Coming up on Carte Blanche‎ on M-Net & M-Net HD [101], Sunday 27 November 2022 at 19:00.

Sting in the Tale
Technology is turning the tide in the fight against the illicit drugs trade and its many associated crimes. For better and worse. These days, anyone wanting to get their hands on hard drugs needn’t risk the danger and uncertainty of the black market. With the evolution of social media and online apps, criminals are having a field day marketing their illicit goods to people from all spheres of society and – scarily – to any child with access to a phone. From pornography to street and prescription drugs, to guns and forged official documents, all are for sale on many of the platforms we rely on every day: community information apps, e-hailing, social media and messenger apps with a “people near me” function. Carte Blanche follows a Crime Intelligence-driven investigation into online drug running as we join a sting operation and listen to harrowing stories of victims having to pay with their bodies when they fail to reach the sales targets set by their criminal bosses.

Producer: Jana Marx
Presenter: Derek Watts
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Vapes for Breakfast
Hailed as a harm reduction strategy for smokers, vaping has now morphed into a runaway craze among teenagers. With flavours like bubble gum, toffee crunch, and berry blaze, it’s clear that vapes increasingly target the youth. But flirting with vapes has turned into an addiction for some, with experts forecasting that those who start using nicotine at a young age have greater nicotine dependence than those who start later. As even a tiny amount of nicotine has a substantive impact on the teenage brain, Carte Blanche probes the latest research showing three in ten school children reaching for their e-cigarettes within an hour of waking up. While the booming vaping market is not regulated in South Africa, will a law aiming to tax e-cigarettes and related products nip this worrying trend in the bud.

Producer: Carol Albertyn-Christie
Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
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Presidential Panic
An embattled president and a disgraced party leader. With mere weeks to go, the road to the ANC’s National Elective Conference is narrowing. Despite having had to resign as health minister over a tender scandal, Zweli Mkhize is no longer an outsider but a contender, likely to give the incumbent a run for his money. With the Phala Phala scandal and a potentially career-ending criminal investigation looming over his head, some analysts feel party president Cyril Ramaphosa is politically wounded and exposed. Who will win the ANC’s top office? Nelson Mandela University’s thought leader Ongama Mtimka joins us live in studio to set out the stakes: the constitutional order of the republic. Will we get a leader that respects the Constitution or do we keep flirting with chaos?

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A Helping Hand at Tygerberg
The Carte Blanche Making A Difference Trust has handed over the first phases of a Neonatal Unit and a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Tygerberg Hospital in the Western Cape. The two phases constitute the construction and equipping of a Cardiothoracic ICU and an Isolation ICU. Tygerberg hospital attends to over half of the most critically ill children in the Western Cape, and, thanks to the generosity of numerous donors, the Trust has additionally ordered a child-friendly ultrasound machine to assist in the visualisation of the placement of intravenous lines. Among other significant benefits, the specialised surgical instrumentation purchased by the Trust for the new units has enabled the reinstatement of cardiothoracic surgical services at the hospital.

Producer: John Webb
Presenter: Claire Mawisa

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