News24 The Lead

Dlomo in the dock cracks open SSA looting legacy of the Zuma years

Loading player...
Once upon a time, he was former president Jacob Zuma’s so-called super spy. Heading up a secretive sub-section of the State Security Agency, all in the name of only protecting number one: Umsholozi. But this week, the NPA’s no-holds-barred Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) unit arrested and charged Thulani Dlomo for alleged forgery, looting the agency of millions. And our investigations editor, Pieter du Toit, thinks it’s among our best early Christmas presents this year. Finally, the Mother City suffered a fairly serious earthquake in the early 1800s … with On This Day in SA history, heard at the end of the show. You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. The Lead is currently sponsored by 10X Investments.
Chapters
  • 00:01 Graeme's intro
  • 01:26 Crossing to Pieter du Toit on Dlomo's legacy
  • 13:30 Arthur Fraser knows where the skeletons are buried
  • 24:34 AD: 10X Investments
  • 24:59 On This Day in SA History: CPT earthquake
4 Dec 2025 English South Africa News · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

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…
20 May 26 min

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…
18 May 39 min

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…
13 May 33 min

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,…
11 May 19 min

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…
7 May 20 min
All episodes