Carte Blanche will also look at what South Africa can possibly learn from Israel when it comes to desalination to create clean drinking water, and if it's possible to store data in DNA.
The show, produced by Combined Artistic Productions, has done repackaged shows the past few weeks during December and January for the end-of-year holiday season rebroadcasting inserts from the past year, but is back with new weekly episodes from this Sunday.
The State Capture Inquiry
State Capture: it’s the story of one shocking revelation
after another, from the Guptas’ private use of Waterkloof Military base for
their 200 wedding guests to their infamous R600-million
attempt to bribe Mcebisi Jonas to take the job of Finance Minister.
Over
a year ago, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released her damning State
of Capture Report, implicating the Gupta brothers, as well as their close
friends President Jacob Zuma, his son Duduzane and other senior State
officials, in the gross misappropriation of public funds.
Now, the President
has finally appointed Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to head up the inquiry
Madonsela recommended. As civil society organisations and political parties
welcome Zuma’s decision, Carte Blanche analyses the impact of the State Capture
Commission Inquiry.
Producer: Nicky Troll
Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli
Researcher: Sinethemba Nogude
Farming in the Western Cape
Farmers are facing a tough battle against the drought in the
Western Cape. Factories are closed, trucks are parked and seasonal workers are
sitting at home. If farmers don't get help soon, the recovery could take years.
Carte Blanche asks: What will the impact on the economy really be if the
rains don't come, and alternative plans don't succeed?
Producers: Anna-Maria van Niekerk and Marzanne van den
Berg
Presenter: John Webb
Listeriosis
South Africa is in the grips of a deadly Listeriosis
outbreak and with 61 confirmed deaths and over 700 recorded cases of infection,
it’s one of the worst outbreaks the country has ever experienced.
From
fresh fruit and vegetables to meat produce, the listeria bacterium can
contaminate almost any food items, infecting pregnant women, vulnerable
newborns and the elderly.
As the number of infections continues to
increase, can the Department of Health contain this dangerous bacterium?
Producer: Kate Barry
Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender
Researcher: Siniketiwe Hlanze
Israel Desalination
By 2008 a series of droughts had sent Israel spiralling to
the brink of catastrophe. As one of the driest countries on earth, alternative
solutions had to be found fast. By putting up large-scale desalination plants
along its coastline, Israel has managed to secure enough water for its own
foreseeable future, thereby drought-proofing the country even through extended
periods of low rainfall.
Carte Blanche asks: could serious lessons be
learnt from the ingenuity of this arid country?
Producer: Eugene Botha
Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender
Nick Goldman’s DNA Storage Idea
Sometimes great ideas are born in odd places. Dr Nick
Goldman is a mathematician at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). This
is a repository of cutting edge science and genomic data from around the world.
But a few years ago, the EBI had a problem, their budgets for data storage were
being outstripped by the torrents of data they had to store. One evening
Goldman and his colleague kicked around their data storage problem in a bar,
and came up with an idea. Is it possible to store any kind of data in DNA, they
asked? Carte Blanche tells the story of their remarkable experiment that began as
just a few random scribblings on a table napkin.
Producer: Joy Summers
Presenter: Derek Watts
