Coming up on Carte Blanche this Sunday (10 July):
Selfiecide or Selfiesteem?
It's crazy times people!
It’s a dangerous trend that’s already resulted in at least 50 documented deaths and it seems to be getting ever more ridiculous. Why are people risking their safety and lives just to capture what they hope will be the ultimate selfie? Carte Blanche explores addiction to selfie-taking - now classified as a psychiatric disorder.
Producer: Sasha Schwendenwein
Presenter: Derek Watts
Sentencing Oscar
This week, over three years since Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed by Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, the world witnessed the latest chapter of a protracted trial that has sustained global attention. Pretoria High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa said the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factors and therefore the prescribed 15-year minimum sentence for murder would be unjust. Carte Blanche brings key insight and analysis to the shamed athlete’s new sentence: six years’ imprisonment.
Producer: Esté de Klerk
Presenter: John Webb
Researcher: Laura Byrne
Abandoned Babies
It’s estimated that a staggering 3000 or more children are abandoned in South Africa every year. Whether left in public spaces to be found by Samaritans, or left to die unnoticed in squalor, accurate statistics are not recorded.
So, how seriously does government view the plight of hundreds of these babies? Carte Blanche meets the heroes stepping in to give rescued little ones a new chance at life.
Producer: Diana Lucas
Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender
Cape Metrorail
For several months the Cape Metrorail system has been in crisis. Old trains, vandalism and under-investment in infrastructure have resulted in daily cancellations and numerous delays.
The city’s unreliable trains have wreaked havoc with the lives of desperate commuters, some of whom have lost their jobs after repeatedly arriving late for work. Carte Blanche asks: what does the future hold for Cape Town’s passenger rail network?
Producer: Michael Duffett
Presenter: John Webb
Nuclear Wake
Employed by apartheid South Africa’s secret atomic weapons program, hundreds of former Pelindaba workers claim they were unknowingly exposed to toxic and radioactive chemicals. Those still alive suffer from debilitating illnesses and have turned to the Public Protector in hopes of finally getting compensation.
Producer: Anna-Maria van Niekerk
Presenter: Bongani Bingwa
Carte Blanche is on M-Net on Sundays at 19h00 and on M-Net Plus at 20h00.