Des Erasmus
The justice system spent much of 2025 caught between a public baying for consequences and court rolls buckling under complex, document-heavy prosecutions.
The year brought a series of arrests, new charges and trial dates — incremental steps, but steps nonetheless — suggesting that some cases are edging closer to the evidentiary test that commissions don’t provide.
The judge and her son
Judge Portia Dipuo Phahlane and her son Kagiso were arrested in late November. The Hawks said the High Court Judge took more than R2 million in bribes linked to the long-running International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) succession battle she had been presiding over.
The Phalanes and their co-accused are facing corruption and money-laundering charges tied to alleged payments meant to influence the outcome of that civil dispute.
Released on bail, they are due back in court on 6 March 2026.
In 2026, watch for more judicial-governance fallout. Phahlane has already been placed on special leave and barred from entering key court buildings. Civil society group Judges Matter has urged her to resign.
The former president’s troublesome daughter
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla was charged with incitement of violence and/or terrorism linked to the July 2021 unrest in January. She pleaded not guilty to the state’s accusations that she used her social media accounts to encourage and fuel the deadly and costly unrest.
In an unrelated matter, her half-sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, opened a criminal case against her sibling for allegedly recruiting 17 men to fight for Russia in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The men allegedly thought they would be receiving bodyguard training.
The DA also laid criminal charges against Zuma-Sambudla for the same thing, accusing her of “recruiting and trafficking young South African men into the Russian war effort in Ukraine”.
Zuma-Sambudla resigned from her MK Party post as a result of the scandal.
What to watch for in 2026: New information regarding the allegedly nefarious recruitment, and the outcome of her incitement trial, which she will no doubt use to claim persecution — a page from dad Jacob’s playbook.
Big names, big dock, big Transnet locomotive fiasco
One of the most significant arrest moments of 2025 happened in the Transnet locomotive procurement saga, worth billions of rands, when former top executives Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh, Siyabonga Gama and Thamsanqa Jiyane appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court on fraud and corruption charges.
The political gravity of the case increased later in the year when former public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba was charged with corruption alongside the group, for the same deal.
The matter returns to court on 30 January 2026.
What to watch in 2026: whether prosecutors consolidate the evidence into a trial-ready package that can survive inevitable interlocutory challenges.
Bosasa plea deal could unlock bigger prosecutions
In November, the Bosasa web produced a major procedural breakthrough when the NPA’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) concluded a plea-and-sentence agreement with former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi.
Under the agreement, Agrizzi pleaded guilty to corruption and money-laundering counts. The court imposed 40 years’ imprisonment wholly suspended for five years, conditional on cooperation, including affidavits and testimony to support prosecutions of other implicated figures.
What to watch in 2026: whether Agrizzi’s promised cooperation translates into new indictments and testimony against senior public officials, and whether asset forfeiture efforts recover meaningful proceeds.
Tembisa Hospital bribery arrests as bigger corruption probe continues
In late November, Hawks officer sergeant Papi Tsie and Tembisa Hospital employee Zacharia Chisele appeared on corruption charges related to an alleged R100,000 bribe attempt aimed at influencing the investigation into the R2 billion plus looted from the hospital.
What to watch in 2026: whether the bribery case is a gateway before prosecutors move on bigger dockets tied to the hospital’s procurement system.
Underworld-linked cases
Organised-crime prosecutions tumbled into the open in 2025, most notably around Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who first appeared in court in May in connection with the failed hit on his former lover, Tebogo Thobejane. He faces charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, fraud, and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
The alleged crimes of Matlala and Katiso “KT” Molefe (arrested in 2024) hogged headlines in 2025, given their alleged underworld status and the details of their alleged crimes at the Madlanga Commission and parliament’s ad-hoc committee.
The State alleges Molefe orchestrated the murder of Oupa Sefoka (DJ Sumbody), and that ballistics/forensic evidence links the rifles used in that killing to other murders, including Hector Buthelezi (DJ Vintos), Don Tindleni and Armand Swart.
In another high-profile murder case, two accused in the AKA and Tibz murders – Siyabonga and Malusi Ndimande – were extradited from Eswatini to South Africa to stand trial on charges including murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
What to watch in 2026: pre-trial management, including decisions on joinder, witness protection, and whether the state can keep these cases moving at speed in the face of intimidation risks and complex evidence.
Zuma/Thales arms deal and the hopeful end of the “Stalingrad” era
Few cases better illustrate South Africa’s 2025 justice politics than the long-running arms deal prosecution of former president Jacob Zuma and Thales. In December, Zuma and Thales returned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court seeking leave to appeal a June judgment that refused their latest bid to have charges dropped. Judgment has been reserved for 23 January.
What to watch in 2026: whether the judiciary sets enforceable trial parameters that prevent the case from dissolving into another year of preliminary litigation.
State capture-era trials
Beyond the headline names, the state itself said in mid-2025 that the “enrollment phase” was expanding.
The Presidency said several state-capture-linked cases were scheduled for trial through 2025-2026, naming the Free State asbestos case, SA Express, Bosasa-related prosecutions and Transnet contracts..
The asbestos case remains a bellwether. In June, the trial involving Ace Magashule and others was postponed to January 2026 following developments around Moroadi Cholota and an anticipated state appeal.
What to watch in 2026: whether the NPA can stabilise key witness issues and keep the asbestos matter on the trial track, and whether trial courts increasingly resist open-ended postponements in state-capture dockets.
Two more trials that will shape 2026: Thabo Bester and Senzo Meyiwa
The Thabo Bester/Nandipha Mgudumana prison escape saga continued to generate legal side-battles in 2025. GroundUp reported that multiple pending matters were delaying the main trial. The provisional trial window moved to July 2026.
The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial kept grinding through procedural disputes and interruptions.
What to watch in 2026: whether these cases finally get uninterrupted trial time, and whether the courts can protect witnesses and maintain momentum in matters that have become national endurance tests.
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