News24 The Lead

Tony Leon on the state of the GNU, the DA, and brown envelopes

Loading player...
The government of national unity (GNU) is MIA. And it’s not unified in the nation’s interests - it’s every man or woman for themselves. This is the opinion of one former DA leader-turned-ambassador, Tony Leon, who argues that SA’s current crop of leaders is failing the perfect storm test as we barrel toward Trump’s tariffs sans a senior diplomat in Washington. And what does he think about the Independent Development Trust bribe scandal? And the DA’s internal leadership battles for key posts? Find out in Tony’s debut edition of The Lead with host Graeme Raubenheimer. Later in the show, an elusive Jozi investment broker who allegedly conned his clients out of millions hands himself over to the police. Finally, Sean “Diddy” Combs wants a Trump pardon. 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. Mail your comments to thelead@24.com. Editions drop on Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
6 Aug English South Africa News · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

The brutal killing of ‘incorruptible’ lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk, with Kyle Cowan

The hit on a top Johannesburg insolvency lawyer has reverberated throughout the country’s legal fraternity. Now, while the police attempt to arrest the gunmen who so brazenly snuffed out Bouwer van Niekerk’s life last Friday, details are slowly emerging about the multimillion-rand cryptocurrency trading fund that he was engaged with. Kyle…
9 Sep 39 min

Who is Andre Pienaar, the ‘low-level’ spook badmouthing SA in DC?

Welcome to the 100th episode of The Lead on News24, hosted by broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer. First, we’ll reflect on the moment with our proud editor-in-chief, Adriaan Basson. Then, in our top story: from Johann Rupert to the DA, we are aware of the most notable South African figures who’ve…
8 Sep 28 min

Council chaos in the wild, wild North West, with Siyamtanda Capa

The North West province appears to be the wild, wild west these days. The audit reports for most municipalities in this often-forgotten province make for painful reading as critical service delivery has ground to a halt in many towns. Including the city of Mahikeng, where, despite this grim reality, managers…
4 Sep 26 min

No laughing matter: How Mchunu set the Hawks on a TikTok satirist

It’s a story so out of left field and certainly not one we had on our bingo card for 2025!The Hawks, our supposedly elite crime-fighting unit, which is currently severely underpowered, have come out in strong defence of their investigation of fairly well-known local social media content creator Anton Taylor…
3 Sep 31 min

Looters’ paradise or critical body? Debate over role of state pensions agency

It’s been a national talking point these past few weeks thanks to our intrepid investigative journalist, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, who’s refusing to take his foot off the pedal when it comes to the numerous allegations of dodgy payments to the tune of billions at the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA).First came…
2 Sep 28 min
All episodes