Zuma – Beginning of the End: Watch Carte Blanche, this Sunday 4 July 2021 at 19:00, only on M-Net 101.

I N V E S T I G A T E   &   A N A L Y S E

Bongani Bingwa: “The clock is ticking at Jacob Zuma’s KwaDakudunuse homestead in Nkandla. Any police van attempting to make its way into the former president’s residence will likely be met by men clad in MKMVA regalia. Will Zuma hand himself over? He says he does not fear jail… These next few days will tell how much further he is willing to imperil our democracy.”

Zuma – Beginning of the End

In a judgment that will reverberate long into South Africa’s future, the Constitutional Court has sentenced former President Jacob Zuma to 15 months in jail for defying its order to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry Into Allegations of State Capture, which has been probing allegations of corruption during Zuma’s tenure. Never before has the country’s highest court flexed its muscle to give a custodial sentence – and that for a democratically elected former president. Will this embolden law and justice organs and signify that everyone really is equal before the law?

Producer: Kate Barry
Researchers: Tony Beamish & Siniketiwe Hlanze
Presenter: Bongani Bingwa
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Life Cover Stripped 

Life insurance policies are meant to protect families and loved ones; buying peace of mind by ensuring financial security, helping leave an inheritance or pay off debts and expenses. So, how could the life insurance of thousands of policyholders, many elderly and with pre-existing conditions, suddenly be cancelled last year, leaving clients high and dry? Carte Blanche investigates a short-term insurer that promised “Cover for Life, without ever increasing your premiums” but, in 2020, simply terminated thousands of policies by SMS. Now, scores of desperate clients are in a fight for recourse in the face of devastating losses they’ve incurred.

Producer: Julian Sun
Presenter: Claire Mawisa
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No Place Like Home

The economic crash that followed in the wake of COVID-19’s lockdown measures has resulted in soaring unemployment. Temporary homeless tents and shacks are springing up across cities and, in Cape Town, this means between highways and in public spaces. Over 14000 homeless people live rough in the Mother City, with only enough temporary shelter for 2500. A U-turn Homeless Ministries report on the cost of homelessness in Cape Town shows that 45 percent of R744 million allocated to the homeless in the city is spent on enforcement, arresting and incarcerating the homeless. When Table Mountain was set ablaze from an unattended cooking fire earlier this year, the vitriol it unleashed about the City’s handling of homeless people spiked tensions with ratepayers. Carte Blanche investigates why only 16 percent of available money is spent on long-term solutions.

Producer: Liz Fish
Presenter: Claire Mawisa
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S H O W D O W N

Lions in the Land

After months of uncertainty, one of the great highlights on the world rugby calendar kicks off on Friday. Despite South Africa’s renewed move to adjusted level four lockdown, with Gauteng in the epicentre of a devastating third wave of COVID-19 infections, sport has been allowed to continue and the long-anticipated British and Irish Lions Tour is finally here. While members of the Lions squad recently played in the Six Nations Rugby Championship, the Springboks have not played test rugby for over 18 months since their crushing victory over England in the 2019 World Cup final in Japan. Carte Blanche previews their chances as the six-week Lions series gets underway.

Producer: Diana Lucas
Presenter: Derek Watts
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Please note: Carte Blanche line-ups are subject to change. Stories can be viewed at www.carteblanche.co.za