A group of people, mostly ordinary South Africans, but also a few multimillionaires, woke up one morning in October 2023 to discover that an investment fund they'd counted on for an income for up to 22 years was a complete sham. Overnight, their monthly dividends became the spoils of a criminal scheme, and their lives and futures were changed forever. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn

On 6 December 2016, four members of the Sebati family were gunned down in their home. The only surviving member, 15-year-old Onthatile, spent the next five years seemingly struggling with her grief and drifting further away from her extended family. Then, just after the fifth anniversary of the family massacre, a police officer got a visit which changed everything. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn

On a street in Springs, Gauteng, a barbershop sat among many other businesses. Besides being boldly painted there was little that set the property apart from all the others on the street. In 2017, a missing child and a police raid revealed that the bright signage masked a dark truth. The barbershop was far more than an innocuous small business. It was a shop of horrors. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn

When a young mother is taken by violent hijackers her family desperately search for answers. Two weeks after she vanished without a trace, the news they did not want to hear arrives and with it, a truth they cannot fathom.

This episode was first published in the Patreon Exclusive feed in Jan 2023. It has been updated with additional information.

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In 2004 in Inanda, KZN, a man lost his life, and two others were injured in an armed robbery of a vehicle. When an arrest was made the next morning, the victims likely heaved a sigh of relief, but for the arrestee, 16 years of horror lay ahead. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa)

Read more about the issue of wrongful conviction compensation: https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1682-58532023000100004#:~:text=Case%20law%20from%20South%20Africa,they%20are%20to%20be%20compensated. Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn

If you follow the podcast on social media, you’ll have seen me talking about True Crime South Africa taking part in an international event to raise awareness for charities all over the world. From the 15th of March until 21st of March podcasters all over the world are dedicated one episode in their feed to the Podcasthon. We got to select a charity we wanted to highlight, and I picked Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust because sexual violence is a topic that is terrifyingly prevalent in so many of the cases I discuss on this podcast and we desperately need to be having more conversations about this topic. I first aired the interview you’ll hear today on the podcast in 2022. And it was such a valuable conversation about so many important topics including consent within relationships and other rarely discussed issues.

The interviewee in the podcast is Ronel Koekemoer. She is an incredible human I’ve had the privilege of meeting through my work over the last six years. At the time of this interview, she worked for Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust. She has since left, but she is still hugely supportive of the organisation and Ronel is still working in the gender-based violence activism space, furthering her education in the field and working on incredible projects.

https://rapecrisis.org.za/

https://podcasthon.org/

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When Lynette Volschenk failed to arrive for work, her colleagues were immediately concerned and went to her home. The young man they found in her apartment claimed he'd been hired by Lynette to clean and paint, but within 30 minutes, he was in handcuffs and a very different and terrifying story came to light. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn

When a 3-year-old girl goes missing from her home, a desperate 9-day search ensues by police, her family and community. All manner of possibilities are considered, but the truth lies far closer to home than anyone would suspect. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn

When the people of Phoswa Village in Mpumalanga suddenly found themselves the targets of an armed serial predator in 1997, no one was sure who they could trust. Almost a year after the murders began, a task team was formed to hunt down the Saloon Killer, but the path to justice was littered with investigative challenges and the perpetrator took full advantage. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn

When Jaco Engelbrecht was found dead at his home, his wife was the first and only suspect. The trial, though, would not play out like any ordinary murder trial and the verdict and sentence would leave South Africa grappling with the definition of justice and to whom it should apply (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.paypal.me/truecrimesa) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn