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
175 Episodes
1 – 20

Episode 101 A Pyramid of Death

When four gun shots rang out in an office block in Cape Town CBD on the 26th of July 2012, they heralded the end of two lives and the beginning of a world of pain for thousands of people who'd been fleeced into joining one of South Africa's largest Ponzi…
7 Jan 1 hr 06 min

Spotlight Minisode 2022 Wrap

In this week's spotlight minisode we wrap the year by remembering some of the greatest moments the podcast has had in the last 12 months as well as some of the crimes that have rocked South Africa and cases that have been resolved this year. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support…
23 Dec 2022 36 min

Episode 100 The Murder of Siam Lee Part 2

When 20-year-old Siam Lee went missing from her place of work in Kwazulu-Natal in 2018, her disappearance made headlines for all the wrong reasons. As the story developed, she and her mother would be cast as one-dimensional characters in the story being told about them. When Siam's remains were found,…
16 Dec 2022 1 hr 03 min

Episode 100 The Murder of Siam Lee Part 1

When 20-year-old Siam Lee went missing from her place of work in Kwazulu-Natal in 2018, her disappearance made headlines for all the wrong reasons. As the story developed, she and her mother would be cast as one-dimensional characters in the story being told about them. When Siam's remains were found,…
16 Dec 2022 55 min

Episode 99.5 The Murder of Arnold Schultz

One couple. One farm. Two murders in the space of a month. When Arnold Schultz is found murdered on his farm in Philippi just one month after his life partner, Hester Koch suffered the same fate, it seems impossible that there is not some link between the two crimes. (24-hr…
4 Dec 2022 44 min

Episode 99 - The Murder of Erin van Rensburg

When Stellenbosch university student, Erin van Rensburg, went missing from her flat on the 1st of June 2009, red flags immediately sprang up around one particular man who'd shown an obsessive interest in the pretty young girl. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show…
3 Dec 2022 1 hr 04 min

Episode 98 The Murder of Koos & Erna Wolmarans

When a call comes into Westville police station late one March night in 2000, an investigation is triggered that will uncover a far different crime than the robbery-gone-wrong that was initially presented. (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)
27 Nov 2022 44 min

Episode 97 The Murder of Zarah Hector

When mother of two, Zarah Hector disappeared after leaving her place of work on the 15th of March 2016, an extensive search ensues. Nine days after her disappearance, Zarah's body was discovered and the puzzle pieces of her horrific murder showed how deeply the woman had been betrayed by someone…
18 Nov 2022 40 min

Spotlight Minisode 45

In this week's Spotlight Minisode we take a look at Nkosinathi Phakathi, the man who is likely SA's most prolific serial rapist; the death of a 7-month-old baby in Australia, allegedly at the hands of his South African father, Reinhardt Bosch; and the strange case of Robin Smith who police…
14 Nov 2022 20 min

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
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