Making lemonade with Sho Madjozi

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟳 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. In the town of Despatch in the Eastern Cape, residents sleep with one eye open. On most nights, brazen robbers wielding pangas and guns stalk their streets, breaking in and terrorising the community in their homes. But are these just opportunistic criminals or are they recruits from gangs entrenched in Gqeberha’s inner city? From drug dealing to gun smuggling, the biggest city in the Eastern Cape has long been wracked by criminal enterprises vying for turf. Now, similarly violent operators are making the rural outskirts their stronghold. As residents and private security companies fight back, Carte Blanche investigates why this community has become such an easy target. Find more exclusive content on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟰 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. In November last year, a ten-year-old girl was found during a routine traffic roadblock, squashed inside the luggage compartment of a long-distance bus. She had been smuggled from Zimbabwe into South Africa under extreme conditions for several hours. But her case isn’t unusual. In this months-long investigation, Carte Blanche unravels alleged cross-border human trafficking and the shadowy figures known as transporters who are making it all possible. Undocumented foreign nationals are lured to South Africa from numerous African countries – many of them ending up on the streets of Johannesburg North. Thousands of Malawians are lured into the country on the promise of a new life, some smuggled by long-haul bus companies and funeral parlours, only to be forced into sex work and manual labour. In an even more sinister twist, many of the victims are coerced into taking out funeral policies on themselves once they reach South Africa. It’s an unusual demand but a guaranteed income as the transporters cash in on vulnerable undocumented foreign nationals. Find more exclusive content on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟭 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. When a child is in an accident or suffers a burn injury, they are rushed to the emergency unit of the nearest hospital – along with every adult in need of urgent care. In most South African casualty wards, there is no distinction between adult and child patients, much to the children’s detriment. They need specialised triage techniques and knowledge, and adult equipment is not designed for tiny bodies. At Sebokeng Regional Hospital, the situation for young patients has become dire. Now, the Carte Blanche Making A Different (MAD) Trust has stepped in. The Trust undertakes special projects for paediatric units in state hospitals. Having recently completed a Paediatric Burns Outpatient Department at Ngwelezana Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, the MAD Trust is creating a first-of-its-kind children’s trauma facility in its third project at Sebokeng Hospital. Find more exclusive content on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟰 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. In October 2022, two families and community members in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape frantically searched for missing teenagers Leila du Preez Lees and Ethan Kirkland. Three days after their disappearance, their lifeless bodies were pulled out of a water-filled quarry at an abandoned property in the middle of Stellies. But this tragedy was decades in the making. The infamous 77 Bird Street had been a problem property for over 30 years. Initially intended to be turned into a block of flats, the owners excavated the property to build basement parking but permit issues with the City halted construction, leaving a deep, unfinished pit. As water filled the quarry, this prime real estate remained unsecured. Over the years, several requests for the owners and the municipality to attend to the problem were ignored. Now, more than a year since their untimely deaths, the teens' families are baying for justice.   Find more exclusive content on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv