Watch – Is South Africa a mafia state?

Politically Aweh’s latest episode dives deep into the explosive allegations made by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who claims that syndicates have infiltrated everything from the police, prosecutors and correctional services, to sitting members of Parliament.

And because nothing says “serious journalism” like mixing in a little satire, this episode also features a cameo from everyone’s favourite foreign criminal, Anton Taylor, who recently revealed he was raided by the Hawks after mocking now-suspended police minister, Senzo Mchunu. 

From the Madlanga Commission, to former cops like Jackie Selebi convicted of being in cahoots with drug dealers and an ANC flag laid over a Cape Town gangster’s coffin, Politically Aweh connects the dots in a way that’s as entertaining as it is alarming.

“Comrades, this might be our most important video ever. And if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll also get raided by the Hawks,” says comedian and show host KG Mokgadi.

Co-host Zoë Human adds: “Because in this country, having a criminal record stops you from getting a job at Pick n Pay but not from becoming the minister of sports, arts and culture.”

The episode blends satirical sketches, on-the-ground clips and expert insights from Daily Maverick’s Caryn Dolley and Julian Rademeyer of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, who have seen the mafia-like state up close.

The episode doesn’t shy away from asking uncomfortable questions:

• Who’s really running South Africa? Politicians, or the criminals they seem to share WhatsApp groups with?
• How did we jump from 19th to seventh-worst in the world on the Organised Crime Index in just two years?; and
• And why is it that whistle-blowers and cops keep getting killed… but the masterminds never face justice?

As if that wasn’t enough, Taylor pops in with his gangster persona to remind us that in South Africa, even the satire starts sounding a little too real.

Despite the bleak revelations, we highlight glimmers of resistance, from whistle-blowers and ethical cops still fighting the good fight, to civil society watchdogs exposing corruption and the Special Investigating Unit’s Instagram admin who somehow manages to make anti-corruption posts danceable.

Because if South Africans can multitask by laughing while crying, surely we can clean up a mafia state too. DM

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