News24 The Lead

Shades of Babita - another auditor, another hit and more tender billions

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It may mean “place of peace”. But the City of Ekurhuleni has been on edge this year following the murder of its chief auditor, Mpho Mafole. The soon-to-be married financial investigator was shot and killed not far from his Kempton Park home in late June. Mafole, a former staffer in the Auditor-General’s office, was only three months on the job in Ekurhuleni. And he is most certainly not the first municipal auditor to be targeted for combing through the metro’s books, but for what specifically? Piecing together this complex story is Sikonathi Mantshantsha, our senior investigative journalist joining us in this edition of The Lead. Later in the show, the DA-led City of Cape Town faces flak for giving a R2-billion tender to a Jozi company. Finally, while the Mother City shivers, KwaZulu-Natal busts out the aircon for dry conditions and veld fires. You can send show host Graeme Raubenheimer a short voice note with your questions or thoughts on this episode to our official The Lead WhatsApp line, that’s: +27 72 562 3179. Editions drop on Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Chapters
  • 00:01 Graeme's intro
  • 01:58 Crossing to Sikonathi Mantshantsha
  • 20:03 Trending topic: CoCT R2bn Jozi tender saga
  • 21:10 AD: Listen Up! With Tim Cohen & Mark Barnes
  • 22:04 And finally: KZN wild fire warning
  • 22:50 Graeme's outro / On This Day in SA History
4 Aug 2025 English South Africa News · Society & Culture

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