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

Episodes

September 5, 2025 46 mins
Stolen Girl Official Companion Podcast
Part 1 of 2 - Finding Nadia

When Maureen Dabbagh's ex-husband fails to return their two-year-old daughter from a scheduled visitation, it sets off a series of events which will change all three lives forever. Now, Maureen must become a completely different person in order to rescue her daughter when the justice system seems to have no way to help.

The brand new release movie based on this re...
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When Rachel Dolly Tshabalala was discovered deceased in her partner's home, the riddle of her murder seemed simultaneously obvious and utterly baffling. Was the man she had given her heart to the ferocious supporter of woman's rights he presented to the world or was he hiding a dark side? (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on PayPal https://www.pa...
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This is a TCSA Rewind episode - designed to bring more attention to some of the back catalogue of episodes and provide updates in cases I've covered in the past.

Part 3

This episode rewinds back to episode 110 - the murder of Marna Engelbrecht and Sharnelle Hough and as your rewind update, I've converted this into a three-part series which now includes the two companion episodes I created for the tv series Stella Murders. It's th...
Mark as Played
This is a TCSA Rewind episode - designed to bring more attention to some of the back catalogue of episodes and provide updates in cases I've covered in the past.

Part 2

This episode rewinds back to episode 110 - the murder of Marna Engelbrecht and Sharnelle Hough and as your rewind update, I've converted this into a three-part series which now includes the two companion episodes I created for the tv series Stella Murders. It's th...
Mark as Played
This is a TCSA Rewind episode - designed to bring more attention to some of the back catalogue of episodes and provide updates in cases I've covered in the past.

Part 1

This episode rewinds back to episode 110 - the murder of Marna Engelbrecht and Sharnelle Hough and as your rewind update, I've converted this into a three-part series which now includes the two companion episodes I created for the tv series Stella Murders. It's th...
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When an ordinary South African finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, she starts to see the gaps in the system that are deeply failing families and justice professionals. Sophia Dewberry was not willing to sit back and lament the situation, though. Instead, she has started an organisation that she hopes will help to move criminal investigations forward faster and more efficiently and give victims of crime the justic...
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August 10, 2025 59 mins
Dillie Scholtz didn't have far to go. It was just 56 metres from her house to her car, but somewhere in between those two points she vanished. Six days later the police officers who had claimed she'd run off with a secret lover would break the news to her horrified family that they had found her body. And the killer had left a calling card of sorts in her grave. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon http...
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As the new Showmax Original series, The ABC Killer, drops, I revisit the case I first covered in episode nine with a review of the series, an interview of director Jasyn Howes and some anecdotes I've received from people who have had personal experiences with this infamous serial murderer over the years. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa)
(Support the show on PayPa...
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July 26, 2025 57 mins
In a single weekend in 1998 four men wrought havoc on Cape Town and its surrounds. By the time their horrendous spree was complete four people would be dead, another two scarred for life and countless others would be changed forever. (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) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · ...
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In 2022, Stefan van Niekerk ran into a community clinic and handed over a small bundle wrapped in a blanket to nurses. His claims of a terrible drowning accident were soon in question and the true horror of what had led to the death of 2-year-old Chevonne Rusch would begin to unravel like a nightmarish coil. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/truecrimesa) (Support the show on P...
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In February 2000, the silence of a Western Cape farm is ripped apart by a mass murder. With seven people dead and three more injured, the perpetrator flees to the mountains of the Koue Bokkeveld and a community and several families will never be the same. (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) Instagram · P...
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This episode was first published in the Patreon feed in April 2023.
When Elizabeth Martiens said goodbye to her father after the school holidays and headed home to her mom, no one had any idea that this would be their last goodbye. When Elizabeth doesn't make it home, eyes turn to the man she was last seen with - her father's employer - and some dark questions start to rise to the surface. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Supp...
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This is a TCSA Rewind episode - designed to bring more attention to some of the back catalogue of episodes and provide updates in cases I've covered in the past. This episode was first released in August 2019. Listen through to the end for an update.

On Friday, the 6th of April 2012 three members of the Steenkamp family were brutally murdered. The perpetrator would be the last person anyone would have suspected. (24-hr trauma help...
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This episode was first published in the Patreon feed in December 2021.
When a Dutch exchange student goes missing while in South Africa, her family, desperate for answers, pin their hopes on South African authorities to find their daughter. When they do, it will be in the worst possible circumstances, and a lifelong chameleon of crime will be unmasked. (24-hr trauma helpline 082-821-3447) (Support the show on Patreon https://www.pa...
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In 1997 amidst a surge of serial murder cases across the country, one man began hunting victims in Kroonstad. After very nearly getting away with it, an eagle-eyed cop would bring the series of murders to an end (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) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · Li...
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Almost two decades after the horrendous double murder, the families are still dealing with the fallout of the crimes and unresolved grief. Then, a conversation in a prison cell changes everything. And just when the families think they may be able to move forward, more bombshells are dropped on their lives.

This is part 2 of a two-part podcast series created in collaboration with KykNet around their drama series, Niggies. (24-hr tr...
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In 1966, in Odendalsrus, two 12-year-old cousins, Petro Nel and Issie Fourie, walked to the swimming pool to cool off. They were never seen alive again. As the horror in an abandoned building is discovered, the town and three of its families will never be the same. While police launch a massive manhunt for the killers, Issie’s teenage brother makes a vow to ensure she gets justice. It’s a promise he plans to keep - no matter what.

...
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This is a TCSA Rewind episode - designed to bring more attention to some of the back catalogue of episodes and provide updates in cases I've covered in the past. This episode was first released in May 2020. Listen through to the end for an update.

On the 16th of December 2006, South Africa lost one of its brightest stars in the performing arts. Taliep Petersen was gunned down in what, at the time, seemed to be a home invasion gone...
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This is me popping into your feed with some updates on a few project deadlines I'm juggling and news on what you can expect to see on TCSA in the next two months. Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · Twitter · LinkedIn
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April 29, 2025 39 mins
In 1985, a single night of unprovoked violence in a tiny fishing village on the West Coast would change the town forever. The man with the axe and his killing spree would become the stuff of legend in the town for decades. (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) Instagram · Pinterest · Facebook · YouTube · T...
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