“The dancers in Sunday’s show are unlike any others yet featured on Carte Blanche. Their stage is a busy Rosebank intersection, their payment a means to feed themselves. But they’re dedicated and talented and courageous. If only I believed their dreams of dancing on a world stage would one day be realised. If only the world were that just.” ~ John Webb, Executive Producer
Stellenbosch Death Trap
In October 2022, two families and community members in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape frantically searched for missing teenagers Leila du Preez Lees and Ethan Kirkland. Three days after their disappearance, their lifeless bodies were pulled out of a water-filled quarry at an abandoned property in the middle of Stellies. But this tragedy was decades in the making. The infamous 77 Bird Street had been a problem property for over 30 years. Initially intended to be turned into a block of flats, the owners excavated the property to build basement parking but permit issues with the City halted construction, leaving a deep, unfinished pit. As water filled the quarry, this prime real estate remained unsecured. Over the years, several requests for the owners and the municipality to attend to the problem were ignored. Now, more than a year since their untimely deaths, the teens families are baying for justice.
Producer: Annalise Lubbe | Presenter: Erin Bates
Life Rights Deception
On paper, the offer was good: two well-known property developers offered the elderly the opportunity to purchase a unit in one of the high-class estates. The pensioners would own the life rights to live in the unit until they pass away or move out. Once that happens, the developer would sell the unit on their behalf and each pensioner would receive their money. But three years ago, something went wrong, leaving bereaved family members to deal with the double blow of losing a loved one and not being able to wind up their estates or receive the money owed to them. Now, Carte Blanche returns to investigate the property developers accused of reneging on their promises to the elderly and their beneficiaries.
Producer: Graham Coetzer | Presenter: Masa Kekana
Twin Telepathy
Boitumelo and Tumelo are 20-year-old fraternal twins who share a close bond. But until last year, they had been separated from each other for ten years. In 2013, after the deaths of their parents, the twins were sent to live with different family members in different countries. Boitumelo struggled for years to find her brother, while Tumelo’s life spiralled into darkness. Then fate and a desperate search on social media intervened, bringing the twins back together. In a remarkable story of courage and determination, Carte Blanche explores how they were finally reunited.
Producer: Busisiwe Gumede-Chizhanje| Presenter: Claire Mawisa
Dancing for Survival
On a street in Rosebank in Johannesburg, the traffic light turns red and a group of eight young boys turn a busy intersection into their dance floor. With their high-energy foot movements and rapid hand gestures they’re a familiar sight for many motorists and, for several seconds before the lights turn green, they’re guaranteed a captive audience. But it’s not all fun and games for this troupe of dancers. It’s a dance for survival. Hailing from Alex, a hardened township in Gauteng popularly known as Gomora, these street dancers push their talents to the very limit, collecting a small payment from drivers eager to be entertained.
Producer: Sinethemba Nogude | Presenter: Xola Ntshinga
PICKS OF THE WEEK
The Business of Kidnapping
On a bustling Friday night in Johannesburg’s southern suburbs, the ordinary turns into a nightmare for an unsuspecting businessman. Trapped in a small room facing an ultimatum from his captors: pay up or face death. On the other side of town, in an informal settlement, another man puts in an order for a new set of “tools” for his next job. Kidnappings are on the rise in South Africa, evolving into a billion-rand industry where lives become commodities. In this documentary, kidnappings for ransom are under the microscope as kidnapper, victim and hostage negotiators share some rare insight into this growing crime trend. With support from The Henry Nxumalo Foundation for Investigative Journalism, it delves into the murky world of kidnappings.
Murder Unresolved
Matteo Botha shouldn’t be alive today… When he was just 18 months old, an ordinary evening at home ended in an emergency visit to hospital. Matteo needed surgery to have a large portion of his bowel removed. But this was just the beginning of his ordeal. Matteo’s heart stopped on the operating table, an unusual outcome that baffled his medical team. They resuscitated him – but then his heart stopped again… and again. Within 24 hours of being rushed to the emergency department, the little boy’s heart had stopped 12 times. His doctors warned that he was severely brain damaged, but his parents refused to give up. Now, more than a year later, Matteo is a thriving baby boy making a remarkable neurological recovery.
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