Simon Majadibodu
Simon Majadibodu is a junior multimedia journalist at The Mercury who reports at the point where party politics, policing and serious crime meet. His work tracks how political leaders, law‑enforcement agencies and courts handle allegations of fraud, corruption and violent offences, with a recurring focus on the MK Party and high‑profile criminal cases. He writes in a straight news style, foregrounding detailed case narratives, official statements and the immediate impact on affected communities.
MK Party leadership, fraud charges and internal fallout
Majadibodu follows the MK Party’s leadership troubles through the fraud case against its National Assembly chief whip, Mmabatho Mokoena‑Zondi.
He reports on the arrest on fraud charges linked to alleged salary‑deduction schemes that took more than R233 000 from party recruits, setting out how researchers were instructed to hand over between 50% and 60% of their salaries under the pretext of funding the party president’s legal costs. His coverage extends to court appearances, bail decisions and future hearing dates, making the procedural status of the case part of the political story.
He also reports on the MK Party’s public response, including its confirmation that the chief whip handed herself over to law‑enforcement and its decision to study the situation before issuing fuller statements, treating party communications as central sources in a developing controversy. Beyond the chief whip case, his bylines include coverage of MK Party deputy president Tony Yengeni’s calls for unity among leftist groups and warnings that opposition parties such as the DA and FF Plus are working against post‑apartheid progress, showing his interest in the party’s ideological positioning as well as its legal troubles.
Policing, tenders and accountability in government
Majadibodu regularly reports on the interface between policing and political oversight, particularly where large public tenders are in question. In coverage of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s defence of acting police commissioner Puleng Dimpane, he sets out the president’s assertion that there is no evidence implicating Dimpane in relation to the Medicare24 tender worth R228 million, while legal processes continue against suspended commissioner Fannie Masemola. The article details Dimpane’s service record and clarifies that, according to the president, she is expected to lead the police independently despite ongoing investigations, illustrating his focus on how executive statements shape perceptions of police leadership and accountability.
This tender story sits alongside his broader reporting on law‑enforcement narratives, positioning policing structures and their leadership controversies as a key part of his politics beat.
Violent crime, serial killings and community fear in Kempton Park
A substantial strand of Majadibodu’s work covers violent crime and its effect on communities, with repeated attention to killings in and around Kempton Park.
His reporting on multiple women found dead in the area follows the series of cases from the discovery of four bodies through subsequent incidents that left residents “sleeping with one eye open,” emphasizing both police investigations and the atmosphere of fear. He documents police appeals for information, including direct contact details for investigating officers, and carries explicit warnings from police that the perpetrators’ freedom is “temporary,” using official messages to frame the urgency of the hunt for suspects. His author page highlights work on Kempton Park deaths where the bodies of three unidentified women remained at a Germiston mortuary, showing his willingness to return to unresolved cases and the bureaucratic realities that follow violent crime. Majadibodu also writes on complex criminal matters beyond Kempton Park, such as the “Witness D” murder case where AK‑47 evidence sharply shifts the trajectory of the trial, and a profile of “the most handcuffed man in SA” that traces the piling up of cases against Julius Mkhwanazi, indicating his interest in cumulative criminal histories and evidentiary turning points.
In these pieces he treats courtrooms, police briefings and the lived anxiety of communities as a single continuum, rather than separate beats.
Foreign policy, ideology and South Africa’s global stance
Alongside domestic crime and party politics, Majadibodu reports on foreign policy debates and ideological contestation around South Africa’s international alignments. His coverage of the country’s ambassador to Venezuela records the envoy’s denunciation of “US imperialist aggression” following a raid in which Venezuelan authorities seized Nicolás Maduro, capturing how diplomatic actors frame global events in terms of anti‑imperialist rhetoric and solidarity. In his reporting on Ramaphosa taking South Africa’s trade and investment agenda to a BRICS summit, he links foreign trips to economic priorities, explaining how the government positions BRICS as a platform for advancing national interests. These foreign‑policy articles sit alongside his pieces on MK Party leaders and left‑wing unity, forming a line of work that treats ideology, international alliances and domestic opposition dynamics as connected themes rather than isolated stories.
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