Coming Up On Carte Blanche – 31 March 2024

“Our dose of Sunday inspiration comes courtesy of a remarkable medical team working miracles in the Southern Cape. We meet a little girl horribly disfigured in an attack by the family dog, and how she’s being helped to regain her confidence through ongoing – and free – surgery. It’s sure to restore your faith in humanity (if only briefly).” – John Webb, Executive Producer

Digging for Coal

In KwaZulu-Natal, commercial farmers are on edge. While they own the land they farm on, government owns the minerals that lie underneath, and it’s giving scores of upstart coal companies prospecting licences and rights to mine. Tensions between farmers and mining groups in Newcastle are at an all-time high as the coal prospectors move in by the dozen to mine what’s left of the area’s coal reserve. For farmers, what’s equally concerning is the risk to vital water sources like the town’s main dam that provides drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people. Who are these opportunistic mining companies and why are they being allowed to mine in sensitive and protected areas?

Producer: Anina Peens | Presenter: Erin Bates | Research: Laura Byrne

Shack City

The City of Johannesburg (COJ) is building an informal settlement for displaced residents. With a 500 000 housing backlog, the city has repeatedly failed to deliver on its housing projects, leaving thousands of residents without adequate homes. Last year, when 77 people died in a massive blaze at the Usindiso building downtown, the city’s skewed priorities and lack of preparedness were exposed. Every municipality is required to provide temporary shelters for residents caught in a major disaster – but the COJ hadn’t made any arrangements. So, it built 300 one-room, paper-thin tin shacks at an eye-watering R4.2-million. But should shacks cost ratepayers millions of rands? Carte Blanche investigates.

Producer: Harri Vithi | Presenter: Claire Mawisa

Hope and Healing

A normal day at home for eight-year-old Lelitha Jantjies turned into a nightmare when the family dog viciously attacked her, severely injuring her face. After multiple procedures to stitch her wounds and fight off an infection, the little girl was left with terrible scars and the emotional wounds inflicted by some uncaring schoolmates. Last year, medical specialist, Dr Ansua Steyn, heard about Lelitha’s plight and felt compelled to help. It was the start of something special as Dr Steyn, together with some of her colleagues, operated on Lelitha’s scars and slowly helped the little girl regain her confidence. But the team hasn’t stopped there. Theirs is a remarkable story of lending a hand to those who have suffered severe facial disfigurement and helped them get their lives back.

Producer: Mart-Marie Faure | Presenter: Claire Mawisa

CARTE BLANCHE: THE PODCAST

It’s Our Right! Right?

The clear divide between what government chooses to celebrate on Human Rights Day, and what’s really happening on the ground. Then, one basic human right countless South Africans are living without. Later, we need to talk about the MK Party… And how kids on the Cape Flats are helping sunbirds find their way home.

Listen Now

Elections 2024 Unpacked

With just over two months to go before South Africans are set to make their mark, Masa Kekana sits down with My Vote Counts campaigner, Keamogetswe Seipato, to find out why this election feels so different. What’s truly at stake? Who has the most to lose? And why the youth hold the power to change it all.

Listen Now

PICKS OF THE WEEK

Trafficked: Bus Ride From Hell

In this special investigation, we go undercover to find out just how easy it is to smuggle women and children into South Africa. Contrary to popular belief, trafficking is happening in plain sight in cities and towns across the country.

Full Story

Soccer Grannies

In a community stadium in Nkowankowa, Limpopo a group of soccer players converges on the field and the game begins. But this is no ordinary football match. Among the players is eighty-something-year-old Mama Annah “Bull” Bvuma, known as a fierce defender. Like her, the other players are all elderly and, while they might seem frail, they’re just as competitive as athletes half (or even a third) their age. The Vakhegula Vakhegula football club has become a firm favourite with both local and international spectators. Many of these women have travelled around the world playing in the Soccer Grannies World Championships. Carte Blanche meets the old ladies from rural communities who are taking to the beautiful game.