Cover image of show The Lead

The Lead

Podcast by News24

English

News & politics

Limited Offer

2 months for 19 kr.

Then 99 kr. / monthCancel anytime.

  • 20 hours of audiobooks / month
  • Podcasts only on Podimo
  • All free podcasts
Get Started

About The Lead

Seasoned broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer brings you The Lead, News24's definitive podcast for in-depth reporting. Join us every Monday and Wednesday 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 email: thelead@24.com. This is The Lead, and this is the South African story.

All episodes

223 episodes

episode Return to the Bellville South house of horrors artwork

Return to the Bellville South house of horrors

In this edition, The Lead returns to the Bellville South house of horrors with News24 court and crime journalist, Lisalee Solomons. She reports that 63-year-old Aletta Rose, the murder convict accused of decapitating her Cape Town sister in March, has been giving court and remand prison authorities a headache. Rose, who now wants bail, doesn't like the media's cameras snapping pictures of her, and insists on an Afrikaans-speaking Legal Aid attorney. Later in the show, we recall the late Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's legacy during the Mbeki era, in our regular segment On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday and Wednesday nights at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

20 May 2026 - 26 min
episode PowerBall? The lotto king’s curious business ties artwork

PowerBall? The lotto king’s curious business ties

The licence to operate the Lotto is about to change hands to Sizekhaya Holdings, not without claims of alleged misconduct by those left out of the ultra-lucrative tender. The man steering that outfit is Moses Tembe, a figure who's in business with at least three others precariously close to Deputy President Paul Mashatile. So much so that Tembe got a personal invite to this year's opening of Parliament, reports News24 investigative journalist Azarrah Karrim.In our trending topic, we ask: which SA retailer is streaks ahead so far with its self-checkout tills? News24's William Brederode tested them! Finally, later in the show, the early '90s SA democracy negotiations looked grim, as we discussed in our regular segment, On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com [thelead@24.com]. Full editions drop on Monday and Wednesday nights at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

18 May 2026 - 39 min
episode Your ultimate Phala Phala couch catch-up artwork

Your ultimate Phala Phala couch catch-up

President Cyril Ramaphosa reckons he's got a fair chance of challenging an independent panel's findings that he may have broken the law in relation to the 2020 theft of a large sum of money from a couch based at his Phala Phala game lodge. But this “Section 89” report, overseen by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, is not the only one Ramaphosa should be worried about. In this edition of The Lead, investigative journalist Kyle Cowan explains the critical importance of police watchdog IPID's revelations. And we rewind it all, to give you a much clearer sense of the entire Phala Phala saga up until now. Finally, later in the show, the Mayor of Welkom was tarred and feathered. On This Day in SA History is our regular segment. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

13 May 2026 - 33 min
episode OR Tambo gold bust haunts SAPS major generals. Plus: Cape storm wrap artwork

OR Tambo gold bust haunts SAPS major generals. Plus: Cape storm wrap

We kick off this news week with two more senior police figures in the dock, this time facing serious charges in connection with a peculiar unwrought gold bust at OR Tambo International Airport about five years ago. Major Generals Feroz Khan and Ebrahim Kadwa, and security company boss Tariq Downes, have all since been granted bail, reports News24's Tankiso Makhetha. Makhetha has found that Downes' alleged name-dropping of Khan during the bust and then getting off scot-free has now come back to haunt the three. In our trending topic, Cape schools shut this Tuesday in the eye of a destructive storm that has ripped roofs off homes, downed trees and blocked roads. Finally, later in the show, SA formally joined the global football world, On This Day in SA History. Comment below and send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note: 072 562 3179. To advertise: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

11 May 2026 - 19 min
episode The City of Gold is bankrupt artwork

The City of Gold is bankrupt

The City of Gold is bankrupt. And don't take our word for it, the finance minister says so! Enoch Godongwana has even instructed Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero to halt a R10 billion wage hike for municipal workers, a move that may come back to bite the beleaguered administration. Here, in this edition, with all the details of Godongwana's naughty letter to Morero is News24 metro journo, Alex Patrick. Later in the show, US airmen touched down in apartheid SA in 1960 for a missile test, On This Day in SA History, our regular segment. Plus, 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 on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. The show is fully produced, presented and edited by Raubenheimer and quality-checked by News24's editors.

7 May 2026 - 20 min
En fantastisk app med et enormt stort udvalg af spændende podcasts. Podimo formår virkelig at lave godt indhold, der takler de lidt mere svære emner. At der så også er lydbøger oveni til en billig pris, gør at det er blevet min favorit app.
En fantastisk app med et enormt stort udvalg af spændende podcasts. Podimo formår virkelig at lave godt indhold, der takler de lidt mere svære emner. At der så også er lydbøger oveni til en billig pris, gør at det er blevet min favorit app.
Rigtig god tjeneste med gode eksklusive podcasts og derudover et kæmpe udvalg af podcasts og lydbøger. Kan varmt anbefales, om ikke andet så udelukkende pga Dårligdommerne, Klovn podcast, Hakkedrengene og Han duo 😁 👍
Podimo er blevet uundværlig! Til lange bilture, hverdagen, rengøringen og i det hele taget, når man trænger til lidt adspredelse.

Choose your subscription

Most popular

Limited Offer

Premium

20 hours of audiobooks

  • Podcasts only on Podimo

  • No ads in Podimo shows

  • Cancel anytime

2 months for 19 kr.
Then 99 kr. / month

Get Started

Premium Plus

Unlimited audiobooks

  • Podcasts only on Podimo

  • No ads in Podimo shows

  • Cancel anytime

Start 7 days free trial
Then 129 kr. / month

Start for free

Only on Podimo

Popular audiobooks

Get Started

2 months for 19 kr. Then 99 kr. / month. Cancel anytime.