TimesLIVE Podcasts True Crime South Africa

True Crime South Africa

True Crime South Africa is the first victim-focused true-crime podcast in the country.

Host, Nicole Engelbrecht, researches each case herself using media coverage, trial footage, social media sources and often by talking to some of the individuals involved. Using her skills as a creative writer and her passion for true crime, she crafts each script to ensure that listeners are given a deep dive into the case mechanics as well as an understanding of the victims as human beings.

The podcast covers both solved and unsolved South African true crime cases. The unsolved cases are often cold cases which can benefit from awareness being brought to them. This concept has been used in the US for many years and to great success. The listenership formed around true crime podcasts becomes a community that advocates for victims and resolution for families. South African victims now have their own voice too.

True Crime South Africa publishes weekly, alternating between full-length case episodes and shorter minisodes which discuss true crime cases that are currently in the media. The podcast launched on the 22nd of June 2019 and is making waves in the South African podcast community. On the True Crime South Africa social media pages, South African true crime fans finally have a place to call home where they can express their views on cases and discuss the details with like-minded people.

True Crime South Africa is published in conjunction with Arena Holdings, publishers of TimesLIVE, BusinessLIVE, and SowetanLIVE. 

Keywords: crime, true crime, murder, abduction, South Africa, police, law and order
Weekly English Explicit South Africa True Crime · News Narrated by Scott Peter Smith
330 Episodes
140 – 160

Episode 96 - The Serial Crimes of Robin Cloete

When Marilyn Jones attempts to break up with her boyfriend Robin Cloete, the man refuses to accept the woman's wishes and bloodshed ensues. This should have been the end of Robin Cloete's crimes against women, but, sadly, it was just the beginning. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on…
5 Nov 2022 44 min

Episode 95 - The Murder of Lee Adams

On the 17th of October 2013, 15-year-old Lee Adams set off to the local store to buy a loaf of bread. When he didn't return home and then, a horrific discovery was made in a local abandoned school, the Adams family was about to thrust into a torrent of grief…
28 Oct 2022 53 min

Announcement: Two Week Hiatus and Book News

In this quick update, I share my release schedule for October which will be impacted by the publication of my first true crime book, Samurai Sword Murder: The Morne Harmse Story. Get info on my book launches and RSVP to your closest event. (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa Support…
7 Oct 2022 4 min

Episode 93 The Murder of Hlompho Mohapi Koloi

On the 5th of July 2018, Hlompho Mohapi Koloi set out for a job interview. She would never return home. The investigation into her murder would reveal not just the coldblooded reasons behind her own death, but also how a man the community trusted had been fooling them all along…
25 Sep 2022 1 hr 09 min

Episode 92 - The Serial Crimes of Richman Makhwenkwe

For almost a year between 2005 and 2006, Moffat Park was terrorised by a serial killer. The man who moved unseen among the community became a phantom to feared as victim after victim fell at his hands, but when his masked was pulled off, the very mundane truth of his…
18 Sep 2022 49 min

Episode 91 - The Windward

On the 1st of March 2021, the Saldanha Bay harbour was swarming with police vehicles. A vessel, which had been anchored in harbour for almost two months, was the object of the SAPS' attention that day and what they found on board was beyond what anyone had imagined. (24-hr trauma…
10 Sep 2022 46 min

Episode 90 - The Murders of Brett Goldin & Richard Bloom

On the 15th of April 2006, Brett Goldin & Richard Bloom said goodbye to friends in Camps Bay and headed down the street to their cars. That was the last time they were ever seen alive. The four men lurking in the shadows were looking to steal a car, and…
3 Sep 2022 48 min

Episode 89 - The Hunt Family Massacre

When Ronnie Hunt, his wife Elise, and his son Ronnie Junior were found shot to death in their Reitz home in 2002, one member of the family was conspicuous by his absence. 16-year-old Elro was nowhere to be found and police had to wonder whether he was a victim or…
27 Aug 2022 41 min

Episode 88 - The Serial Crimes of Havenga & Wessels

In 1991, four provinces across South Africa experienced disturbingly similar murders across a short space of time. Soon, police recognized that they were on the hunt for, not just one serial killer, but a pair of them. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show…
21 Aug 2022 39 min

Spotlight Minisode 44

In this spotlight minisode we discuss updates in the cases of Jesse Hess, Tshegofatso Pule, Hillary Gardee, Megan Cremer, and the trial of Lauren Dickason. (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)
14 Aug 2022 21 min

The Profiler Diaries 2: Interview with Dr Gérard Labuschagne

Dr Gérard Labuschagne's first book had true crime fans begging for more, and the follow up, The Profiler Diaries 2: From Crime Scene to Courtroom has just been released. In today's episode I chat with Dr Labuschagne about the book, the cases he included, and he provides us with many…
5 Aug 2022 52 min

Episode 87 - The Murder of Captain Anna-Marie Potgieter

When the body of Child Protection & Sexual Offences investigator Captain Anna-Marie Potgieter is discovered her colleagues arrest a man, believed to be her killer, within 48 hours. True justice for this committed police officer, however, may still be an elusive dream (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on…
30 Jul 2022 51 min

Episode 86 - The Murder of David Olyne

When the badly beaten and burned body of 23-year-old David Olyne was discovered at a dam in Ceres, Western Cape, the speedy arrest of a perpetrator would mask the true nature of this hate crime. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal…
23 Jul 2022 43 min

The Body of Evidence: Interview with Dr Hestelle van Staden

Dr Hestelle van Staden is a senior forensic pathologist and star of the VIA show, Outopsie. In this week's episode I chat with Dr Van Staden about her work as a pathologist, the show, and her future projects (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the…
16 Jul 2022 48 min

Episode 85 - The Merriespruit Disaster

As residents of Merriespruit in the Free State province settled in for bed on the 22nd of February 1994, a wall of mud and water was heading their way and when a man-made disaster collided with the quiet suburb of Virginia, only devastation was left in its wake. (24-hr trauma…
8 Jul 2022 40 min

Episode 84 - The Serial Crimes of Brydon Brandt

When Brydon Brandt was arrested in 1997 in connection with the death of a drinking buddy, police could have no idea that his confession was about to uncover an unidentified serial killer (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)
4 Jul 2022 46 min

Episode 83 - The Murder of Michaela Williams

When 12-year-old Michaela Williams disappeared and Steven Fortune's name was linked to her case, police looking at his prior record knew that a serial predator had just been allowed to strike again. (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)
24 Jun 2022 52 min

Episode 82 The Bredenhann Family Murders

When two women are found murdered in their home and a third escapes through a broken window, a mystery is uncovered that, despite resulting in a trial and conviction, still endures to this day. (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)
18 Jun 2022 37 min

Spotlight Minisode 43

In this week's spotlight minisode we discuss two very different cases which both represent cautionary tales - the murder of Abongile Mafalala and the murder of Magda van Heerden. (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)
10 Jun 2022 24 min
140 – 160