Daily Maverick

Cape Town homeowners who do not qualify for income-linked rebates are paying municipal bills that have significantly outpaced inflation and salary increases over the past decade as a result of spiralling property valuations and a wave of fixed charges that did not exist 10 years ago. Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis explains.  Reporting by: Rebecca Davis  Edited by: Anda Tolibadi  Filmed by: Joel Se...

South African couple Melany and Peet Viljoen revelled in the limelight. Melany featured on the reality TV show The Real Housewives of Pretoria. And Viljoen styled himself as a legal eagle. But all wasn’t as it seemed. The couple perpetuated the lie that there is a ‘white genocide’ in South Africa, with Afrikaners being violently targeted. So they moved to the US, where they were arrested on shopli...

Daily Maverick’s Associate Editor Ferial Haffajee puts the hard questions to Cape Town's Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, on inequality, the DA leadership race, and what a functional city actually means. Hosted by: Ferial Haffajee Guest: Mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis Edited by: Joel Seboa Produced by: Emilie Gambade & Joel Seboa Original Theme Music & Design by: Bernard Kotze You can li...

Two competing narratives have emerged since KwaZulu-Natal police chief Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged in July 2025 that a cartel had penetrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics, and private security. Either he is exposing a national crisis, or he is deflecting from his own alleged misconduct. Daily Maverick's Caryn Dolley explains. Reporting by: Caryn Dolley  Edited by: Joel Seboa  Fil...

South Africa is in the grip of an infrastructure supercycle, but it isn’t roads or rails. It is the rise of the AI Factory, windowless fortresses consuming small cities worth of power.  Reporting by:  Lindsey Schutters & Tony Carnie  Edited by: Anda Tolibadi  Filmed by: Joel Seboa  Produced by: Emilie Gambade  Creative Lead by: Malibongwe Tyilo  Sub-edited by: Kevin Flynn  Support journalism that...

In this solo episode of The Readiness Report, Redi Tlhabi discusses newly appointed US Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, and the recent rebuke from Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola. Drawing on her own experience of living abroad, from the United States to London, she offers four “tips” on what it means to enter a new society as a guest, why understanding local sensitivities matters,...

In this video, Scorpio investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh unpacks documents pointing to an alleged slush fund linked to Brian Molefe during his tenure at Transnet and Eskom — and what they suggest about money, influence and State Capture. Daily Maverick reached out to Molefe for comment, but he did not respond. Reggie Maponya said she did not wish to comment.  Reporting by: Pieter-Louis...

As tensions sharpen between Iran, Israel and the United States, Redi Tlhabi and veteran journalist Phillip van Niekerk unpack the strikes, the denials and the shifting nuclear narrative. From the collapse of the Obama-era deal dismantled by Donald Trump to the long-running warnings of Benjamin Netanyahu, they examine how we arrived at this moment and whether bombing a nation can ever be sold as li...

In this episode of The Readiness Report , Redi Tlhabi sits down with economist and director of Inani Strategies Xhanti Payi to unpack what the national budget really means for ordinary families. From food prices and interest rates to service delivery and the decision to hold back further VAT increases, the conversation cuts through the policy jargon to focus on our realities. Join the conversation...

In a wide-ranging interview, Daily Maverick’s Ferial Haffajee sits down with Herman Mashaba, president of ActionSA and mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, to probe his plans for a city in crisis. From the deepening water shortages and collapsing infrastructure to his hardline stance on undocumented immigrants, Mashaba lays out an agenda rooted in enforcement and administrative overhaul. Hosted by:...

In 2022, Indian authorities uncovered R4.3-billion worth of cocaine and methamphetamine concealed in two consignments of fresh fruit shipped from South Africa. A suspect, who denies any wrongdoing, now faces criminal charges in India. In South Africa, however, no one appears to have been held accountable for what amounts to a major narco-trafficking operation. Daily Maverick’s Caryn Dolley reports...

In this episode of Power Chat, Daily Maverick’s Tiara Walters speaks with Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Willie Aucamp about the devastating floods that tore through Kruger National Park. With bridges washed away, camps submerged and key routes severed, Aucamp outlines a phased recovery plan and defends the park’s emergency response. But beyond the logistics, the conversation tur...

On The Readiness Report, Redi Tlhabi reflects on the fighting spirit of Jesse Jackson and the warning embedded in his life’s work: democracy weakens when citizens grow tired. With elections looming and institutions under strain, this is a call to courage, participation, and refusing to normalise injustice. This episode was made possible thanks to The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom:  http...

US Justice Department records detail Jeffrey Epstein’s links to South Africa, including references to business contacts and efforts to recruit South Africans staff and models. There is no indication that the business figures named were involved in wrongdoing. The files place South Africa within Epstein’s broader international network. Daily Maverick senior journalist Rebecca Davis explains. Report...

After months of warnings that South Africa would be punished by the United States over its foreign policy, Washington has taken a different course. President Donald Trump has signed a short extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) through 31 December 2026, applied retroactively. In this episode, Redi Tlhabi and chief economist, author and a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s E...

When newly released documents related to Jeffrey Epstein were published in January, journalists around the world began searching for any local connections hidden in the records. At Daily Maverick, we did the same — and came across a name we did not expect: Jacob Zuma. Reporting by: Rebecca Davis  Filmed by: Joel Seboa  Edited by: Anda Tolibadi  Produced by: Emilie Gambade  Creative lead by: Malibo...

In 2023, I reported on individuals from Bulgaria, wanted in other countries over crime issues, who may be in Cape Town, South Africa. Now it turns out that one of them, Stanislav Stamenov, wanted by Romania for alleged drug trafficking, has indeed been in the South African city – offering personal training services at a Virgin Active gym in a posh suburb.  Reporting by: Caryn Dolley  Edited by: Jo...

Why do South Africa’s most powerful leaders refuse to act, even in the face of crisis? In this episode of The Readiness Report, Redi Tlhabi speaks to Corruption Watch Executive Director Lebogang Ramafoko about the Madlanga Commission, political accountability, and the failure of leadership at the highest levels of the state. They unpack why commissions of inquiry rarely lead to consequences, and h...

In this episode of the Readiness Report, Redi Tlhabi traces a familiar and dangerous pattern in modern leadership: paranoia as power. From Silvio Berlusconi to Jacob Zuma to Donald Trump, she unpacks how leaders who see criticism as personal attack begin to govern through grievance, blurring the line between policy and vendetta, statecraft and self-image. Tlhabi argues that when leadership becomes...

Listen as Redi Tlhabi speaks with political scientist and PARI executive director Sithembile Mbete about the United Nations at a moment of deep, deep strain. They talk through why decades of debate on Security Council reform have led nowhere, how the veto entrenches global inequality, and what this paralysis means for Africa and the global South. It is a conversation about privilege, stalled chang...

In a searing conversation, Redi Tlhabi is joined by journalist and editor Tony Karon to interrogate what Washington calls a “limited military operation” in Venezuela and what critics have described as a kidnapping of a sovereign president in the name of oil. From the revival of the Monroe Doctrine as a modern-day “Donroe Doctrine”, the idea that all of the Americas fall under US dominion, to the l...

Redi Tlhabi sits down with B20 Sherpa Cas Coovadia to unpack the summit’s strong outcome, the real barriers to mobilising capital for a just transition, and what it will take to unlock investment in emerging markets. They also tackle the political fallout from the US boycott of South Africa, and what it actually signals for global cooperation. Hosted by: Redi Tlhabi Guest: Cas Coovadia Produced by...

When John Steenhuisen abruptly removed Environment Minister Dion George and replaced him with DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp in mid-November, it left many observers scratching their heads. Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis explains.  Reporting by: Rebecca Davis  Edited by: Joel Seboa   Produced by: Emilie Gambade  Sub-edited by: Kevin Flynn  Support journalism that protects democracy. Become a Maveric...

As G20 leaders gather in Johannesburg, former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel joins Ferial Haffajee on Power Chat, to unpack a bold new set of proposals aimed at refinancing Africa’s mounting debt. From tapping the IMF’s soaring gold reserves to deploying special drawing rights, Manuel explains why the moment demands structural action rather than diplomatic rhetoric. Hosted by: Ferial Haffajee Gues...

In this powerful episode of The Readiness Report, award-winning journalist Redi Tlhabi sits down with human rights activist Mark Heywood for an unflinching conversation about power, inequality, and accountability — from the incredible election of Zohran Mamdani as Mayor of New York to South Africa’s deepening crises of corruption and malnutrition. A candid, urgent exchange about what it means to l...