Deluge of dysfunction

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟯 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮. At least 461 lives were lost and 87 people are still unaccounted for following the Durban floods in April that devastated homes and livelihoods. The deluge triggered some of the region’s worst mudslides and swept away people and infrastructure. The premises of the city’s leading car manufacturer, Toyota, was submerged under a meter of water and, as a result, at least 4000 cars in the lot would eventually be crushed. With thousands of cars exported to Europe each year, and its legendary double cab bakkies rolling into the local market each year, many were worried the multi-national car manufacturer would call it a day. But Toyota persisted, leaning on the expertise of the best engineers and performing hard manual labour with toothbrushes, hairdryers and leaf blowers. Thankfully, its Japanese partners also contributed eyewatering amounts of money to help with the recovery. Carte Blanche gets the inside view of an extraordinary clawback from devastation. Having almost reached the finish line, we ask: how did they do it?

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟲 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮. It began as an ordinary overcast morning; minutes later large parts of East London and surrounding areas in the Eastern Cape were submerged. Severe thunderstorms battered the province, causing massive flooding and leaving hundreds of people bewildered and destitute. Now, after weeks of unusual torrential rains in some parts of the country, Carte Blanche explores the role of climate change in these extreme weather events.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟴 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯. It’s a bacterial disease that causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration in patients. If left untreated, it can be fatal. Cholera is usually spread through contaminated water and is rarely found in developing countries with proper sanitation systems – countries like South Africa. But when several people in Hammanskraal - a stone’s throw from the country’s administrative capital, Pretoria - became violently ill and died, it became clear that the city had a deadly outbreak on its hands. Now, at least 20 people, including a three-year-old toddler, are dead. But this is a tragedy that’s been decades in the making and, despite a desperate bid via the Pretoria High Court to force the municipality to provide clean and safe drinking water, residents are now paying the ultimate price for government’s failures. Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟬 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮. With fossil fuel prices soaring, and climate change concerns peaking, now would seem like a good time to start the electric vehicle revolution. But with only a few thousand private electric vehicles on South African roads, will it be up to mass transport projects to bring the country in line with new technology and global mobility trends? Less than a quarter of the nation’s households own a car, so the real challenge is how to shift minibus taxis and passenger buses from diesel and petrol to electric. Is the aim of reducing the transport industry’s carbon footprint even feasible when faced with cash-strapped budgets? Carte Blanche meets the innovative engineers behind early projects that will shape the roll out of electric vehicles to move the masses despite the ongoing crisis of loadshedding.