In this episode of The Media and Marketing Show, we profile Caryn Dolley, a leading voice in South African investigative journalism and a best-selling author.
About Our Guest:
Caryn is a Senior Journalist at Daily Maverick whose work focuses on investigative journalism, deep research and source cultivation. She documents the murky underworld in granular detail, specifically the intersection where government, SAPS officials, lawyers and gang overlords meet.
We explore the evolution of her media career, the reality of leading key investigative stories, and what it takes to report on powerful underworld figures while holding power to account.
In this conversation, we discussed:
Caryn’s path into journalism — the formative moment she realised she wanted to become a journalist, the journalists who inspired her, and the stories that set her on a career path in investigative reporting.
Hollywood’s “mobster” classics and their influence — whether cult films by directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, which depict and glorify the “mobster” lifestyle, have provided a framework of inspiration for up-and-coming criminals in South Africa.
Personal safety while reporting on the underworld — how Caryn has stayed alive while documenting the stories of powerful underworld figures, whether she has ever required security detail when meeting members of the underworld, and what protects her in her work.
Her book The Untouchables and the struggle movement’s reliance on the underworld — the complex history of the struggle movement going underground and relying on criminal networks, including the claim that MK sold Mandrax to subsidise its mission, and the irony of Goswami’s stationing in Zambia alongside current calls for payment or favour from those who once supported the movement.
The Mandrax trade, student resistance and today’s drug landscape — how Mandrax was used to subdue student resistance and sold by businessmen and street gangs, creating an ecosystem that thrives today, and how this historical drug trade connects to the current organised crime landscape.
How deep the rot goes within SAPS and government — the obstacles to justice when the very officials meant to protect the public are implicated, and what Caryn’s reporting reveals about accountability and impunity.
South Africa’s links to international crime networks — from kidnappings and money laundering to drugs and diamonds, and whether Mexican cartel-style or Pablo Escobar-style syndicates are taking root locally — and how this changes the nature of local policing.
Stratcom, farm killings, international influence and misinformation — how the use of Stratcom to control narratives, the issue of farm killings and international players influencing local politics intersect with the underworld Caryn covers, and how misinformation affects her ability to report the truth.
Cape Town protection rackets and the old guard — how protection rackets have evolved over the last two decades, whether figures like Cyril Beeka remain relevant, and whether the old guards still hold sway in today’s underworld.
The most critical organised crime story right now — as a senior journalist and author, the one story Caryn believes South Africans need to pay attention to regarding organised crime.
How the public can support investigative journalism — practical ways audiences can support the kind of journalism that exposes the “untouchables” and holds power to account.
Connect with Caryn Dolley:
Website: https://caryndolley.com/
X: https://x.com/caryndolley
Daily Maverick: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/autho…
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