India’s Mandrax master to Big Five bosses – exposing the who’s who of South Africa’s illicit drug trade

In 2025 a senior policeman made striking accusations that a drug cartel had infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics and private security. This sparked high-level law enforcement suspensions and arrests, totally reconfiguring the country’s policing. This unprecedented crisis runs much deeper, though, and has been decades in the making. Daily Maverick’s Caryn Dolley reports.