The Crime Target in your Hand: Watch Carte Blanche, this Sunday 4 October 2020 at 19:00, only on M-Net 101.
I N V E S T I G A T I O N S
Macfarlane Moleli: “The Kruger National Park is world-famous for its game drives and beauty. Travellers come from all over to view the beautiful fauna and flora within the reserve. Animals are seen in their most natural environment and guests marvel at this experience. Does it then make sense to put up a zoo with animals in cages right next to the Kruger?”
Cages and Controversy: Mpumalanga’s New Zoo
Lions, tigers and pumas in cages – more than 140 local and exotic animals have been delivered and are ready to go on display in an R8-million private zoo in the Lowveld city of Mbombela. Their purpose is to educate and entertain, say the owners. But the development has unleashed a torrent of criticism from animal welfare activists who say zoos are obsolete institutions that perpetuate cruelty. As we celebrate World Animal Day on 4 October – a day intended to make the world a better place for animals – Carte Blanche investigates why this facility has been allowed. It is virtually on the doorstep of the Kruger National Park which already offers outreach programmes to promote access to local residents.
Producer: Kate Barry
Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
Researcher: Sasha Schwendenwein
Watch the trailer
Cell Phone Snatchers
Smartphones are hot commodities for petty criminals – they’re light to handle, easy to smuggle and generate a quick income. Now cell phone snatchers have become more sophisticated, enlisting the services of fellow thieves and combining their prowess into organised syndicates that utilise getaway vehicles to steal from unsuspecting victims. Once stolen, they work quickly to crack the phone, and blacklisting the handset doesn’t seem to deter these criminals. So where do these phones end up? Carte Blanche hits the streets of Johannesburg to track and trace some stolen cell phones.
Producer: Nicky Troll
Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
Watch the trailer
Children Addicted to Glue
In an impoverished community in the western parts of Johannesburg, unemployment and substance abuse are rife. Here, children as young as six years old are addicts and glue is their drug of choice. It’s easily accessible and there’s no age-restriction on who can buy it, but experimentation with inhalants is dangerous and can cause severe, lifelong damage. Concerned community members have spent years seeking help for these children, but rehabilitation services simply are not tailored to addicts this young, and no intervention has been successful. What can be done to give these children a future? Carte Blanche investigates.
Producer: Laura Byrne
Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
Watch the trailer
N E W S U P D A T E S
School Displacements
When the Gauteng Department of Education had to field outraged parents’ concerns last year over its online placement system that allocated children to illogical and far away schools, the Department insisted that every learner would eventually be placed in some school. But nine months into the school year, it’s clear that, for at least 162 children, that undertaking has failed with disastrous consequences. This group joins the millions of school learners for whom COVID-19 lockdown meant inadequate education. Carte Blanche meets the families whose lives were thrown into turmoil as it became clear there was no school for their children.
Producers: Ntokozo & Mduduzi Miya
Presenter: Claire Mawisa
Do note: Carte Blanche line-ups are subject to change. Stories can be viewed at www.carteblanche.co.za
