Coming up on
Carte Blanche this Sunday 16 March 2025:
e-Hailing hell
In February this year, an unregistered driver on the e-hailing platform inDrive was arrested after allegedly causing an accident that claimed the lives of three people in the Western Cape.
The passenger and two pedestrians were killed when the driver sped through a red light and rolled the car.
The company inDrive confirmed the ride was ordered through its platform but said the driver’s details did not match the driver registered on the system.
It was a startling revelation that spurred an investigation into the rental and sale of e-hailing accounts.
Carte Blanche has uncovered a thriving illicit economy in which people without proper documentation can buy their way onto e-hailing platforms and accounts are openly sold or rented on social media.
For ordinary South Africans who rely on e-hailing for transport, it’s a game of Russian roulette: your driver may not be who you think he is - and the consequences are potentially deadly.
Producer: Catherine Rice
Presenter: Govan Whittles
Baobab Bomb
In Limpopo, thousands of indigenous trees - including baobabs and other protected species - are set to be the first casualties of a massive heavy industrial project that promises to bring jobs and economic growth to the province.
It’s a scheme driven by the provincial government and Chinese developers who have touted it as “the most competitive energy metallurgy special zone in the world”.
This is the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ), based on a plan to exploit the enormous undeveloped Soutpansberg coal deposits that extend north of Makhado (formerly Louis Trichardt).
The MMSEZ envisages two developments: one in the northern Musina area focusing on light manufacturing and agro-processing; the other in the southern Makhado area focusing on coal mining, coal-fired power generation and steel manufacture.
But for the developments to rise, thousands of trees will have to be removed, putting the area's biodiversity and natural heritage under threat. Carte Blanche investigates.
Producer: Diana Lucas and Nick Chevallier
Presenter: Masa Kekana
A Marathon a Day
Charles Raw and Matthew Murray, two adventure-loving long-distance runners and conservation enthusiasts wanted to raise funds for a primary school in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
So they hatched a plan that would see them running almost 42 kilometres a day for 35 consecutive days.
It seemed simple enough: run from Port Alfred to Cape Town, a distance of over 1200 kilometres. But what they didn’t bargain on was the emotional and physical toll on their bodies.
Pushing through the pain of blistered feet, strained Achilles tendons and inflamed quads - amplified by mental fatigue - the two friends powered on, driven by their determination to raise R2.3 million for the school.
Carte Blanche joined the power duo on one of the most gruelling parts of their journey.
Producer: Julian Sun
Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
Flight MH17: Who’s Responsible?
In July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a passenger airliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed and burned in eastern Ukraine.
All 298 passengers and crew - most of whom were Dutch citizens - died in the tragedy.
The international investigation that followed revealed that the plane had been shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile.
In 2022, a Dutch court found that the plane had been shot down by a Russian missile system and that Moscow had "overall control" of the separatist group responsible. Russia denied any involvement.
A decade since the tragedy, the guilty -convicted in absentia - remain protected in Russia, while the families of the deceased continue to fight for justice.
This special Al Jazeera report examines the last ten years of evidence and asks whether Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been involved in the incident.
Producer: Al Jazeera
Premiere episodes of Carte Blanche air on M-Net on Sundays at 19h00 and are on Catch Up afterwards.