EPISODE 1: We’ll Miss it When it’s Gone

Investigative journalists Richard Poplak and Diana Neille set out on a road trip through post-uprising South Africa, in search of answers to help explain what is happening to the country’s democracy and, by extension, to many others around the world. They meet with two self-described community activists in Durban, who stepped in to the void created by a government that couldn’t cope, during the eight days of riots that followed former president Jacob Zuma’s incarceration in July, 2021. Then, they make their way up to the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, to the birthplace of a presidential hopeful, whose story is representative of the devolution of South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress.

Featuring:
Zain Soosiwala, co-founder of eThekwini Secure
Mohammed Ismail, senior member of eThekwini Secure
Songezo Zibi, author and co-founder of progressive think tank, the Rivonia Circle

Channel 4 News / eNews Channel Africa / Africa News / CBC News: The National / SABC News / NBC News / CNBC / World Is One News / CNN / DW News / BBC News / Carte Blanche

Written, produced & directed by Richard Poplak and Diana Neille
Fact checking and editorial oversight by Sasha Wales-Smith
Editing & sound design by Diana Neille, Bernard Kotze & Tevya Turok Shapiro
Original soundtrack & visual aesthetic by Bernard Kotze
Additional voice work by Ayanda Charlie
Transcriptions by Gloria Cooper
Project Manager: Kathryn Kotze
Marketing lead: Sarah Koopman
Editor-in-Chief: Branko Brkic
Deputy Editor: Jillian Green
Executive Producer: Styli Charalambous

Produced with support from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
(The content may not necessarily reflect the Foundation’s views or opinions)