Boots On the Ground: Watch Carte Blanche, this Sunday 27 March 2022 at 19:00, only on M-Net
his week, Carte Blanche heads to Ukraine where Russian air and ground forces continue attacking cities, causing significant civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure. In response, Ukraine fights back, refusing to surrender or lay down arms. On Sunday night, our team takes you live to Ukraine as we try to make sense of the conflict and the extent of its human toll.
I N V E S T I G A T I O N S
The Circus Comes to Town
Clowns, acrobats, trapeze acts and trained animals– traditionally, the circus is known as the “greatest show on earth”. But as activists fight for the rights of animals, fewer circuses feature animals as part of their entertainment. But in South Africa, there’s still one travelling circus refusing to abandon its traditions, transporting animals from city to city in a caravan, and having them perform night after night for weeks at a time. While the owner insists he has their welfare at heart, activists argue a circus is no place for animals and that it’s time to put an end to this archaic way of life. Carte Blanche investigates.
Producer: Tarryn Crossman | Presenter: Masa Kekana
R E P O R T A G E
Fall from Grace
For decades a trusted brand, airline operator, Comair, is going through a period of turbulence. Three emergency landings in one month and a series of other apparent glitches have raised passenger safety concerns and earned the wrath of the Civil Aviation Authority. Could customer jitters and a precarious financial position bring the end of the runway into premature sight? Carte Blanche takes a deeper look into what led to its crippling grounding.
Producer: Stenette Grosskopf | Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
School’s Out
As if South Africa’s staggering unemployment rate weren’t bad enough, a crisis in the education centre is making matter worse. Young people are dropping out of school at alarming rates, simply to join the ranks of the unemployed and unemployable. It’s a situation exacerbated by COVID-19, with closed schools leading to an alarming increase in the dropout rate. Government says parents are partly to blame, but at a time support was needed most, some pupils feel let down by the Basic Education Department and their teachers.
Producer: Busisiwe Gumede-Chizhanje | Presenter: Claire Mawisa
E N V I R O N M E N T A L
The Professor and the Plant
For centuries, humankind has been on an endless hunt for the Fountain of Youth. But perhaps it wasn’t a fountain we should have been looking for. A chance encounter with a remarkable plant with an ability to revitalise itself within a few hours of light rain brings hope. UCT Professor Jill Farrant is working to isolate the gene sequence of these plants to find out what secrets they could unlock. They’re called the Resurrection Pants, a very rare species seemingly able to come back from the dead. These plants are known to lose up to 95 percent of their water capacity, only to bloom back to life in as little as 12 hours after rain. So, could these plants be the real Fountain of Youth or perhaps reveal how we might survive the impacts of climate change?
Producer: Diana Lucas | Presenter: Derek Watts
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