Carte Blanche: The Podcast

Diamond Rush

We bring you a story of an unusual collection of fortune seekers braving the heat and dust of the West Coast in search of that one stone that’ll change their lives...  

14 Jul 2022 12 min

Gqeberha's Reckoning

Just over a decade ago, Nelson Mandela Bay narrowly avoided completely running out of water following a devastating drought. A few years later, Cape Town faced its own Day Zero, but a massive water-saving campaign kept the Mother City from the brink of disaster long enough for last-minute rain to…

13 Jul 2022 12 min

Free State Death Traps

Across the province, Free State roads are crumbling. With at least 25 deaths in just four months, farmers and locals say it’s become too dangerous to use these regional roads. Why has government failed to act? 

12 Jul 2022 14 min

Murder in Mbombela

Across the province, Free State roads are crumbling. With at least 25 deaths in just four months, farmers and locals say it’s become too dangerous to use these regional roads. Why has government failed to act? 

11 Jul 2022 12 min

All About the Music

The 80’s band Amampondo put the evocative sounds and melodies of Africa on the map – despite crippling cultural boycotts at the time. The giant of the genre then was Dizu Plaatjies.  These days he’s sharing his passion for performance and his gift for playing instruments made from wood, strings,…

6 Jul 2022 9 min

Guptagate: Full Circle

Two of the masterminds of State Capture – Atul and Rajesh Gupta – are now one step closer to facing justice in South African courts. We unpack their unexpected, and much-celebrated, June arrest and look at the long legal road ahead.

6 Jul 2022 11 min

Welcome to Funny Farm

There's a market for everything at Funny Farm, an informal settlement in Alberton, Gauteng. Anything from drugs to weapons and, in some cases, even children, are for sale. We go inside this criminal cesspool.

6 Jul 2022 13 min