“As a young boy, I suffered from migraines that miraculously disappeared when I went to high school. I do remember, though, the excruciating pain accompanied by bouts of nausea that no medication was able to take away. But as desperate as I remember feeling, I don’t think I would ever have consented to having a needle plunged into the back of my neck.” – John Webb, Executive Producer
Wanted: Dead
He was a dangerous criminal known for extortion and drug dealing. So it may be no surprise that he died in a hail of police bullets on the side of the N2 near Butterworth in the Eastern Cape earlier this year. But what about the four private security guards who met their death alongside him? Police insist it was a shootout with suspects carrying illegal weapons. But family members say the men were innocent. We sift through the evidence to ask: Who is telling the truth?
Producer: Harri Vithi | Presenter: Govan Whittles
Deadly Headaches
It’s a specialised procedure pioneered by a renowned surgeon and, for decades, it’s relieved patients of debilitating headache pain. But recently, something has gone very wrong. Three patients died, allegedly suffering massive brain and spinal cord damage in the wake of the procedure, while others claim it’s caused severe, lasting damage. What really happened behind closed doors at this Johannesburg clinic? And how does a celebrated specialist become a murder accused?
Producer: Latashia Naidoo | Presenter: Erin Bates
Sacred Traces
Animal fat, eggshells and ochre: the materials that formed the centuries-old San rock art scattered throughout Southern Africa. After thousands of years, many of the paintings have faded. But one artist has dedicated his life to studying, and now recreating, these ancient works of art. Foraging for materials and reproducing the tools and techniques of long-lost artists, he’s creating a doorway into another time and hoping to catch a glimpse of the spiritual world on the other side of the rock.
Producer: Catherine Rice | Presenter: Erin Bates
NOW STREAMING
Disappearing Sharks: A Tale of Two Species
Since 1950, over 33 000 sharks, as well as turtles, rays and dolphins, have died in shark nets and drumlines on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. And these “shark control” measures are just one of the human threats to fragile marine ecosystems the length of our coastline. In the ocean’s vast ecosystem, the dynamics of predator and prey – humans and wildlife – are incredibly complex. But what is all too clear is that great white sharks are vanishing from South African waters. Watch the full story now on DStv Stream and Catch Up.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Flake and Chips
When the popularity of the Australian fast food “flake” – which is in fact shark – decimated that country’s local shark population, suppliers turned their sights on the fishing waters off the Western Cape coastline. As the sightings of Great White and other sharks have declined over several years, Carte Blanche investigates why experts say it will take 50 years for over-fished shark stocks to recover – and why the government has not heeded the dire warnings of its own scientists to implement safeguards. www.sharkfreechips.com has information on their campaign.
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