It’s not always easy to get the right mix of stories on Carte Blanche...the events of the week can skew the programme in any direction. But for totally different stories and emotions it was hard to beat this Sunday.

That is despite the fact that the Lonmin tragedy at Marikana has long been in the headlines. I feel that Bongani and producer Joy Summers really got to grip with some of the core issues and looked forward to how they can, at least, be addressed. I had thrown in my two cents (not suffering from inflation) on twitter @DerekWatts about how multi-billion rand/dollar enterprises abuse our cheap labour and was told sharply by the “experts” that I need to lift my game in terms of business acumen. They have a point...but do you really feel that Government plus the major corporates and mines in this country have the will to improve lifestyles and living conditions?

Despite the placatory remarks made by the grossly overpaid Government “servants” and business executives, the answer is starkly simple and should be readily understandable. We have one of the biggest gaps between the filthy rich and pathetically poor in the world. And it has to be addressed.

If you missed it on Sunday at 19:00, take a look at Carte Blanche's investigation into Marikana below.



It was a rather cerebral, if slightly depressing, start to the show. But then Michaela de Prince, the child of war from Sierra Leone who is now a professional ballet dancer, had my spirits lifting with every graceful step. And the tweets and calls are still coming in about Damien Aspinall’s reunion with Kwibi the gorilla in the wilds of Gabon.

What a remarkable story from the days at the private Zoo in London when Damien was a toddler to the sensitive meeting in Kwibi’s more natural surroundings. What a natural high to end the show on...even higher than the 22nd floor at Randlords!