TimesLIVE Podcasts Boots on the ground

Boots on the ground

In this short podcast series, we follow Sunday Times top investigative journalists as they cover the real stories that make-up SA’s national headlines.

Boots on the ground is a true piece of mobile journalism — all interviews, voices and sound effects have been gathered using nothing but smartphones.

Boots on the ground is a production of MultimediaLIVE, a division of Arena Holdings.

PLEASE NOTE: This podcast may contain explicit and sensitive content. Listener discretion is advised.

#Investigation, #Police, #SocialJustice, #Crime, #ServiceDelivery
Monthly English Explicit South Africa Documentary · News Commentary
42 Episodes
1 – 20

Did apartheid racists convert or rehabilitate after freedom?

Racist rants such as those by suspended DA MP Renaldo Gouws appear to show efforts to unite South Africa after apartheid did not yield the desired results. Do racists rehabilitate? If you browse the archives, you will find apartheid ended because it was unsustainable after years of boycotts and sanctions by the…
27 Jun 2024 29 min

The sombre stories of pupils at rural government schools

In this episode of 'Boots On The Ground', we follow a pupil to a rural school. Among the issues we hear about are drug use at primary schools, a school with only two teachers for nine subjects, and we speak to civil organisations. About 41% of pupils who started school…
15 Nov 2023 29 min

Cape of Cocaine EP 3 - Cocaine Inc: Chasing Ivanov, the Bulgarian mafia's fixer

It’s February 2014 and Hawks Warrant Officer Johan Combrinck has received a tip-off through Interpol that Bulgarian men were busy constructing a large drug lab in a mansion in the Cape Town suburb of Durbanville. On the evening of 24 February Combrinck parked his car opposite the house and conducted…
27 Nov 2022 30 min

Cape of Cocaine EP 2 - The ghost ships haunting SA's shores

Out there with the legendary Flying Dutchman is a fleet of 'ghost ships' trafficking cocaine from South America to destinations around the globe. They are invisible to satellites and tracking systems and make lonely voyages undetected, sometimes across rough seas. The Atlantic Warrior is one of them. She belongs to the…
20 Nov 2022 30 min

Cape of Cocaine EP 1 - Discovery on the shores of Saldanha Bay

On March 1 2021 the Windward, a Bulgarian mafia cocaine ship, was three days behind schedule docking at Saldanha Bay harbour on SA’s west coast. Bulgarian cocaine fleet manager Asen Ivanov and his Bulgarian associates were waiting, probably worried their Myanmar crew had become lost in thick fog or rough…
18 Nov 2022 34 min

Cape of Cocaine - Trailer

One of the biggest cocaine busts in South Africa’s history, on the misty shores of Saldanha Bay, lifted the lid on an international drug-smuggling ring led by the Bulgarian mafia. But the syndicate brought more than just the drug to this country's shores. Cape of Cocaine is a mini podcast…
10 Nov 2022 2 min

Royal Rumble - how are Zulu monarchs actually selected?

Welcome to Royal Rumble, a short podcast series. This series is dedicated to celebrating the amaZulu Monarchy and its traditions; while unravelling the complicated power dynamics associated with traditional succession and leadership. In this first episode of our three part series, we focus on the significance of traditional leadership and…
19 Aug 2022 30 min

The bloodiest days in SA's democratic history

In today’s episode of Boots on the Ground, behind SA’s biggest headlines we commemorate the bloodiest days in our democratic history, by not only reliving what our country went through, but also trying to make sense of it. You will hear testimony from looters themselves, who saw an opportunity and…
7 Jul 2022 57 min

SA’S IS CRISIS | State lets scores of fighters return from Syria in secret scheme

The government is repatriating hundreds of South Africans and their families, who for years fought for and aided the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, providing them with new identity documents and a means to resettle. A TimesLIVE investigation can reveal the repatriations — done through the international relations and cooperation…
9 May 2022 39 min

Inside Gauteng's psychiatric healthcare crisis

In today’s episode of “Boots on the ground: Behind SA’s national headlines”, we dive into the state of psychiatric healthcare in SA, particularly in some of Gauteng's public hospitals in the inner cities and townships. We look at the challenges faced by hospitals when it comes to the treatment of…
31 Mar 2022 22 min

Here is why kidnapping for ransom cases have exploded in SA

In today’s episode of Boots on the ground: behind South Africa’s national headlines, we dive into the secretive, underground world of ransom kidnappings. Why has this kind of organized crime become so prevalent? Who are the targets and how are they being targeted? How is it possible for syndicate to…
24 Feb 2022 32 min

Why are SA’s most deadly convicted criminals up for parole?

In this week’s episode of Boots on the Ground: behind South Africa’s national headlines, we focus on the Van Vuuren and Van Wyk judgments that paved the way for lifers to be eligible for parole after 12 years and four months of serving their life sentence. Parole for lifers has…
1 Feb 2022 26 min

What is really going on with the parliament fire?

In today’s episode of Boots on the Ground: behind South Africa’s national headlines, we critically consider the information related to last week's parliament fire which held the country’s attention for the first week of 2022. What does a raging fire at a strategic national key point mean? Is Zandile Mafe…
10 Jan 2022 28 min

Hunting Ndlovu: the story behind the capture and prosecution of Rosemary Ndlovu

Family, for most, is a concept that represents togetherness, love and — despite the occasional conflict — a bond that supersedes most. But recently convicted female serial killer and former police officer Nomia Rosemary Ndlovu saw her family more as a living pay cheque, ready to be harvested at will…
16 Nov 2021 44 min

Where is the international outrage for Lindani Myeni?

KwaZulu-Natal rugby player Lindani Myeni had been on the phone with his wife Lindsay. He had told his wife he would be home “soon”, but Lindsay and their two young children would never hear from him again. Myeni was shot by officers in Honolulu’s police force while they were responding…
31 May 2021 41 min

The children orphaned by Covid-19

Grace Rohan cannot understand why at seven years old she no longer has a daddy while her mother, who is in her 40s, still has hers.The grade 2 pupil from Durban and her 18-year-old brother, Daniel, are mourning their father, José, who died of Covid-19 in February, a month after…
16 Apr 2021 26 min

Raped and then raped again: an 11-year-old's horror story

Somewhere in Burgersfort, Limpopo, there is an 11-year-old girl whose life will never be the same. She sits quietly on a bright red wooden bench beneath a tree, gripping her father's hand. Her parents fear she is on the verge of another epileptic fit. Since her second rape, the fits…
19 Mar 2021 15 min

One year of Covid-19: Reflecting on SA's biggest moments

Today marks exactly a year since the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in SA. Since that day there have been 1,517,666 confirmed cases and 50,462 Covid-19-related deaths countrywide. In this episode of Boots on the Ground: Behind SA’s National Headlines, we relive some of the most memorable moments from the…
5 Mar 2021 36 min
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