In mid-June 2026, when Daily Maverick was publishing its three-part investigation into Cape Town’s planning structures, we were approached by Thersia du Toit-Smit, a senior state advocate at the NPA. Aside from noting that our reporting exposed a serious breach in the municipal council’s defences, she was contacting us in her private capacity as a mother. The issues: public opposition and health concerns about a proposed fuel station near a primary school, and her children living nearby.