“At least 15 years ago, we came across a toddler called Lucky behind a chained door on the inside of a hijacked building. The door was slightly ajar, and he called out to us as we passed in the gloom and filth of the upper floors. We were filming an insert on what was then still a relatively new phenomenon: criminal syndicates taking over apartment blocks and extorting rent from their desperate inhabitants. What began as an eye-popping tour of some of the most inconceivable living conditions ended in a bid to save Lucky, who’d been left alone in the flat and was suffering badly from rickets. The warning signs back then could not have been clearer.” – John Webb, Executive Producer
Horror in the Inner City
It’s a Thursday morning in a hijacked building in Johannesburg’s inner city. A fire breaks out on the first floor and soon sets the dilapidated building ablaze. Trapped inside, dozens of people – men, women, and children – are unable to escape the flames. In the street below, onlookers frantically call for help as people attempt to save themselves by jumping from upper-storey windows. Hours later, as rescue workers pull the dead from the debris, the scale of the disaster becomes clear. Blame is soon shifted to NGOs working in the inner city by officials denying any culpability in the tragedy. But few could argue the victims would not have suffered such excruciating deaths had the warning of at least the past two decades been heeded. The same NGOs as well as the media and several politicians had been warning of the dangers posed by Jo’burg’s hijacked buildings. Yet the problem grew unchecked and now 77 people are dead.
Producer: Harri Vithi | Presenter: Claire Mawisa
Job Scams
It’s a startling statistic: almost 33 per cent of people living in South Africa are unemployed, many of them unemployable. It’s fertile ground for scammers who prey on desperate job seekers. In Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, a well-connected and widely known woman has become notorious for using her ties to a local mayor to dupe desperate jobseekers. Offering work at the municipality, she charges a small fee for her services but never delivers. And she’s not alone. In Gauteng, a rogue recruitment agency is one of several using the promise of jobs to defraud the desperate and already chronically poor. Carte Blanche investigates.
Producer: Sipha Kema | Presenter: Claire Mawisa
A Home for the Courageous
In South Africa, the safety of those who speak out against corruption and other types of malfeasance cannot be guaranteed. Nor can the extent to which they’re often ostracised and isolated be guarded against. Whistleblowers are often harassed, demoted or dismissed from work; they risk financial ruin, psychological trauma and, in some cases, they even pay with their lives. But despite the challenges, whistleblowers continue to display immense courage, standing up against injustice when no one else will stand with them. It’s a gap now being filled by the Whistleblower House, an online platform offering a range of supports, including legal and financial advice, to those who sacrifice so much in the name of accountability and justice. Carte Blanche meets the people behind this cause.
Producer: Sasha Schwendenwein | Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
CARTE BLANCHE: THE PODCAST
Political Point-Scoring in a Time of Tragedy
Could the Johannesburg fire have been prevented? Gauteng’s crime stats and Crime Prevention Wardens have us worried. We also ask: why is government keeping quiet on the Zimbabwe elections? Then, Ace Magashule is ready to ‘ACT’. And another shoutout to Gift of the Givers.
UPDATE: A Hard-Knock Life
In March 2023, we investigated a Swedish businessman and self-styled philanthropist who’d made sweeping promises to an impoverished community in the Limpopo town of Alldays. We uncovered how he’d failed to keep those promises, failing the area’s children and becoming embroiled in a dispute in which the local municipality appeared reluctant to intervene. It was an outcome for which the children and their desperate carers were paying the ultimate price. But happily, things have changed as the businessman has fled the country, and the children in need were finally given access to this life-changing centre.
FULL STORY: A Hard-Knock Life
A wealthy international property owner in Limpopo, vulnerable children, and the millions donated to an orphanage that doesn’t exist. We investigate.
PICKS OF THE WEEK
Egregious Failings
We go inside a state boarding school for children with special needs. What we find will shock you. Then we confront the Eastern Cape department that’s left vulnerable children to fend for themselves.
Unlikely Detectives
A baby boy goes missing in Gqeberha. For seven months, his distraught mother never stops searching. But police find no clues… So, how did one healthcare worker solve the case of the missing infant?
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