Coming up on Carte Blanche‎ on M-Net & M-Net HD [101], Sunday 07 July 2024 at 19:00

Memory Card Murders
It was a case out of Alaska in the United States that gained international attention back in 2019: the discovery of a memory card containing footage of a brutal murder. The man behind the horrific crime was South African, Brian Steven Smith, a newly naturalised US citizen who had documented himself strangling a native Alaskan woman to death in a hotel room. He’d later confess to the murder of another Alaskan woman a year earlier. In February, Smith was convicted on 14 charges, including two counts of murder. He now awaits his fate in a US jail. Carte Blanche tracks his journey from the streets of Komani in the Eastern Cape to his gruesome murders in Alaska.

Producer: Latashia Naidoo
Presenter: Erin Bates

Justice for Ukraine
In the capital city of Kyiv, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin and his team have spent months examining evidence of war crimes. Since Russia’s military invasion more than two years ago, Ukraine has been collecting exhibits and eyewitness accounts to mount a case against the Kremlin and its military forces and secure justice for thousands of civilians who have been tortured and killed in the ongoing war. Kostin is confident that it’s only a matter of time before Russia will be prosecuted for war crimes and forced to retreat from Ukraine’s borders. Carte Blanche, alongside a group of international journalists, gets a seat at the table as the high-level strategy missions highlight the plight of the Ukrainian people.

Producer: Floris Kotze
Presenter: Govan Whittles
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Granny Grommets
It’s an early Friday morning on Nahoon Beach in the Eastern Cape, and Susan Matthee and her best friend, Riana Swanepoel, are stepping outside their normal routine. Stripping off their vintage jewellery and silk scarves, Susan and Riana don their wetsuits and strap boogie boards to their wrists to catch the morning wave. And they aren’t alone. They belong to a group of dozens of women – all over 50 – who aren’t content with settling into stereotypical hobbies for the elderly. Looking for a little action and excitement, they’ve committed themselves to doing something out-of-the-box in their twilight years. They call themselves the Granny Grommets: elderly amateur boogie boarders with a taste for adventure. Carte Blanche caught some waves with these senior citizens.

Producer: Tarryn Crossman
Presenter: Lourensa Eckard
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Carte Blanche: The Podcast
Unique stories. Unique perspectives. Carte Blanche: The Podcast delves beneath the headlines into South African and global issues, bringing you the stories that matter. Like what you hear? Drop us a rating or review.

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Please note Carte Blanche line-ups are subject to change.