Onthul: Skurk of Samaritaan?
Channel: kykNET (DStv 144)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: True Crime, Documentary, Afrikaans
The controversial businessman Louis Liebenberg is still trading diamonds as a free man, but his detractors believe he belongs behind bars.
Local hero, cult leader, scammer or entrepreneur? Who is he really?
The investigative news documentary Onthul: Skurk of Samaritaan? tackles this fascinating case.
"Only a few 100 get money from Liebenberg, while thousands suffer losses."
"People from Namaqualand up in arms about Louis Liebenberg's unlawful mining."
"Louis Liebenberg blows R89 million at casinos."
Everywhere headlines proclaim: Liebenberg owes people money, and he must be brought to book.
During the past few months, Liebenberg has been in the news constantly with issues around his unique diamond trading concept, Forever Diamonds and Gold (FDG), which has managed to attract around 40,000 investors.
He is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) because he has been accused of operating a Ponzi scheme and of buying rough diamonds from illegal diamond diggers.
Some believe he's a scoundrel who deserves to be in jail; others see him as a shrewd businessman who helps people gain financial freedom – a kind of Robin Hood figure.
Nina Swart is the director of this new doccie which forms part of a series of investigative Onthul news documentaries produced by IdeaCandy, who made the true crime series Devilsdorp.
Onthul: Skurk of Samaritaan? takes an unflinching and incisive look at Liebenberg's business practices.
Hard questions are asked to Liebenberg directly, and he answers.
The doc looks at him from a variety of perspectives.
Various people, including those who invested in his diamond business, Dirk Lotriet (editor of Die Waarheid Media) and the former Springbok Derick Hougaard sing his praises.
"Highly intelligent", "eloquent" and "deep thinker" are some of the words they use to describe him.
The documentary also gives an opportunity to those who call Liebenberg a crook and who see themselves as victims of his scheme to state their case.
Excerpts from his Facebook Live videos show him preaching to his more than 80,000 followers to invest in ways some describe as typical of a narcissist.
The documentary also investigates claims that Liebenberg is illegally digging for diamonds in Namaqualand, as well as his ties to various ANC members.
Several roleplayers share their opinions, including Cyril Warne (council member of the Namakwa District Municipality), Veronica van Dyk (the DA Member of Parliament for Kamiesberg) and the former ANC member Carl Niehaus.
Other experts who weigh in include Pieter Steyn (senior journalist for Rapport), Kosie de Villiers (business consultant affiliated to Stellenbosch University), Prof. JP Smit (from the Department of Philosophy at Stellenbosch University) and the clinical psychologist Louis Awerbuck.
Bible's Buried Secrets
Channel: SABC2
TX Time: 17h00
Genre: Documentary Series, Religion, History
Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou examines how archaeological discoveries are changing the way people interpret stories from the Bible.
Did King David's Empire Exist?
Francesca goes on the trail of the Biblical King David and his fabled empire.
A national hero and icon for the Jewish people, and a divine king for Christians, David is best known as the boy-warrior who defeated the Philistine giant Goliath.
As king, he united the tribes of Israel.
But did he really rule over a vast Israelite kingdom? Did he even exist?
Francesca visits key archaeological excavations where ground-breaking finds are being unearthed, and examines evidence for and against the Biblical account of King David.
She explores the former land of the Philistines, home of the giant Goliath, and ruins in the north of Israel and in old Jerusalem itself purporting to be remains of David's empire.
Did God Have a Wife?
Francesca asks whether the ancient Israelites believed in one God as the Bible claims.
She puts the Bible text under the microscope, examining what the original Hebrew said, and explores archaeological sites in Syria and the Sinai which are shedding new light on the beliefs of the people of the Bible.
Was the God of Abraham unique? Were the ancient Israelites polytheists?
And is it at all possible that God had another half?
The Real Garden of Eden
Can we find the Garden of Eden? Bible scholar Francesca thinks so.
In the final episode of her series re-examining conventional readings of the Bible, she argues that the Garden of Eden has nothing to do with the origins of humanity, but is rather a story concealing dramatic events about a particular figure in a particular place, some 2,500 years ago.
Marshalling compelling evidence from archaeology, Islam and the Bible text itself, she identifies and visits the exact site of Eden.
It's a revolutionary theory which challenges some of the most cherished preconceptions about Eden in both Christianity and western culture.
The Farmer Wants a Wife Australia 12
Channel: BBC Lifestyle (DStv 174)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Dating Game Show, Reality
Farmer Wants a Wife Australia is back with a new crop of single farmers who are ready to find their soulmate in the twelfth season.
Follow six lonely farmers on the road to romance as they choose between hundreds of prospective partners.
Prepare for tears, joy and jealousy, all in a heart-warming journey to find a wife.
In the Season 12 premiere: We meet five new farmers on their search for the one.
They've invited eight ladies to join them on a first date, but they can only choose five to return with them to their beloved farms.
Below Deck Mediterranean 7
Channel: E! (DStv 124)
TX Time: 18h10
Genre: Docu-Reality
Captain Sandy brings 163-foot motor yacht "Home" to the pristine waters of Malta, one of the smallest and most historic archipelagos in the world.
Different than previous charter seasons, Sandy is working with a complex hybrid vessel making it more unpredictable to navigate.
To ensure smooth sailing this year, Sandy brings on a trio of new department heads, but when surprising friction in the galley intensifies between the Chief Stew and Chef, who came onto the boat as colleagues and friends, tension permeates through the entire boat.
Meanwhile, the deck team faces an uphill battle when one crew member is unable to adapt to the high demands of Mediterranean superyachting, forcing others to pick up the slack.
From difficult charter guests to roller-coaster "boatmances" and challenges with hierarchy on board, these yachties go to unthinkable lengths to survive the charter season.
In the Season 7 premiere, "There's No Place Like Home": Captain Sandy kicks off another charter season in the Mediterranean, this time on the exclusive island of Malta aboard the sleek and ultra-modern motoryacht Home.
With all-new department heads, things get off to a tumultuous start when the bosun is left short-handed.
When the guests come aboard, the chef struggles to please a guest who's short on compliments and long on complaints.
Eyebrows are raised as crew members question the nature of a relationship between two fellow yachties.
The Story of China
Channel: BBC Earth (DStv 184)
TX Time: 22h00
Genre: Documentary Series
Michael Wood embarks on a great historical adventure, exploring the stories, people and landscapes that have helped create China's distinctive character and genius over 4,000 years.
Travel from the Silk Road to the Yellow Sea with Michael as he explores the history of the world's newest superpower.
A thrilling and moving epic of the world's oldest continuous state with the landscapes, peoples and stories that made today's China.
In the series premiere, "Ancestors": Starting in Wuxi, Michael joins the Qin family reunion, when 300 relatives gather to worship their ancestors on Tomb Sweeping Day.
He journeys to the plain of the Yellow River, where he joins a million pilgrims at the shrine of ancient goddess Nüwa, who legend says made the first people from the yellow mud of the Yellow River.
Looking for the origins of the Chinese state, he visits the excavations at Erlitou and sees an exquisite turquoise dragon sceptre from 2,000 BC.
China's first writing is found on 'oracle bones' dug up from the Shang royal tombs at Anyang in the 1920s.
At the Beijing Planetarium, Michael travels back in time as astronomers plot the planetary conjunction that the ancients believed foretold the overthrow of the Shang Dynasty.
Next, the Age of Philosophers and Confucius, whose book Analects has had greater influence worldwide than even the Bible, according to some.
In Xi'an, we hear how the First Emperor united China and created the authoritarian Qin state that gave us the word China.
Finally, Michael returns to the temple fair in Henan for a dramatic night ceremony to give thanks to the ancestors.
China, Michael concludes, is rising again, not just because of its economic strength, but because of the incredible solidarity of the Han Chinese view of their own civilisation, their sense of family and, of course, the presence of the ancestors.