👑 The First Lady of True Crime South Africa

Nicole Engelbrecht is the voice and brains behind True Crime South Africa a podcast and blog which covers South African true crime cases.

The creator and host of the popular True Crime South Africa and I Lived Through This podcasts, Nicole worked in corporate management for 20 years before moving on to try her hand at creative entrepreneurship.

Nicole tells me she had absolutely no audio production knowledge prior to starting this podcast. On the back of this, TCSA consistently charts as South Africa’s most popular true crime podcast even among international offerings. In 2021, Business Insider ranked the podcast as the 5th most listened to podcast overall in the country. With over 111 episodes published and an ever growing listenership, I think she has conquered that hurdle.

TPC: Nicole, when and why did you start podcasting?

NE: I started podcasting in June 2019. True Crime South Africa was going to be a small part of a bigger creative entrepreneurship I had planned in order to leave my corporate management job. South Africa had other ideas about that, though, and podcasting is now the biggest part of what I do. I specifically chose podcasting because I am not someone who enjoys being in front of a camera and there were far fewer barriers to entry for a complete novice than YouTube with video, for instance. I wanted to start a true crime podcast that focused on South African cases because there wasn't really anything that existed at that time that compared with what other countries were putting out.

TPC: How did you decide on the genre for your podcast?

NE: I have always been a true crime fan and I couldn't find a podcast that covered SA cases in 2019 when I started. I also saw what people were doing with true crime podcasts in the US, UK and Australia in terms of using them to actually help solve cases and I figured we needed something like that in South Africa.

TPC: What experience did you have with storytelling and audio editing when you started?

NE: I was already a storyteller by nature and practicing that, as a hobby, through fiction writing. The trick for me was to take that innate talent and lend it to the telling of real stories which detailed the most traumatic moments of many people's lives. I knew I wanted to draw listeners in with a story so that they could almost experience the crime as those close to it did and thereby, truly understand (or as closely as possible) the victim's experience. For me that was part of giving these victims a voice again. And I didn't want that to be just focused on the moment in their lives that included a crime because that's a small part of who these people are/were as human beings. So the challenge was getting enough information to present these people as the human beings they were and then tell the story of what happened to them in a way that had listeners understanding the true issues behind the crimes and not just seeing them as headlines. This podcast along with I Lived Through This has taught me the value of storytelling for both the person who experienced the "story" as well as the listener. It also taught me that stories are the way to draw people in. Anyone can rattle off a few wikipedia facts, but that won't stick in anyone's mind.

As for the audio editing side, I had absolutely no experience when I started this podcast. I didn't know a soundwave from a tsunami. So I got stuck into a ton of YouTube tutorials and pretty much taught myself as I went. There was a lot of trial and error, and even now I know I'm not using half the tools I probably could, but it gets easier every time as long as you start with decent quality raw recording.

TPC: How many people are involved in the production of TCSA?

NE: Me...and my blind beagle Chumlee, and my 17-year-old cat Mufasa. I have someone who assists me on social media and with my website but I currently do everything else myself.

TPC: What tools do you use to make your podcast?

NE: I use a Samson usb mic with a pop filter which is inside a foam-lined cube to prevent echo, my laptop, and Audacity.

TPC: How have audiences responded to the show?

NE: The response has been incredible. I think that the South African true crime content consumer community was waiting for something like this. They wanted a place where they could "gather" (at least online) and not feel weird discussing their interest in the genre. Add to that the fact that the podcast is now making a real world difference and I think it's created a combination of factors where people feel good about following the podcast because it's making a positive difference. There's also been a lot of education that's come from the podcast, both for me and the listeners.

TPC: Does TCSA generate an income and what other opportunities have you created as a direct result of the podcast?

NE: Yes it does generate an income. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I would have to monetise the podcast simply to keep it going, but the positive results that have come from the podcast in terms of new leads in cases, education, and awareness of issues helps me counter to any weirdness I felt about that. The pod is sponsored by various brands and I also generate income from Patreon. As a result of the popularity of the podcast I've also been able to create companion podcasts for Showmax, do social media "influencer" work for television series, work as a researcher for true crime series and doccies, and in 2022 I even got a book contract and published my first true crime book as a result of the publisher hearing one of my episodes. Really what this podcast has done, and this is no exaggeration, is change my entire life for the better.

TPC: And what are you currently listening to?

NE: I guess it's no surprise that most of my pod listening material is true crime, I do also enjoy the fiction podcasts that are coming out now and I'm currently listening to The Mantawauk Caves.