A man was eaten by a crocodile in the Komati River this week. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova used it as the perfect metaphor for what is happening to ordinary South Africans right now. Paraffin is now R28 a litre at the regulated price and R40 by the time it reaches a village spaza shop. It is the fuel of the poorest South Africans heading into winter and nobody in government seems to care. Rob and Zuks dig into the cost of living crisis that is eating through people's pockets, the HSRC survey showing support for democracy has collapsed from 65% to 36% since the mid-2000s, why that collapse is pushing people toward strongman leaders like Jacob Zuma and Donald Trump, the NSFAS disaster and the deeply questionable new appointment to fix it, and the Chad Du Plessis award of the week which goes to Gwede Mantashe's department for getting the fuel price calculation wrong by a rand.

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

Xenophobia is spreading from Durban to Pretoria to Johannesburg. The March on March movement is shutting down CBDs, politicians from the ANC to ActionSA are fuelling it, and the police are taking selfies with the march leaders instead of stopping them. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova dig into why this lawlessness is possible and why the leadership vacuum in law enforcement is letting it happen. Then they get into Sisisi Tolashe, the Social Development Minister and ANC Women's League president who registered two government cars in her children's names, one of whom sold the car and handed back a different one to Luthuli House. Cyril acted on Masemola but cannot seem to act on her. Zuks explains exactly why. And finally, Solly Malatsi launched South Africa's AI policy and then had to pull it because it was full of AI hallucinations. Rob and Zuks ask whether the government is half a step away from incompetence at all times and introduce the man responsible. His name is Chad Du Plessis.

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

A minor bumper bashing in Emmarentia this week ended with a man shot dead in front of his children, his wife wounded, and a country asking itself how it got here. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova dig into South Africa's road rage crisis and what the numbers actually say — 1,453 murders in a single quarter linked to road rage and provocation, SA ranked first in the world for aggressive driver behaviour, and 34 people shot dead every single day. What makes SA uniquely lethal is not just the anger — it is that the guns are legal. They also get into the xenophobic violence building in KZN, what it means that every political party except the DA is using anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of the local elections, and the one figure who has the moral authority to calm things down. Plus Fannie Masemola charged and what it tells us about Ramaphosa's decision-making.

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