News24 | PODCAST | The Lead: Revealing ‘Twatterbaas’, the X Boer who hasn’t posted since April

Investigative journalist, Kyle Cowan, on 1 April the day he confronted the so-called 'Twatterbaas' Sebastiaan Jooste.

You may be wondering these holidays, around the braai: “Hey, I can’t remember but…” What set off the Trump administration in 2025 to punish South Africa with tariffs? A White House press ambush and a ghosting at the G20 in Johannesburg?

Not one factor, person or organisation is to blame for the souring of relations between Washington and Pretoria.

Instead, a disinformation war waged online, using X and other social media sites, worked in concert to drive a disingenuous and false claim that whites are being subjected to a genocide in South Africa.

One account at the centre of it helped bring that narrative to Elon Musk’s attention, and thus US president Donald Trump, was Twatterbaas.

Joining us in this end-of-year Lead edition to reflect on his exposé of the man behind the busy X Boer profile is News24’s Kyle Cowan.

You can send our host, broadcast journalist Graeme Raubenheimer, a voice note with your questions or thoughts on the show: 072 562 3179. To advertise in the show: thelead@24.com. Full editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

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