Daily Maverick

South Africa’s latest crime statistics suggest a country getting safer, but that’s only part of the story. Commercial crime - fraud, scams, and financial exploitation - is rising, with cases doubling over the past decade. It’s a quieter crime, but one that targets ordinary South Africans directly, often through the very systems they rely on. Why has this surge escaped national attention? And what happens when victims try to fight back? Rebecca Davis, senior journalist at Daily Maverick, reports. 

Reporting by: Rebecca Davis 

Filmed by: Joel Seboa 

Edited by: Joel Seboa 

Produced by: Emilie Gambade 

Creative lead by: Malibongwe Tyilo 

Sub-edited by: Ian Wolstenholme 

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Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe told Parliament in February that she received two luxury SUVs as donations for the ANC Women’s League. Just one problem: the ANC doesn’t seem to know what she’s talking about. Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis explains.

Reporting by: Rebecca Davis 

Filmed by: Joel Seboa 

Edited by: Anda Tolibadi 

Produced by: Emilie Gambade 

Creative input by: Malibongwe Tyilo 

Sub-edited by: Kevin Flynn 

Read the full story: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/artic...

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Grey's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg is a surgical lifeline for 4.5 million people across western KwaZulu-Natal. For years, its ageing air conditioning system has been breaking down, forcing surgery cancellations and endangering patients. The department knew. It had a plan. The plan failed. Now it has another plan. 

Reporting by: Craig Bentley-McKune 

Edits and animation by: 

Joel Seboa Filmed by: Joel Seboa 

Produced by: Emilie Gambade 

Creative input by: Malibongwe Tyilo 

Sub-edited by: Ian Wolstenholme

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In late February 2026, the City of Cape Town auctioned off 53 City-owned properties, including the famous Good Hope Centre. The man who claims his bid was successful is a Nigeria-born pastor who leads a charismatic church in Maitland. Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis explains.

Reporting by: Rebecca Davis 

Filmed by: Joel Seboa 

Edited by: Anda Tolibadi 

Produced by: Emilie Gambade 

Sub-edited by: Ian Wolstenholme

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Between 2013 and 2018, R11.3-million in cash flowed into Palcocap — a company linked to former Transnet and Eskom boss Brian Molefe — through 706 ATM deposits across South Africa. Daily Maverick’s investigative journalist for Scorpio Pieter-Louis Myburgh maps the money trail: the ATMs near Molefe’s homes, the deposits that started four days after he moved to Eskom, and the striking overlap between his Gupta contact dates and cash flowing into the account. This is Part 2 of Daily Maverick’s Palcocap series. 

Reporting by: Pieter-Louis Myburgh 

Edited by: Malibongwe Tyilo 

Filmed by: Joel Seboa 

Produced by: Emilie Gambade 

Sub-edited by: Kevin Flynn 

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