This Week’s Hot Topics on Carte Blanche (Available to Expats Too)
This week’s episode of Carte Blanche investigates some of the hottest current topics in South Africa – how millions were siphoned off at VBS bank, painful decisions around fighting for the right to choose to die, the bankrupt municipality, Maluti-A-Phufong, and if DNA Phenotyping can really help pinpoint the identity of an unknown assailant? The show […]
This week’s episode of Carte Blanche investigates some of the hottest current topics in South Africa – how millions were siphoned off at VBS bank, painful decisions around fighting for the right to choose to die, the bankrupt municipality, Maluti-A-Phufong, and if DNA Phenotyping can really help pinpoint the identity of an unknown assailant?
The show is available to South Africans abroad from Tuesday 23 October 2018 – if you subscribe to Showmax.
VBS – The Two Book Bank
From building societies to municipalities, millions of rands were deposited into VBS Mutual Bank – only for it to be plundered by its executives. In just over three years, almost R2 billion was quietly siphoned off in what’s been called one of the more daring bank “heists” South Africa has ever seen.
But how did bank insiders manage to loot the bank for so long without being detected? Carte Blanche follows the money. (Producer: Esté de Klerk, Presenter: Derek Watts, Researchers: Siniketiwe Hlanze and Tony Beamish)
Death with Dignity
Arrested, detained and out on R20,000 bail on a charge of murder, Prof. Sean Davison faces the fight of his life after helping his friend – in 2013 – to end a life of suffering after he’d become a paraplegic in a car crash. He also helped his cancer-stricken mother end her life. Meanwhile, two more people have applied to the High Court for the right to die at a time they choose – an act that remains illegal in South Africa. Carte Blanche examines the complex and painful decisions around fighting for the right to choose to die. (Producer: Eugene Botha, Presenter: Derek Watts)
He helped his cancer-stricken mother end her life. He’s helped a quadriplegic friend end his suffering. Why has Prof. Sean Davison now been charged with murder? @DerekWatts looks at the legalities surrounding assisted dying this Sunday at 7pm on @MNet channel 101. pic.twitter.com/j1zTeaH8ds
— Carte Blanche (@carteblanchetv) October 18, 2018
Looting in Maluti
This week a court battle with huge ramifications for Eskom, municipalities and businesses will be heard in the Bloemfontein high court. The Harrismith Business Forum, representing the lifeblood of the Free State town’s economy, takes on government – from the local authority to the president’s office. Thirteen Harrismith businesses have asked the courts for the right to pay Eskom directly, thereby bypassing their dysfunctional and bankrupt municipality, Maluti-A-Phufong. But Eskom, government and NERSA are insisting they continue to pay the municipality, a decision the businesses insist is irrational, unlawful and unfair. (Producer: Joy Summers, Presenter: Derek Watts)
Businesses in the debt-riddled municipality Maluti-A-Phofung face a shut-down as Eskom threatens power cuts to enforce collection of the R2,8 billion it is owed. @DerekWatts reports this Sunday on #CarteBlanche @MNet channel 101. pic.twitter.com/K807qk00R9
— Carte Blanche (@carteblanchetv) October 18, 2018
DNA Forensics
In the enduring fight against crime, a new scientific weapon has entered the fray. DNA Phenotyping is a new tool in forensics which could help police investigators determine a suspect’s facial features using just their DNA. It’s been hailed as a remarkable development, but can DNA Phenotyping really help pinpoint the identity of an unknown assailant? Carte Blanche puts it to the test. (Producer: Eugene Botha, Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender)
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