Officer Blue

Being a police officer in South Africa is a difficult and dangerous job. Yet, the job of a good cop is made even harder by some members who engage in corruption or abuse, hurting the communities they are meant to protect. With a new National Police Commissioner set to take the reins, we want to hear from honest police men and women. Time to break through the blue wall of silence.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟱 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬. If he didn’t do it, why did he run? For almost a decade, murder accused Gerhard Jansen van Vuuren evaded capture. In 2014, Carte Blanche told the story of the cold-blooded killing of his ex-girlfriend, 25-year-old Andrea Venter. She had been stalked, held captive, tortured and then brutally killed in full view of security cameras and witnesses at her home. Video footage showed Jansen Van Vuuren trying to slit his own throat as he lay waiting to be apprehended. We recounted how justice seemingly failed the deceased as police ignored her appeals when Jansen van Vuuren violated a protection order and was released on R15000 bail when his case went on appeal. He pleaded not guilty. But from the prosecutor to the investigating officer, even to Interpol – law enforcement never gave up their relentless pursuit of justice. Now we recount the dramatic developments after the accused skipped bail, left the country on a false passport and disappeared in South America.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟬 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮. Police brutality - including allegations of torture - has been exposed in several Carte Blanche exposés in recent months. Now, a police insider breaks through the ‘blue wall of silence’, detailing the habitual brutality and non-accountability at their police station. “It takes someone that is evil to do what was done that night”, the whistle-blower says, detailing how a station commander’s refusal to discipline a notorious cop may have enabled the torture and murder of a suspect in January 2020. We take allegations of officers implicated in abuse and cover-ups to the SAPS head office in a continued quest for accountability.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟯 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭. He is a man who spent five years terrorising women of all ages from Pretoria's east to western suburbs. Now, serial rapist Sello Abram Mapunya is serving over a thousand years in prison. Heading the team of investigators on the high-profile case, Sergeant Catherine Tladi of the Gauteng Serial Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) Unit paid a high personal price to become the hero that’s now changing the world one conviction at a time. Carte Blanche meets the incredible officer who used tragedy in her own life to restore women’s lives.