“Each new instalment of the Thabo Bester story appears more shocking than the last, a sordid tale of moral depravity exposing the rot in our prisons. That a dead body appears to have been smuggled into a high security prison is now the least remarkable twist in this sorry saga is a sad but appropriate commentary on our present predicament.” – John Webb, Executive Producer
Red Notice
Zolile Sekeleni shuffled into the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Old and weathered, he looked a little bewildered by all the media attention. Just days before, Sekeleni would have passed for the concerned parent of a daughter accused of being an accomplice in one of the country’s most daring prison escapes. Now, he and a former prison warden face serious charges relating to the escape, including murder. It’s a story that began more than a year ago. At its centre, a convicted murderer and serial rapist and the lover accused of assisting his audacious escape from prison, Sekeleni’s daughter, Nandipha Magudumana. Now, Sekeleni’s fate appears intricately tied to that of his daughter, a once successful doctor turned alleged accomplice to Thabo Bester, the now-infamous Facebook Rapist. Their dash for freedom has lifted the lid on a violent, almost unbelievable tale of murder and arson which ended this week in their arrest in Tanzania. Carte Blanche goes behind the headlines of a story that’s shocked a nation.
Producer: Busisiwe Gumede-Chizhanje | Presenter: Claire Mawisa
Pilot Project
An alleged scamster with a tenuous relationship with reality; a bogus pilot, bogus Iraq war veteran, and bogus immigration expert. Yes, there’s no end to the roles on Jonathan Constable’s CV for which he is suitably unqualified. In fact, the only thing at which this Jack of all trades truly excels is taking people for a financial ride. It’s alleged he’s hijacked buildings, weaponised the police to settle scores, and posed as a Home Affairs official to dupe desperate refugees out of tens of thousands of rands. This is a story Mr Contestable appears desperate to conceal but, despite his efforts to duck accountability, Carte Blanche will do what Carte Blanche does.
Producer: Harri Vithi | Presenter: Derek Watts
Mesh Action
High-powered lawyers are gearing up for a class action lawsuit that will pit a billion-dollar pharmaceutical company against a group of angry South African women. They say the multinational firm has knowingly manufactured and distributed defective mesh devices, inserted trans-vaginally to alleviate various conditions. The devices, it’s argued, disintegrate over time, causing debilitating pain. And they’re not alone… Women around the world are taking similar steps against the company, claiming it was aware of the defects and simply did nothing. It’s a classic David versus Goliath story, but this time David is armed with more than a slingshot.
Producer: Tebadi Mmotla | Presenter: Masa Kekana
CARTE BLANCHE: THE PODCAST
A National State of Meh…
Did the National State of Disaster achieve much in finding solutions to our ongoing energy crisis? And what’s up with that Eskom exemption that had South Africans concerned? Carte Blanche’s Masa Kekana and Business Maverick’s Ray Mahlaka try and answer these questions and more.
Black Beach Hell
A knock on a hotel door in the middle of the night… Why were two South African engineers targeted for arrest in Equatorial Guinea? After a month in some of the continent’s most notorious prisons, who can get them out?
PICKS OF THE WEEK
Bloem Brouhaha
It’s a free-for-all at the University of the Free State as student houses pop up all over town, taking over the suburbs and allowing landlords to cash in. But how are residents meant to live with their neighbourhoods turning into party zones?
Murder in Mbombela
Hillary Gardee’s body was found dumped in a Mpumalanga plantation in early May this year. What started as a reported abduction ended in tragic death – another senseless and brutal murder in a country suffering a GBV pandemic. But within days, the 28-year-old’s killing took an even more sinister turn, with claims of a political motive and suggestions she may have known her murderers coming to the surface. Now, as three of her alleged attackers remain behind bars, court papers detail how this brutal crime may have been months in the planning. Carte Blanche heads to Mbombela for answers.
That Sinking Feeling
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.
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