Coming up on Carte Blanche on M-Net & M-Net HD [101], Sunday 10 November 2024 at 19:00
Poisoned
On an afternoon walk in downtown Johannesburg, street vendors offer a myriad of lethal poisons to eager customers looking for pesticides to kill rodents. But some of these products have been banned for years and the sale of these substances is illegal. Aldicarb is one such chemical which is easily available from vendors. Another known (but legal) chemical is the highly toxic terbufos that can kill grown men within hours. It’s this chemical that investigators from the Department of Health now believe may be behind the tragic deaths of six children who died after consuming food from a local spaza shop in Naledi, Soweto. This follows startling reports of other children around the country who have either died or become critically ill from eating snacks or food bought from spaza shops. Now, as government contends with increasing numbers of reported poisoning, especially in children, Carte Blanche investigates whether the state may ultimately be responsible for these deaths.
Producer: Harri Vithi
Presenter: Masa Kekana
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BELA Battleground
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria to protest the controversial Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill. This after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Bill into law in September, while also recommending that two crucial sections of the Bill be reviewed. Now, two months into the three-month consultation period around sections of the BELA Act, opinions continue to be divided as the future of basic education seemingly hangs in the balance. As time runs out for concerned parties to find a middle ground, will Ramaphosa sign the remaining controversial sections into law?
Producer: Anina Peens
Research: Laura Byrne
Presenter: Masa Kekana
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Witness to Power
Mathews Phosa has been at the forefront of South Africa’s political landscape for decades. In 1985, as a young activist and ANC comrade, Phosa fled the apartheid regime and went into exile where he would become one of the commanders in umKhonto weSizwe. Later, he trained in counterintelligence and weapons handling in East Germany. He was one of the first ANC members to return to South Africa to prepare the way for negotiations. He became the first premier of Mpumalanga during the presidency of Nelson Mandela. A close ally to Madiba, under Thabo Mbeki, Phosa was pushed to the sidelines, falsely accused of being involved in a ‘plot’ to overthrow President Mbeki. Phosa would later become the Treasurer-General of the ANC during Jacob Zuma’s turbulent administration. In his new book, Witness to Power, Phosa pulls back the veil on some of the most crucial political moments in South Africa’s history. Carte Blanche sits down with the veteran politician who still seems reluctant to reveal the true extent of everything he knows.
Producer: Joy Summers
Presenter: Govan Whittles
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Carte Blanche: The Podcast
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