News24 The Lead

The Cat and the Hat - what did Cele do at Zimbali villa? PLUS: Charlie Kirk’s hit

Loading player...
For our final edition of The Lead this week: it’s getting more difficult for former police minister Bheki Cele to downplay his past meetings with controversial tender don Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala. Investigative journalist Jeff Wicks is our first guest filling in the blanks here. Later in the show, we cross to long-time Washington correspondent John Matisonn, who distills the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s killing in the US. Finally, we end off with “On This Day in History”. A special thank you from the team for tuning in to the show, now listened to about 600 000 times! You can send host Graeme Raubenheimer a voice note with your questions or thoughts on this episode to: +27 72 562 3179. Mail your comments to: thelead@24.com. Editions drop Monday through Thursday, at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.  
Chapters
  • 00:01 Graeme's intro
  • 02:30 Crossing to Jeff Wicks
  • 22:07 Crossing to John Matisonn
  • 29:56 AD: News24's The Weekender
  • 30:24 On This Day in SA History
11 Sep 2025 English South Africa News · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

Arrests as HIV funds wasted on probing health ministry whistleblower

Senior Health Ministry officials face the music for allegedly siphoning off around a million rand from the Global Fund, which is actually 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,…
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
All episodes