News24 The Lead

An Ace in the hole, with Karyn Maughan

Loading player...
Today on The Lead, we cross to Bloemfontein where specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan was in the Free State High Court, where former premier Ace Magashule pleaded not guilty to allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering charges in the asbestos tender scam trial. The former ANC Secretary-General and 17 others, including businessman Edwin Sodi are in the dock in connection with the R255-million scheme to audit and remove asbestos from Free State homes. State prosecutors have dubbed the case as a “thieves’ picnic”. Maughan discusses what happened in court today, including how Magashule asked whether the state was confident about their charges against him. Later we look at how National Institute for Communicable Diseases has declared South Africa’s flu season open as well as who the lucky winner of the R110 million PowerBall jackpot is. Mail your comments and voice notes to thelead@24.com. Editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
Chapters
  • 00:01 Graeme's intro
  • 01:20 Crossing to Karyn Maughan
  • 15:00 Trending topic: SA flu season is early
  • 15:51 And finally: A lottery fairytale
  • 16:41 AD: Audiobook of the Month
  • 17:33 Graeme's outro
16 Apr English South Africa News · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

The toll of Cape Town’s unending gang war

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…
18 Dec 43 min

Who killed DJ Warras and why? PLUS, meat prices soar

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…
17 Dec 21 min

Pierre de Vos judges the judiciary in 2025. PLUS, KZN legislature chaos 

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…
15 Dec 27 min

Can the black middle class save the ANC from collapse? 

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…
11 Dec 37 min

Inside the ANC’s soul-searching NGC – vote buying, step-asides and succession

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…
10 Dec 18 min
All episodes