Three scandals, one theme. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova, joined by Patrick Smith from Africa Confidential, dig into the week the Democratic Alliance turned on itself. Former DA leader Tony Leon’s lobbying firm, Resolve Communications, has allegedly sought audiences with government ministers on behalf of clients including SpaceX’s Starlink, while John Steenhuisen has gone public claiming Geordin Hill-Lewis backstabbed him after striking a deal on the leadership transition. Then they turn to the ANC, where Dina Pule, fired by Jacob Zuma himself in 2013 over a corruption scandal involving her boyfriend, has just been brought back into cabinet as Minister of Social Development. Patrick draws the global thread through both stories, tracing the political revolving door from Dick Cheney and Halliburton through the Blair government to Donald Trump pausing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and asks what happens to a body politic when insiders can freely monetise their old government connections. They close with the continental fallout from the 30 June xenophobia deadline, South African foreign policy’s uncomfortable contradiction of exporting billions in goods to Africa while expelling Africa’s people, and a World Cup catch-up featuring the giant-killing run of Norway, the heartbreak of Cape Verde, and a Paris bar full of French football fans cheering for the underdog.

The June 30 deadline came and went, and South Africa held remarkably steady. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova, joining from Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape, unpack what actually happened and why the anticipated chaos never materialised. Then they go deep on who is really behind March and March. Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, the former Vuma FM broadcaster whose movement grew out of a contract dispute with an ANC MEC. Ngizwe Mchunu, the former Ukhozi FM presenter and self-declared president of the AmaBhinca Nation, previously charged over the July 2021 unrest. And Nkosikhona Ndabandaba, the Shaka iLembe actor who leads the disciplined, king-endorsed Amabutho regiments. Rob and Zuks trace the direct links between March and March and Jacob Zuma's MK Party, including a treasurer who ran on MK's 2024 national election list, and ask whether this entire movement has become a secret weapon for MK ahead of the November elections in KwaZulu-Natal, where the ANC stands to lose the eThekwini Metro outright. They also dig into the economics of xenophobia, the R600 million cost of policing the marches, and why chasing out immigrants will not fix an economy growing at under 1 percent. They close on a lighter note with South Africa's historic World Cup run and the giant killings that have defined this tournament.

Sharp Sharp is a weekly podcast on South African politics, money and power from Currency News and Scrolla.Africa. New episode every week.

June 30 is days away. March and March have set their deadline and all foreigners must leave South Africa. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova dig into what happens when the deadline hits, whether the security forces can hold it together, and what the Zulu king's extraordinary intervention ahead of June 30 actually means for how this plays out. They also get into Geordin Hill-Lewis removing John Steenhuisen as agriculture minister, the loyalty versus capacity debate in the new DA, and Hill-Lewis's visit to the Zulu king as a blueprint for building a political base beyond the DA's traditional support. Then Patrick Smith from Africa Confidential joins to take it continental. Mnangagwa pushed a constitutional amendment through the Zimbabwean parliament last week to extend his presidential term. Wicknell Chivayo and Kudakwashe Tagwirei bankrolled the votes. The sovereign wealth fund that controls all of Zimbabwe's utilities and mineral wealth has no public oversight. And three million Zimbabweans in South Africa are the direct result of that misgovernance, meaning the pressure on South Africa will not ease until Zimbabwe changes.

Sharp Sharp is a weekly podcast on South African politics, money and power from Currency News and Scrolla.Africa. New episode every week.