Brainscape

Extortion is a massive problem in South Africa. It affects many industries, areas and individuals – and crimes in this arena can prove fatal, people have before been murdered. Railway tracks and construction sites have been disrupted and extortionists even go after pensioners. Restaurants and entertainment venues are also targeted.Written & Narrated by Caryn DolleyProduced by Emilie Gambade & Bernard KotzeEdited by Rufaro Chiswo Theme Music & Design by Bernard Kotze 

A sensational R2-billion drug bust in Limpopo has resulted in five suspects, some of them Mexican citizens, being arrested. Three months ago, cocaine shipped from Colombia was intercepted in KwaZulu-Natal, and cases in Brazil and Australia have also highlighted drug-smuggling links to SA.Written & Narrated by Caryn DolleyProduced by Emilie Gambade & Bernard KotzeEdited by Malibongwe Tyilo Music & Design by Bernard Kotze  

In murky organised crime arenas, the irrefutable facts take the form of a murder toll. A dead body equates to cold, hard fact. The stories spun around it, some which may be intentionally planted to divert from truth and those guilty of crime, need to be carefully unravelled. Organised crime suspect Mark Lifman consistently denied accusations that he was linked to lawbreaking. The businessman was assassinated in the Western Cape town of George on 3 November 2024 while facing accusations, and on trial, for the assassination of another organised crime suspect - Brian “the Steroid King” Wainstein.Written & Narrated by Caryn DolleyProduced by Emilie Gambade & Bernard KotzeEdited by Malibongwe TyiloOriginal Theme Music & Design by Bernard Kotze

This is the scandal that has lacerated the South African Police Service and implicated some of the country’s top cops and politicians. A story of Mandela’s top cop, steeped in apartheid-era sabotage across local and global criminal investigations spanning decades. Add in nefarious individuals, from an informant once close to Colombia’s Pablo Escobar, to several suspected Cape Town crime kingpins, the stakes only get higher. Dolley provides unprecedented insight into how apartheid-era policing structures lay the foundations for cop-gangster collusion and how these have endured into democracy. With exclusive access to retired policeman André Lincoln’s life, Dolley exposes the dirty ploys that have swung South Africa’s trajectory; how street-level killings could be flashpoints of deep state proxy wars; and raises suspicions about who in Nelson Mandela’s realm backstabbed whom. Dolley’s in-depth reporting brings to light the hidden power struggles, street-level killings, and state sabotage that have scarred South Africa, while exploring high-profile cases like the assassination of Lieutenant Charl Kinnear and recent tender fraud investigations, including the recent arrest of former City of Cape Town councillor Malusi Booi, are also under the microscope. Written & Narrated by Caryn DolleyProduced by Emilie Gambade & Bernard KotzeEdited by Malibongwe TyiloOriginal Theme Music & Design by Bernard KotzeCaryn Dolley's book 'Man Alone' is now available for pre-order from the Daily Maverick Shop for R310. ORDER HERE: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/man-a... or available at all good bookstores. For media enquiries, please contact: Ingrid Sinclair, ingrid@dailymaverick.co.za