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Seasoned broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer brings you The Lead, News24’s definitive podcast for in-depth reporting. Join us every Monday to Thursday at 19:00 SAST for candid conversations with our top journalists, and discover what they saw, heard, and uncovered in their relentless pursuit of the big story. Episodes drop on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube like clockwork. WhatsApp: 072 562 3179 or mail: thelead@24.com. This is The Lead, and this is the South African story.
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Is the so-called “prime lending rate” – the fancifully advertised rate that banks use as a reference or pegging point to sell bonds and loans to us – just a giant load of untested BS? Why is it 350 basis points more than our much-deserved low repo rate, and isn’t it high time the SA Reserve Bank reviewed this? The very latest word from News24 business journo, Garth Theunissen, is that the Competition Commission’s already been looking into alleged cartel collusion regarding the rate and local banks since 2021. Later, in our trending topic, an alleged drunk driver in Cape Town turns on two cops trying to solicit a bribe from him. Finally, Britain upset the Commonwealth by selling apartheid SA arms, On This Day in SA History, heard later in the show just before 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 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 Simon Sonnekus.
While the SACP marched on the US Embassy in Pretoria on Thursday to denounce the Trump administration’s abduction of another sitting head of state, the political parties that make up the current government of national unity (GNU) failed to see eye-to-eye on how best to react to the US-Venezuela crisis. We check the GNU’s foreign policy pulse with our columnists, global correspondent Phillip de Wet, and political analyst Mphumelelo Mkhabela, next. The ANC is also founded 114 years ago with On This Day in SA History. Finally, can you beat Rauby’s Pointless Braai Quiz in this edition? A grand prize awaits! 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.
A surprise appointment to be sure… Corruption buster Advocate Andy Mothibi has his work cut out for him as the new head of the National Prosecuting Authority from February 1. But does his bypassing of the interview process sour the start of his new position, and what about concerns over his age? Specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan comes out of holiday hibernation to fill us in. Later, in our trending topic, another potential “Day Zero” scenario of dangerously low water levels looms large for the beloved tourist town of Knysna. We look back at the 1957 bus boycott with On This Day in SA History. Finally, can you crack Graeme’s Pointless Braai Quiz for today? The question comes at the start, and the answer’s heard at the end of the show. 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.
In our second edition of the new year so far…They’re by no means a new invention. But they appear to be as popular as ever, according to one major retailer. Many South Africans continue to spend millions on savings stamps every month, according to consumer journalist Maya Fisher-French. Later, in our trending topic, as Tweede Nuwe Jaar comes and goes, we sum up the Cape Town minstrel mess so far. And finally, the so-called Wind of Change was sweeping through Africa but apartheid SA didn’t care to listen, On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. 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.
Welcome to 2026 Lead listeners…From municipal elections to the FIFA World Cup, it is going to be a banger of a year… and we’ll be with you telling our countries’ most critical stories, every step of the way. For our first edition of season two of The Lead; Bafana bows out of the Africa Cup of Nations after failing to capitalise on early attacks against the Cameroonians in the knockout stages. We’ll hit the locker room with News24 Sport journalist Tashreeq Vardien next. Later, in our trending topic, the SAPS scores several arrests these holidays, seizing explosives in the process. Finally, the SABC’s first run of television broadcasts started On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. 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.
Back to school, back to reality…With schools about to reopen, senior education journalist Prega Govender takes stock of the 2025 matric results. Think of it like a scale: on one end, a greater average pass rate, while on the other, fewer pupils are taking critical subjects like standard maths. And the concern is: when does this scale tip completely? Later, in our trending topic, car sales jump in 2025, and expect more Chinese brands to speed in soon. We remember the Orkney football derby disaster of 1991, with On This Day in SA History, heard later in the show. Finally, 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 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 Simon Sonnekus.
Provincial coalition politics in KwaZulu-Natal are on shaky, uncertain ground, with the small kingmaker National Freedom Party trying to call the shots, threatening to pull out of the IFP, ANC, and DA government of provincial unity, leaving the MKP rubbing its hands. Our man in Durban, Soyiso Maliti, reports the latest developments. Later, in our trending topic, it’s been an especially tough summer for Cape firefighters now battling the extensive Franschoek blaze. Finally, it’s like poetry! The Zulu throne changed hands in the early 1970s, with On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. 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.
Touch wood, South Africa’s government of national unity has survived 2025. But the tested national coalition between two of the country’s most devout enemies, the ANC and the DA, has the war wounds to show for it. And senior parliamentary correspondent Jan Gerber has borne witness to most of these GNU trials and tribulations. He’s our final guest on The Lead this 2025. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Sadly, assassinations will come to define the 2025 news agenda. From Ekhuruleni financial auditor Mpho Mafole to Brakpan crimefighter Marius van der Merwe, several South Africans have paid the ultimate price for doing the right thing. Our senior investigative journalist, Sikonathi Manthshantsha, is live on the line with us in this end-of-the-year edition of The Lead to try and make sense of all the izinkabi’s bloodshed. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Vusimusi “the Cat” Matlala has been a name tough to keep out of our top news headlines of 2025. From the Tembisa Hospital extraction scandal to a failed hit on his former lover, actress Tebogo Thobejane, all while brushing shoulders with former police commissioner and long-time minister Bheki Cele – the Cat’s nine lives may well and truly be finally up. And our guest on this end-of-year edition of The Lead is the man who has taken up slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran’s cause to flag criminality in the Gauteng health sector, our intrepid investigative journo, Jeff Wicks. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Another high-profile commission of inquiry wasn’t on our news bingo cards for 2025.But we’re not surprised another one was established, either. Born out of two parts: one, News24 picking up slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran’s investigation into the Tembisa Hospital extraction scandal, and two, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s bombshell press conference, the Madlanga Commission is very much the impactful sequel to the Zondo Inquiry. Except, this time, this commission has taken us to the heart of this country’s problem all along, a politically and criminally compromised law enforcement and judicial system. One of the country’s best journos, who’s held our hands throughout the commission, is our very own specialist legal writer, Karyn Maughan, our guest in this special end-of-year edition of The Lead. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
You may be wondering these holidays, around the braai, “hey, I can’t remember but…” what set off the US Trump Administration in 2025 to punish South Africa with tariffs, a White House press ambush, and a ghosting at the G20 in Johannesburg? Well, not one factor, person or organisation is to blame for the supreme souring of relations between Washington and Pretoria. Instead, a disinformation war waged online, using X and other social media sites, worked in concert to drive a very disingenuous and false claim that whites are being subjected to a genocide in our country. One account at the centre of it helped bring that narrative to the eyeballs of Elon Musk, and thus the US president, was Twatterbaas. Joining us in this end-of-year Lead edition to reflect on his exposé of the man behind the busy X Boer profile is our very own Kyle Cowan. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
When, eventually, we peer back at the annals of South African sport in 2025, cricket will come out tops. That’s the argument from our News24 Sport editor, Lloyd Burnard, who believes the Proteas’ fire is blazing bright for both the men’s and women’s sides. Burnard joined The Lead in our new Cape Town studios to reflect on the sporting year that was, not just on the oval, but out on the pitch and field, too. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
The Western Cape gang crisis is at fever pitch. The latest stats show nearly 100 people were killed in gang violence every month for the past six months. Families are shattered, police detectives are strained to capacity, and trauma doctors are burnt out. We give the “War at Home” in Cape Town a face with journalist, Lisalee Solomons. Later, in our trending topic, with a win over Ghana under their belt, Bafana brace for a tough Afcon tournament in Morocco. And finally, On This Day in SA History in 1923, the country heard its very first experimental radio broadcast. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Media personality turned businessman Warrick “DJ Warras” Stock tasked himself with restoring some order in Johannesburg’s maze of problematic, hijacked buildings. We look at why Stock, a former 5FM DJ and private security company boss, was shot and killed in broad daylight on a public holiday meant to celebrate our country’s reconciliation. Journalist Tankiso Makhetha helps us fill in the blanks in this edition. Later, in our trending topic, meat eaters beware: Christmas lunch will be significantly more expensive this year due to rising food price inflation. Finally, South Africa took charge of Namibia in 1920, On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Have you clocked out for the year already? On the beach yet? Switched off? Well, constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos has, but not before giving us his last interview for the year. Touching on all his highs and lows for the judiciary in 2025, from one judge allegedly receiving church bribes – to IDAC’s Transnet corruption trial, De Vos weighs in. Later, in our trending topic, our politicians haven’t gone on holiday yet! Over in KwaZulu-Natal, a chaotic legislature sitting and motion against Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli ended with him keeping his post. Finally, the British suffered serious losses in the Second Anglo-Boer War, On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
The ANC is introspecting. If its National General Council is anything to go by, the continent’s oldest liberation party appears to be serious about reversing its sliding scale of victory. But the yellow and green giant forged in the images of Luthuli, Sisulu and Mandela cannot rebuild without the full support of the country’s black middle class, which it helped forge. That’s the argument from News24 opionionista and political commentator, Mpumelelo Mkhabela, our guest on The Lead this Thursday. Finally, we honour the late literary giant and feminist Olive Schreiner, with On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
An end to vote-buying at elective conferences. And a stricter step-aside ruling for those accused of corruption. These are just some of the party policy changes the African National Congress (ANC) is mulling over at its current National General Council in Boksburg. As our political reporter, Soyiso Maliti debuts on The Lead, the ANC takes a hard look in the mirror. Later, the ANC’s Chief Albert Luthuli carved his name on a Nobel Peace Prize, with On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
The DA won’t be led by John Steenhuisen forever, and this is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s final turn at the helm of Africa’s oldest liberation movement, the ANC. While most of us have our minds on the beach at this time of year, News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson has some very informed thoughts on who may or may not lead these two awkward GNU bedfellows in the years to come. Later, in our trending topic, the deputy president is cagey in Parliament about a diamond for his wife and his multimillion-rand travel bill. Finally, we shine a light on Operation Blanket, a covert SADF operation against the ANC in Lesotho, with On This Day in SA History, heard at the end of the show. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Nicknamed “vlam”, or flame in English, 41-year-old Brakpan crimefighter Marius van der Merwe was shot and killed last Friday at his home. It’s mere weeks after he, as Witness D at the Madlanga Commission, detailed an alleged 2022 murder cover-up involving deputy Ekurhuleni top metro cop, Julius Mkhwanazi. And it follows Van Der Merwe’s private security efforts to fight illegal mining on Gauteng’s East Rand this year. Investigative journalist Jeff Wicks brings us up to speed on these developments. Later, in our trending topic, how much would you pay for a 1995 Springbok players’ medal gifted by the late Nelson Mandela? Finally, the Little Foot Sterkfontein skeleton was unearthed On This Day in SA History. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
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