Daily Maverick’s impact in numbers — the October stories

amaPanyaza disbanded (26 October)

The Public Protector said this month that Gauteng’s so-called crime prevention wardens, known colloquially as the amaPanyaza, were unlawfully established by premier Panyaza Lesufi, violating constitutional restrictions on the powers of provincial governments. Panyaza had quietly disbanded the unit hours before this announcement. 

Takudzwa Pongweni has been reporting on the dubious activities of the Gauteng government and the amaPanyaza since mid-2023, shortly after their illegal formation, when allegations of civilian assault and other problems began to emerge. In the intervening two years, Pongweni’s reporting has continued to trace controversies regarding their inefficacy, lack of proper qualifications, policing overreach and a number of other questions. 

Solly Msimanga, leader of the opposition DA in Gauteng’s legislature, estimates the full cost of the amaPanyaza programme at upwards of R1.5-billion. Experts say the Gauteng government engineered this failure by disregarding both legal frameworks and best practice for auxiliary police forces.

Gambling away their future (20 October)

Siyabonga Goni reported on the concerning trend of students spending their National Student Financial Aid Scheme allowances on gambling online, trapping themselves in an addictive and toxic cycle that compromises their studies and their personal and family lives. The gambling industry is exploding in South Africa, having grown by more than 40% in 2024. It has been fuelled by a rising trend of irresponsible and extractive marketing practices. 

This tragic story represents a growing crisis, especially for young South Africans who are susceptible to influencer marketing and quick financial fixes. The story struck a nerve among the public and in the political sphere. Politicians from ActionSA, Rise Mzansi and Unite for Change picked up on it and commented publicly, and the Good party released a statement condemning gambling industry practices.

Scandal at the Mthatha High Court (20 October)

In May, Daily Maverick published an exposé by Ray Hartle and Johnnie Isaac from the Southern Africa Accountability Journalism Project. Their investigation revealed that officials at the High Court in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, routinely solicited bribes of up to R15,000 from attorneys to perform routine functions. Shockingly, the practice had become an open secret, in effect, and attempts to bring these allegations forward to the judicial authorities had fallen on deaf ears. 

After a sustained media campaign by Hartle, Chief Justice Mandisa Maya was forced to personally visit the high court to attend to the public outcry. This month we were alerted by a judicial monitoring group that in the recent Judicial Service Commission’s interviews for a deputy judge president for the Eastern Cape, candidates had faced rigorous interrogation over the content of Hartle’s reporting. According to this source, none of the candidates was appointed because they failed to bring effective ideas for dealing with the systemic corruption at the court.

Road Accident Fund crashes into official inquiry (20 October)

In June, Parliament announced a full oversight inquiry into the Road Accident Fund, which has long been mired in allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement. The inquiry by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Rise Mzansi’s Songezo Zibi, is now investigating the long-term administrative collapse of the fund, as well as its estimated R500-billion in liabilities. 

In two articles, Lindsey Schutters has unravelled the financial, legal and accounting crises in a clear and accessible way. He has framed the fundamental paradox as one of a system that tries  – and fails – to act as a social safety net and an indemnity insurer for negligent drivers simultaneously. 

Read more:

Making sense of the Road Accident Fund crisis

The R500bn Road Accident Fund accounting question nobody wants to answer

In the wake of Schutters’s astute reporting, a member of Parliament contacted him to ask whether Daily Maverick had particular questions to put forward at the inquiry to bolster public accountability and transparency.

Cape Town’s mayor calls spatial apartheid ‘propaganda language’ (13 October)

Kevin Bloom secured an interview with Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis after his recent story on the rapid redevelopment of the Atlantic Seaboard and the growing trend of foreign ownership of property disproportionately focused on short-term rentals. Bloom contended that these factors were fundamentally altering the fabric of the community, driving up property prices to unsustainable levels – for locals at least – and further entrenching inequality in the city. The interview was “cordial but combative”, with the mayor arguing strongly for his economic and social vision of Cape Town as a tourism destination. He argued against concerns about development and economic redress by championing the necessary progress being pursued by the metro. Hill-Lewis’s statements, particularly calling spatial apartheid “propaganda language”, drew immediate condemnation in an open letter from Ndifuna Ukwazi, Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre.

DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.