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Looking for something to watch this festive season? Why not sit back and relax with News24's selection of award-winning documentaries…
News24, the home of breaking news, has steadily increased its documentary offering over the past few years – gripping audiences with beautiful visuals, captivating, and award-winning storytelling. These are our top picks from the year that was:
SLAIN BY SOLDIERS: THE COLLINS KHOSA STORY
While South Africans spent most of 2020 trying to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic, Collins Khosa's family were left with a list of questions. Why did he have to succumb to such brutality in his own home? What laws did he break? And when will justice be served? On Good Friday, his life was brutally snuffed out allegedly by South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers.
Khosa's death sent shock waves across the country at a time when South Africans were hunkering down, braving its first lockdown. Soldiers and police officers were accused of using unreasonable force instead of honouring their oath to serve and protect.
In Slain by Soldiers: The Collins Khosa Story, News24 sat down with Khosa's brother-in-law, Thabiso Muvhango and Khosa's wife, Nomsa Montsha – who witnessed his death.
THE CAPE OF FLAMES - IT TAKES JUST ONE SPARK TO IGNITE A CATASTROPHE
Fires in Cape Town are a relatively regular occurrence, but few have been quite as devastating as the runaway fire of April 2021.
It started on the lower slopes of Table Mountain, but gale-force winds and sweltering conditions fanned the flames which destroyed virtually everything in its path – including the Jagger library at the University of Cape Town, the Rhodes Memorial restaurant, eleven buildings, and the historic Mostert Mill, built in 1796.
And News24 was there on the firebreak alongside firefighters.
Questions were asked, and fingers were pointed – why had alien vegetation not been cleared on the University of Cape Town border, should SANParks have done more to manage and protect the iconic mountain range, was government at fault? Cape of Flames looks back on the events as they unfolded and asks whether the preservation of the Stone Pines on the slopes of Table Mountain can be justified.
BLOOD BROTHERS: INSIDE A TOBACCO INDUSTRY DEATH SQUAD
Just hours after Sebestian Groenewald's bullet-riddled body was found dumped near Reiger Park in the eastern expanses of Johannesburg, detectives discovered an R5 assault rifle that had twice been stolen from a police armory – something the Ekurhuleni Metro policeman had kept secret.
His death, and the investigation that followed, revealed his links to a notorious gang led by his brothers.
The crooked cop has been tied to a string of hit-style murders which targeted gang figures, as well as tobacco barons. This documentary examines Groenewald's own killing and how it drew back the veil on his secret life.
HITMAN'S HOLLOW: THE TAXI LINKS AND THE VILLAGE RENDEZVOUS TWO WEEKS BEFORE DEOKARAN MURDER
By the time bullets ripped into Gauteng Department of Health accounting boss Babita Deokaran, the whistleblower had lived with a target on her back for more than a decade. In the days after her killing, six men – accused of planning and carrying out the hit – were placed in handcuffs.
Police sources with intimate knowledge of the investigation told of how they named the mastermind, pointing to an influential actor in the governing party who ordered her death.
A News24 investigation now reveals the hidden lives of the "Deokaran Six". All hail from KwaZulu-Natal and five of the men grew up alongside one another in a village called Ngodini, set in the rural heart of the province. Most have ties to the taxi industry: a realm where hit-style killings and hired guns have become a stock in trade.
MODERN MEDICINE - THE INNOVATION WITHIN
Modern Medicine - The innovation within, is a four-part special series, in which News24 examines modern medicine, the innovations that help improve people's lives and the resilience of the human condition.
We sit down with Declan Vorster an energetic toddler diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He gets by with the help of an insulin pump.
Tylo Sargeant's life went from normal to nightmare in an instant when she contracted bacterial meningitis. But a neurostimulator helped her to take back control of her life. Luan Adams has a new lease on life thanks to a new facial prosthetic, and for Oupa Phetlhu a 3D printed jaw bone gave him a chance at a normal life.
Not satisfied just yet? Why not try our award-winning documentary Exodus published in 2020. In this feature-length documentary, former members of the KwaSizabantu Mission, one of the biggest mission stations on the continent, share their stories and allegations of rape, and human rights abuse. The documentary won a silver Bookmark Award in the category online news video.
As 2020 drew to a close, News24 took a look back at the single story that dominated headlines and left no life untouched: DOCUMENTARY | Breaking Covid-19: How News24 covered a global pandemic
In our Faces of Lockdown series News24 spoke to ordinary South Africans, to find out how they are living through the pandemic.
Women behind The Boks honours the four trailblazing women in the Springbok World Cup-winning squad for their role in the team's success.
And you can access even more of our documentaries here.
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