Coming up on Carte Blanche on M-Net & M-Net HD [101], Sunday 19 February 2023 at 19:00.
Stinkholes
Khutsong near Carletonville on Gauteng’s West Rand is built on dolomite. It’s a soluble rock which means, over time, its structure is weakened by moisture in the ground, affecting its integrity and causing fractures and fault lines. Houses in the area are quite literally built on shaky ground. But, in Khutsong, there’s another problem: the cavities created by collapsing dolomite are being filled with sewage; a malodorous and disturbing clue about the danger underfoot. Apart from the giant sinkholes threatening to swallow the area, their contents point to the near-total collapse of the entire sewage system in the Merafong municipality. Carte Blanche visits a communi.ty living on the edge.
Producer: Anina Peens
Presenter: Derek Watts
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Murder in Morningside
It’s late on a Friday night in Durban. A group of people emerge from a restaurant, among them arguably the country’s most famous musician. They’re in a jovial mood, hugging and shaking hands. Seconds later, a man rushes towards them, a gun in hand. He shoots before disappearing into the darkness. At the same time, another assailant fires at the group from a different direction. As chaos erupts, Kiernan Forbes, also known as AKA, and his friend, Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, lie dead on the pavement. Their murder makes instant news on social media, and almost immediately speculation circulates on the motive for the killing. Could it be the work of KwaZulu-Natal’s notorious iinkabi – faceless guns for hire, apparently untouchable by law enforcement? As Forbes becomes the third musician gunned down in South Africa in the space of just four months, Carte Blanche investigates.
Producer: Latashia Naidoo
Presenter: Bongani Bingwa
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Ella’s Triumph
In 1943, at the height of Germany’s occupation of Poland during the second World War, Ella Blumenthal was just 22. A young Jewish activist, she’d already lost almost every member of her family to Adolf Hitler’s regime. Like millions of others, she and her niece had been rounded up by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. They endured the horror of three of the camps – including the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp – and, for two long years, they were subjected to starvation, torture, and humiliation. But they both survived. Now, at 101, Ella is the oldest living survivor of the Holocaust in South Africa, and is subject of a documentary called I Am Here. Retracing her remarkable will to survive and thrive, it’s a celebration of a vivacious, outspoken and unique personality with a flair for fashion. Carte Blanche meets this extraordinary woman.
Producer: Latashia Naidoo
Presenter: Claire Mawisa
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Into the Octagon
In the shadows of the arena a hulking figure stands, draped in a South African flag. After saying a prayer, his face is smeared in Vaseline, and he steps into an Octagon fenced by chain-link. This is the famed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), probably the globe’s most brutal sport, and South African Dricus ‘Stillknocks’ du Plessis one of its best exponents. It’s taken Dricus months of training to get here, but these days he’s joined at the UFC’s regular fight nights by his protégé, Cameron Saaiman. At 22, his young understudy has already put on some dominant performances in the Octagon and is being billed as the sport’s future. As he and Dricus prepare for UFC 285, Carte Blanche is invited into their secretive fight camp where their physical and mental preparation pushes them to their limits.
Producer: Sinethemba Nogude
Presenter: Derek Watts
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Carte Blanche: The Podcast
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