Coming up on Carte Blanche on M-Net & M-Net HD [101], Sunday 21 August 2022 at 19:00.
Manganese Road
Toxic black manganese dust, blasted from the iconic Kalahari Basin and trucked in vast amounts to the Gqebertha Port, it’s a poison hidden in plain sight. This is a story of dividends, dust, and disease. South Africa is the world’s largest exporter of manganese, an abundant trace mineral found in the Northern Cape. It is a key component in paints, glass, dry-cell batteries, and steel. But exposure to high levels of manganese can cause serious health problems and environmental damage. From Hotazel to Gqeberha, we follow hundreds of trucks that travel up and down the Manganese Road and meet Northern Cape miners who experience high incidences of Parkinsonian symptoms. Down in the Eastern Cape, as the trucks come rumbling into small port towns, locals are asking whether the growing manganese rush is making Nelson Mandela Bay and its people sick. Carte Blanche unpacks another possible case of profits before people and asks: why is everyone from politicians to models jumping on the manganese bandwagon?
Producer: Kate Barry
Presenter: Derek Watts
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Collateral Damage
In the initial fog of fear around COVID-19 contagion, when the pandemic struck, neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) the world over changed the way they approached infant care. In South Africa’s private hospitals, that meant mitigation strategies that hampered the decades-old skin-to-skin kangaroo nursing method that’s fundamental to the government guideline for care within the NICU. At the height of the pandemic, the most vulnerable paid a very high price. The separation of newborns in need of medical care from their families caused immense suffering for mothers, fathers, and their babies. Carte Blanche investigates why some couples were prevented from even touching their babies, as experts begin calculating the long-term collateral damage including possible impairment of babies’ cognitive, emotional, and social development. We explore the psychological impact of pandemic rules – was the crisis management worth it in the end?
Producer: Tarryn Crossman
Presenter: Masa Kekana
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Please note Carte Blanche line-ups are subject to change.
