Coming up on
Carte Blanche this Sunday 2 March 2025:
Taxing the sun
On Sunday morning, South Africans woke up with a shock: the country had been plunged back into stage six loadshedding. Those who had coughed up for solar were relieved that they would hardly notice the inconvenience making many residents furious.
But all is not well in the renewable space either. Solar users have been hit with higher fixed costs and now they’ve been told they need to register their systems, too - a process fraught with red tape and expense.
Solar users are estimated to save Eskom about 6000 MW, equal to six stages of loadshedding. Now they believe that a heavily indebted Eskom is trying to milk them dry as it loses revenue.
Meanwhile NERSA has had to balance the sustainability of Eskom and how much South Africans can pay to keep the lights on. With the billing system about to change dramatically, Carte Blanche makes sense of it all.
Producer: Joy Summers
Presenter: Masa Kekana
Gone Grain
For years, the logistics industry has been under siege: no commodity is off limits for greedy criminal syndicates determined to profit off the sweat of legitimate businesses.
Now, they’ve set their sights on a valuable food source: grain. Criminals intercept truckloads of grain on their way to silos, then masquerade as legitimate traders to sell the stolen goods to the very storage companies it was destined for - and pocket the proceeds.
It’s a scam that’s costing farmers millions and they’re almost powerless to stop the criminals. Carte Blanche tracks down one syndicate engaging in this dirty game.
Producer: Harri Vithi
Presenter: Govan Whittles
Shelly’s Legacy
Since Shona McDonald's daughter Shelly was born with severe disabilities more than 40 years ago, Shona has been changing lives.Shelly was born with cerebral palsy as a result of medical negligence.
But instead of suing her doctors, Shona turned her attention to helping her daughter live more independently. With the help of UCT's biomedical engineering department, she built the first paediatric electric wheelchair in Africa – but she wasn’t done yet.
Recognising the need for other people with disabilities to have access to these specialised wheelchairs, she set off to build them in her own garage. Carte Blanche meets a dynamic woman changing lives, one wheelchair at a time.
Producer: Catherine Rice
Presenter: Claire Mawisa
Premiere episodes of Carte Blanche air on M-Net on Sundays at 19h00 and are on Catch Up afterwards.