The Lead

Is Ramaphosa wasting his time with Trump? With Pieter du Toit

Youth unemployment, crumbling municipal infrastructure, persistent power cuts and escalating crime levels remain South Africa’s reality. Yet President Cyril Ramaphosa finds himself increasingly pulled into global conflict scenarios. In the aftermath of Ramaphosa labelling the first group of “Afrikaner refugees” leaving for the US on Sunday as “cowards” and “colonialists”,…

15 May 24 min

NAMPO farmers tell Nick Wilson they’re staying

President Cyril Ramaphosa described the first group of so-called “Afrikaner refugees”, who took up the US Trump Administration’s invitation to resettle in the states as “cowards” who’ll soon return to South Africa. The president surprised many South African farmers attending this week’s NAMPO agriculture expo in Bothaville in the Free…

14 May 17 min

'I am an Afrikaner', with Adriaan Basson

Whatever you’d like to call them; the “49ers”, the “Amerikaners”, the “Afrikaner refugees”, they’ve officially discarded Madiba’s Rainbow Flag for Eisenhower’s Stars and Stripes. Their departure, facilitated by the Trump administration, has generated intense debate over the Afrikaners’ place in this world. But for News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson, two things have…

13 May 29 min

The first ‘Amerikaners’ leave SA, with Alex Mitchley

The annals of SA/US relations are at a watershed. They’ll historically show that in early May 2025, after a run of public holidays celebrating South Africa’s hard-fought transition to democracy, the first group of Afrikaners took up the Trump Administration’s offer to relocate to the United States as official “refugees”. And they…

12 May 21 min

There’s more than enough good news to go around, here are News24’s best stories

Between the headlines on disaster, corruption, and crime are stories that delight South Africans. In fact, some of the most read articles on News24 over the past month have been good news stories. News24’s Good News Editor Paul Herman talks to us about how a Kraaifontein man used his R350 grant…

8 May 30 min

The ‘Sheriff of Cape Town’s’ case against the police and courts

He’s sometimes referred to as the “Sheriff of Cape Town”. A senior DA politician who’s occupied a top City post for 16 years. The City’s Safety and Security Mayoral Committee Member, JP Smith, is challenging the validity of a SAPS raid on his city council offices in January, claiming it…

7 May 23 min

Families, survivors commemorate the George building collapse one year on

Considered one of South Africa’s deadliest construction disasters, May 6, 2025, marks a year since 34 people were killed in the George residential building collapse in the Western Cape. As their families, friends and the 28 survivors pause to hold a memorial, justice in the wake of evidence of poor…

6 May 17 min

Zero accountability in Joburg cleaning tender saga

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the City of Johannesburg's Property Company entity shelled out more than R18 million in what's understood to be inflated payments, all for deep cleaning and sanitation at its premises. The Special Investigating Unit soon smelled a rat. Still, the entity's CEO, Helen Botes,…

5 May 24 min

Tabling Budget 3.0 with Carol Paton

A whole new Budget 3.0 aims to include everyone's proper buy-in and you won't be taxed more on most goods you buy. But the DA and EFF's recent court case scrapping Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's proposed VAT increase of 0.5% percentage points means that it's also back to the drawing…

30 Apr 23 min

Exposing X-Boer, the ex-farmer in Elon Musk’s ear

On 'X', he goes by the name ‘Twatterbaas’, and his messages have attracted the attention of Elon Musk and, thus, the Trump Administration. Regularly, the anonymous account posts racist tropes and promotes selective views that have reinforced misinformation about South Africa. But now we know who is behind the account:…

29 Apr 37 min

The Mashatile ‘hit’ that wasn’t, with Kyle Cowan

Was South Africa's deputy president, Paul Mashatile, the recent target of an attempted assassination? If sources close to a SAPS ballistics report are anything to go by, the answer to that question may be a resounding no. In tonight’s episode, we discuss with News24 journalist Kyle Cowan what our team…

24 Apr 35 min

Debunking Malema and Trump with Andrew Thompson

EFF leader Julius Malema alleges it's a lie that there are farm killings in South Africa. Among other claims, Malema suggests that white people are not murdered in South Africa. The politician's April statements in Parliament in response to the Trump Administration’s US aid pullout were shared on social media…

23 Apr 30 min

The police chief, the Cat and corruption with Jeff Wicks

South African Police Service (SAPS) top brass dragged their feet in cancelling a tender awarded to a businessman known as "The Cat". News24 specialist investigative journalist Jeff Wicks combed through an internal audit report. In it, he found that tender tycoon Vusimusi "Cat" Matlala should've never scored a R360 million…

22 Apr 17 min

Why did Nada-Jane have to die? With Bernadette Wicks

In 2023, 4-year-old Nada-Jane Challita was discovered dead in the bathtub of her Johannesburg home, with only one suspect to point the finger at: her father's now ex-partner, Amber Lee Hughes, who was also the little girl's former pre-school teacher. Hughes' trial – in which she is facing a count…

17 Apr 22 min

An Ace in the hole, with Karyn Maughan

Today on The Lead, we cross to Bloemfontein where specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan was in the Free State High Court, where former premier Ace Magashule pleaded not guilty to allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering charges in the asbestos tender scam trial. The former ANC Secretary-General and 17…

16 Apr 18 min

Meet SA’s new envoy to America who called Trump a racist

In this edition, we scrutinise whether sending former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas as South Africa's special envoy to America is the right choice. This comes as a video from 2020, wherein he calls US President Trump a "racist", "homophobe", and "narcissistic right-winger", spreads across social media. Andisiwe Makinana, News24…

15 Apr 20 min

The journalist uncovering SA's water crisis, one river at a time

For tonight's episode of The Lead, we wade into the sewage-ridden waters of Mogale City with Sikonathi Mantshantsha, News24 specialist investigative journalist who on Friday took home the prestigious Taco Kuiper Award for investigative journalism for the series, Wasteland. He uncovered the true source of the region's unbearable smell: the…

14 Apr 31 min

The case against Dali Mpofu SC, with Karyn Maughan

The Legal Practice Council, a national body meant to hold the legal profession to account, is launching a full-scale disciplinary inquiry into the conduct of Dali Mpofu. Among the slew of misconduct charges the advocate faces relate to comments he made while handling legal matters, including the parliamentary inquiry into…

10 Apr 27 min

Navigating the GNU, VAT, ZAR and Trump's tariffs with Carol Paton

The South African economy faces potentially volatile times with the Trump Administration's tariffs on one side of the scale and a 1 May VAT hike on the other. "Everyone is feeling the pinch; even the US markets are feeling the pinch," says News24 writer-at-large Carol Paton. The rand has been…

9 Apr 22 min

The Mashatile factor in the battle for the GNU with Adriaan Basson

The ANC believes it's time to hit the reset button on the government of national unity (GNU) following the DA's "double-dealing" regarding the contentious budget vote in parliament. For now, though, the DA is not leaving the GNU, nor has it been kicked out. "No one wants to pull the…

8 Apr 26 min