipped officials 14.04.2026 29min

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 at her hit, News24 journalist, Ntwagaae Seleka, details how the Vaal region has fallen into rack and ruin, with only Emfuleni to blame for the growing mess. Finally, Desmond Tutu was elected Bishop of Cape Town, with On This Day in SA History, our regular segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

The DA is maturing and getting younger, with Carol Paton 13.04.2026 27min

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 the DA campaign trail in Soweto this Monday. Later in our trending topic, was the motive work-related or personal? Speculation is rife following a hit on the Emfuleni Council's finance clerk. Finally, Madiba announced the end of his second marriage, On This Day in SA History, our regular segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24’s editors.

Let's show SA who we really are, says DA leader hopeful Dyonase 09.04.2026 37min

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 Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis for the top spot is so critical, politically speaking. And then Raubenheimer gauges who's who and running for which DA positions, with our deputy politics editor, Bongekile Macupe, ahead of the party's elective congress in Midrand this weekend. Finally, before Covid-19, there was SARS, and no, we're not talking about the taxman, in On This Day in SA History, our regular show segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.