Coming Up On Carte Blanche – 3 December 2023

“A little inside info: I’ve just watched our rhino orphans piece, featuring Flenters the sheep in a starring role, and I’m well and truly inspired. Amidst the ongoing horror of rhino poaching, it’s another example of selfless South Africans holding the line against criminality, determined to defend those unable to fight for themselves.” ~ John Webb, Executive Producer

Murder: Unresolved

In October 2021, a frantic call from a distraught husband sent emergency services and police to Pastor Liezel de Jager’s house. But it was already too late. Liezel was found strangled outside her Amanzimtoti home. Her father, Henk van Zyl – a former detective – made over 90 calls to police for feedback but, for two years, the investigation stalled… until civil rights organisation, Action Society, got involved. With increased pressure and media attention, police finally arrested a suspect last week. It’s an all-too-familiar picture: a case that clearly illustrates the fallout from an overburdened detective service unable to keep up with South Africa’s ever-soaring crime rates. According to the police’s own latest statistics, just under 12.5 percent of the country’s murders are solved. As families mourning the brutal deaths of their loved ones wait months or even years for closure, does the answer lie in watchdog organisations that effectively privatise the investigation and prosecution of crime? Carte Blanche investigates.

Producer: Carol Albertyn Christie & Laura Byrne | Presenter: Masa Kekana

Budding Besties

Mpho and Flenters are unusual companions. One is an orphaned rhino calf and the other a sheep with a little attitude. At a secret location in the bush, Mpho is just one of a crash of orphaned rhino calves saved from certain death by a non-profit rhino orphanage. Many of them lost their mothers to poaching and, in the wild, young rhino are completely incapable of caring for themselves. They will either fall prey to predators or eat dirt to survive. At this orphanage, the budding friendship between Mpho and Flenters is getting all the attention. Staff at the orphanage hope that, with Flenters’ help, Mpho might one day return to the wild.

Producer: Graham Coetzer | Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli

COMING SOON

PetroSA’s Dirty Business

State-owned company PetroSA used to produce diesel and other fuels from gas at its refinery in Mossel Bay. But in 2020, it ran out of gas… and money. Two decades of woeful investments, scandals, absence of governance and profligacy had rendered the company bankrupt. But Minerals and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, has refused to let it fail. He has big plans for its revival into a new petroleum company with the Energy Minister as the sole shareholder. Meanwhile, inside the boardroom of PetroSA, all is not well, as the chairman is making headlines. He reportedly wants the CEO’s position but a string of misconduct findings against him may scupper his plans. As details of questionable tender processes emerge, Carte Blanche investigates this secret organisation that not even parliament seems able to penetrate.

Producer: Joy Summers | Presenter: Masa Kekana

CARTE BLANCHE: THE PODCAST

Let’s Get Political

First-time voters show up in full force, but will it be enough to effect change in the upcoming national elections? We talk about coalitions – again – as a minority party speaker takes her place in Joburg. Then, the ongoing war in Gaza hits close to home as the ANC takes a stance. And how one programme is turning learners into leaders.

The LinkedIn Swindler

He used a popular social media platform for professionals to lure his unsuspecting international clients. But once they paid up, the so-called LinkedIn Swindler disappeared with their money. But police are on his trail.

PICKS OF THE WEEK

Dying to Eat

R67 million. That’s how much the Eastern Cape government failed to spend on feeding the province’s most impoverished communities. As a humanitarian crisis unfolds, we confront officials about the unacceptable levels of malnutrition in the region.

Full Story

Bird Flu

A deadly outbreak of avian flu has left South Africa’s poultry industry on the brink of disaster. With millions of chickens being culled, grocery stores are forced to ration meat and egg sales while the government imports eggs and meat to mitigate shortages over the festive season. But there is more than Christmas dinner at stake: some experts say the impact of the virus has been so devastating, it will take the industry 18 months to recover. And there’s a human face to the crisis, with thousands of jobs on the line, and some smaller independent suppliers facing financial ruin.