Families, survivors commemorate the George building collapse one year on

Loading player...
Considered one of South Africa’s deadliest construction disasters, May 6, 2025, marks a year since 34 people were killed in the George residential building collapse in the Western Cape. As their families, friends and the 28 survivors pause to hold a memorial, justice in the wake of evidence of poor workmanship remains elusive. “It was really a sombre moment. We heard beautiful songs by some of the local choirs, and in the background, you could hear the family members breaking down and them wailing,“ News24 journalist Nicole McCain tells The Lead. No one’s been held criminally liable for the deaths as yet. Later in the show, host Graeme Raubenheimer looks at the government’s promise to shield a massive black business fund from corruption. And finally, Trump vows to make Hollywood great again.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
  • 01:28 Interview with Nicole McCain
  • 13:42 Trending topic: Big black business fund
  • 15:12 And finally: Make Hollywood great again
  • 16:25 Graeme's outro
6 May 2025 English South Africa News · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

Arrests as HIV funds wasted on probing health ministry whistleblower

Senior health department officials are facing the music for allegedly siphoning off around R1 million from the Global Fund, which is meant to assist in fighting HIV, TB and malaria, all to pay a so-called independent investigator to try and discipline an internal corruption whistleblower. Let our investigative journalist, Azarrah Karrim,…
3 Mar 22 min

Jetting off to London and then a fuel tender? Jeff Wicks investigates

Oh, no, it wasn't a gift… That's the insistence from former Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi, who in 2022 hopped on a R3.5-million, privately chartered jet for a shopping spree in central London. And who did she share the luxurious flight with? Investigative journalist Jeff Wicks explains why this matters in the…
2 Mar 20 min

Two sides of a coin? Examining O’Sullivan and Mogotsi

Are they two sides of a similar coin? Parliamentarians have spent the past few weeks grilling the rather cryptic backgrounds of both investigator Paul O’Sullivan and information peddler Brown Mogotsi. The pair, in their own peculiar ways, have found themselves so embroiled in, or alleged in proximity to, all sorts of…
26 Feb 28 min

Tax breaks galore, reforms and economic growth forecast in Budget 2026

Don’t worry, folks, it appears 2026 is a good news Budget. In a nutshell, Treasury has spared us the pain of universal tax increases, while also introducing increases on tax-free thresholds for several investments. The economy, as many continue to celebrate, is turning the corner, so much so that the…
25 Feb 25 min

The Joburg water crisis is not over

Coronationville, Westbury and Melville are among the Johannesburg suburbs still suffering from a perpetual water crisis. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has promised residents that long-term solutions are on the way. But metro journalist Alex Patrick tells us that, in the meantime, many infuriated locals are struggling to survive. In our…
24 Feb 20 min