This edition of the Weekend Wrap looks at the IDT hush-money saga, 383 days after a bribery sting with no arrests, and how Matlala’s ties to a Tembisa Hospital tenderpreneur are opening new questions about the procurement scandal. Plus, Joburg residents step up where the City fails, women’s sport emerges as a major growth driver, and we explore stories of food, farming and communities finding their own solutions.
IDT hush money docket: 387 days, one video, no arrests
By Daily Maverick. The former chief executive of a state entity that spends upwards of R4-billion a year, and her then spokesperson, put R60,000 in a Dior shopping bag on a table in front of a Daily Maverick journalist. We filmed it, published it and laid charges. More than a year later, the docket still isn’t trial-ready. Read more.
By Vincent Cruywagen. Organised crime-accused Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s ties to Hangwani Morgan Maumela have come under scrutiny at the Madlanga Commission, while Matlala also appeared to be a conduit for payments between Maumela and the late alleged ‘Big Five’ boss Jothan Msibi. Read more.
By Jillian Green. When suburbs are forced to build ‘shadow municipalities’ to sustain security, water and power service delivery, City leadership has failed – The Gathering: Cities Edition probes whether metros can be saved. Read more.
By Daily Maverick Photo Team. Moving, tragic, surprising, inspiring, terrifying, shocking ... A selection of recent images from our planet. Read more.
By Luana Pasanisi. Our biodiversity is wealth. Our functioning habitat is wealth. The continued presence of wild populations within an increasingly human-dominated landscape is wealth. If that is true, we are choosing to make ourselves poorer. Read more.
By Tanya Pampalone, Mia Malan and Anna-Maria van Niekerk. South Africa’s first generic semaglutide injection arrived in August, with many more expected. More competition should push down the price of blockbuster GLP-1 drugs – but will they become cheap enough to stamp out a booming black market and reach the public-sector patients who need them? Read more.
By Diana Neille.** **South African startup Green Route is reimagining hemp as a commercial textile powerhouse, breeding local seeds to boost manufacturing and create sustainable jobs. Read more.
By Andisa Bonani. Gqeberha ice cream maker Thando Volontiya caught Shoprite Checkers’ eye after his GQ Creamery ice cream generated a buzz on social media. On Thursday, he’ll pitch for a R1m prize in the Standard Bank Kasi SME National Pitch Challenge. Read more.
By Annemieke Thomaidis. The mainstreaming of women’s sport is predicted as a major growth driver of the future of the sport’s economy, requiring sustained investment and structural support rather than being viewed as a fleeting trend. Read more.
By Lerato Kodisang. What began in 2022 as a backyard project by retrenched worker Mannini Ntlaba has grown into a one-hectare community garden in Meriting, Lenasia South, run by about 40 volunteers and producing spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, maize, peppers – and even pigs. Read more.
By Tony Jackman. Tomato bredie is a worthy classic of South African cuisine and is not made nearly as often as it deserves to be. Given the full C Louis Leipoldt treatment, it is a fine dish that will charm the most discerning palate. Over time, my version – based loosely on Leipoldt’s – has evolved. Here’s the latest update. Read more.
