Carte Blanche

Running a marathon is tough, but imagine doing it daily for over a month. That’s what friends Charles Raw and Matthew Murray did for charity. Our very own IronMac went to the Western Cape to meet them. For the full story, get DStv Stream Premium: https://bit.ly/DStv-Stream

It was pitched as a massive, heavy industrial project that would bring jobs and economic growth to Limpopo. But with the development phase yet to get off the ground, community members and environmentalists are raising the alarm. They’re warning that the project threatens one of the most bio-diverse parts of our country, including thousands of hectares of indigenous trees. Not only that, but millions have already been spent with apparently little to show for it. For the full story, get DStv Stream Premium: https://bit.ly/DStv-Stream

In February this year, an unregistered driver on the e-hailing platform inDrive was arrested after allegedly causing an accident that claimed the lives of three people in the Western Cape. The passenger and two pedestrians were killed when the driver sped through a red light and rolled the car. The company inDrive confirmed the ride was ordered through its platform but said the driver’s details did not match the driver registered on the system. It was a startling revelation that spurred an investigation into the rental and sale of e-hailing accounts. Carte Blanche has uncovered a thriving illicit economy in which people without proper documentation can buy their way onto e-hailing platforms and accounts are openly sold or rented on social media. For ordinary South Africans who rely on e-hailing for transport, it’s a game of Russian roulette: your driver may not be who you think he is – and the consequences are potentially deadly. For the full story, get DStv Stream Premium: https://bit.ly/DStv-Stream

As is so often the case, it began with an offer hard to refuse for people desperate for work: An online post promising lucrative jobs in South East Asia for people who speak English. But as exciting as a life in a new country might sound, Myanmar is notorious as a haven for criminal syndicates - something the people who responded to the ad learnt the hard way. Months later, close to 40 South Africans are stranded in a military dictatorship, begging for assistance that’s been a long time coming. Watch the full story now on @dstv_southafrica Stream as well as Catch Up. For the full story, get DStv Stream Premium: https://bit.ly/DStv-Stream

Occasionally, we cover stories likely to have consequences beyond South Africa. This is one of those occasions. With trust in pharmaceutical companies arguably at its lowest point - often fuelled by wild conspiracies - its vital people are properly informed before being prescribed any drugs. That principle lies at the heart of this investigation. Sphenoid wing meningiomas are invasive tumours that often grow undetected for years, causing life-altering symptoms such as dizziness, seizures, intense headaches and a loss of bodily functions. Here, they’re most commonly diagnosed in women. Alarmingly, new research has revealed a possible association between these invasive tumours and a well-known contraceptive often prescribed in South Africa and widely distributed in the developing world by philanthropic organisations. For the full story, get DStv Stream Premium: https://bit.ly/DStv-Stream