JOHANNESBURG – The list of our most-watched videos this year is a mixed bag of politics, extreme weather and cops and robber-style antics. Here is the countdown:

10. Dineo heads for Mpumalanga and Limpopo

Seven people died in Mozambique when tropical depression Dineo made landfall in February.

The video of Dineo heading to South Africa was the 10th most-watched video on eNCA in 2017. 

9. Heist

In October, a video emerged showing cash-in-transit guards trying to prevent a group of robbers from making off with a bag of money at a Krugersdorp petrol station.

One of the suspects is seen struggling to drag the bag to the getaway car.

The guards are then seen literally giving the robbers a run for their money, speeding towards their vehicle and sending them scurrying.

8. Latest on Western Cape storms

Trees were uprooted and sections of highways blocked when a massive storm hit the Western Cape in June.

Several people were displaced in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay.

An update from emergency management officials and the SA Weather Service on the possible impact of the storm was the eighth most-watched on eNCA this year. 

7. In conversation with Thabo Mbeki

In July, former president Thabo Mbeki sat down with Power FM chairman Given Mkhari for an interview.

Mbeki warned against use of the term “white monopoly capital”.

He also said South Africa needs investment and improved savings.

6 (and 2). One on one with Mrs Gigabyte – part 2

Noma Gigaba has no time for people who suggest she’s using her husband’s money to fund a passion for the finer things in life.

The IT executive and philanthropist, who married Police Minister Malusi Gigaba a few years ago, spoke to Ayanda Allie Paine about money, love and betrayal.

Part 2 of this interview made it to the number 6 spot on eNCA this year, while part one made it to number 2. 

5. The gun-wielding bodyguards

Video footage emerged in September showing two armed men making death threats.

Two sources confirmed to eNCA that the men were bodyguards of ANC eThekwini regional secretary Bheki Ntuli.

The Mandeni Municipal mayor defended the actions of his bodyguards.

Siphesihle Zulu said the three men had no case to answer to after they were charged in in the Durban Magistrate’s Court with unlawful possession of firearms.

4. Karabo Mokoena’s mother speaks to CheckPoint about her loss and heartache

Murder-accused Sandile Mantsoe has denied murdering his ex-girlfriend, Karabo Mokoena, and suggests she committed suicide.

But the state says Mantsoe confessed to a police officer that he killed Mokoena in a ritual killing in order to sever the blood tie between them, thereby restore his failing business.

The prosecution says it’s still unclear whether Mokoena was alive when her body was doused with petrol and pool cleaner and set on fire.

Lolo Mokoena says she warned her daughter that her 22-year-old boyfriend might kill her one day.

She says she begged Karabo to move back home after Sandile Mantsoe allegedly beat her so badly she landed up in hospital.

3. South Africa rocked by another racist attack

A video circulating on social media in August showed a black couple being beaten up by a group of white men outside a KFC branch in Montana, Pretoria.

The case against the five Pretoria men accused of assaulting a black couple, Jacob and Dudu Sono, will be heard next year. 

Magistrate Motlhoki Rapulana said the matter would be back in court on 21 February and it has been moved to the regional court.

1. Zuma’s reaction to Ramaphosa’s win

President Jacob Zuma’s face said it all when he heard that his successor as ANC president is Cyril Ramaphosa, not his preferred candidate and former wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

eNCA reporter Nickolaus Bauer caught the moment on camera.

eNCA