Viv Vermaak
Viv Vermaak is an award-winning investigative journalist, writer and director. She was the most loved and hated presenter on South Africa’s iconic travel show, “Going Nowhere Slowly’ and ranks being the tall germ, “Terie’ in Mina Moo as a career highlight. She does Jiu-Jitsu and has a ’69 Chevy Impala called Katy Peri-Peri. Vermaak's Podcast Report is a monthly feature on the Daily Friend Show, and appears monthly in the Daily Friend as a column.
Articles By This Author
A formula for the immigration problem
Is there a formula for dealing with these pesky foreigners? How many are too many? They are always marching in and out, across borders and
Will Cyril go to jail? Will Groenewald be president? Is the GNU cooked?
The Phala Phala impeachment process, the DA cabinet scramble and the upcoming election have all raised the temperature in the SA political pan. Voters are speculating, pundits are placing bets, and podcasters add some flavour.
Helen Zille: angel, witch, gogo or leader?
Women in power, from Joan of Arc to Margaret Thatcher and Hillary Clinton, have always had a tough job bearing the judgements of their followers and detractors.
Sofa, so good, but Ramaphosa won’t wake up in the shower
30 years into the constitution, and South Africans are tuning in to the Phala Phala drama like Dallas in prime time. Podcasters add to it.
What do the moon landing, Riaan Cruywagen, and obesity have in common? Freedom!
A lot has changed between the first moon landing on 1969 and the historic 2026 Artemis mission around the moon. Human beings have now travelled further from the earth than ever before. We shared photos of the historic event with each other, not arguing this time whether they were real or not, but marveling at how AI could nowadays produce deepfake images that you could no longer tell from reality.
SA podcasts react to government threat of regulation
Donald Trump arguably won his 2024 election by embracing the podcasters. His appearance on The Joe Rogan show, amassing more than 50 million views in a few days, made him human and accessible to the voting public in a way that no formal election propaganda or news network could.
The difference between ad hominem, insult, and taking things personally
(Warning: this article contains swear words and penises.) “Dear fucking lunatic,” reads the salutation of a famous open letter to Donald Trump. It goes on: “At your recent press conference – more a word salad that had a stroke and fell down stairs – you were clearly so out of your depth you needed scuba gear.”
War on Iran: Western misadventure or righteous crusade?
“You cannot bomb people into liberation. The whole idea of freedom is that you choose it for yourself.” (Sizwe Mpofu Walsh)
The good old boys don’t drink whiskey and rye anymore
I stopped drinking seven years ago. I sometimes wonder whether that was a mistake.
Johnny the walker: DA leadership battle provokes mixed reactions
From gin in tin cups to threats of chopping off their own pinkies, opinionistas weigh in from left, right, and centre. It’s a hell of