Welcome to Funny Farm

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟯𝟭 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. In KwaZulu-Natal, commercial farmers are on edge. While they own the land they farm on, government owns the minerals that lie underneath, and it’s giving scores of upstart coal companies prospecting licences and rights to mine. Tensions between farmers and mining groups in Newcastle are at an all-time high as the coal prospectors move in by the dozen to mine what’s left of the area’s coal reserve. For farmers, what’s equally concerning is the risk to vital water sources like the town’s main dam that provides drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people. Who are these opportunistic mining companies and why are they being allowed to mine in sensitive and protected areas? Find more exclusive content on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟯 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯. He was a model citizen in the farming community of Barkly East in the Eastern Cape. A God-fearing commercial farmer with a loyal circle of friends. He was wealthy, too, by all accounts and promised similar riches for some of his closest friends and several others from a lucrative investment project. It was a simple blueprint: his investors would buy cattle and sheep and he would farm them on their behalf. Leaning on their shared religious devotion, his investment base grew impressively and his scheme blossomed into a multi-million rand operation. Then, as they so often do, things turned sour and what appeared a legitimate and profitable business imploded. The investors, the majority of whom are pensioners, lost everything. Carte Blanche investigates. Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯. Abrie van Zyl loved his trees. He had spent three years planning his farm and, in September last year, he finally broke ground. He had invested all his personal savings into the venture and for ten months, his massive investment was growing. But that was before the rains came. In June this year, Citrusdal - a farming town in the Western Cape’s Olifants River Valley - was cut off from the world as heavy rains battered the community and devastating floods washed away its main access road. Abrie’s orchard was destroyed, leaving him millions of rands in the red. But he’s not alone. In the middle of the harvest season, many farmers in this area are on the edge of ruin. Producer: Catherine Rice | Presenter: Erin Bates Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

The Curse, starring Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, takes a hard and funny look at home-flipping shows. Watch it from Thursday 7 March on M-Net channel 101.