The planned, special live studio broadcast on Sunday 26 August of M-Net's (DStv 101) long-running weekly investigative magazine show, Carte Blanche to celebrate its 30th anniversary on South African television will include a look back at its memorable moments, highlights and groundbreaking investigations over the past three decades - showing how truth does bring change.
The Combined Artistic Productions show with its signature theme song and currently with presenters Derek Watts, Devi Sankaree Govender, Claire Mawisa, John Webb and Macfarlane Moleli, remains a Sunday night 19:00 TV staple with a mix of investigative and consumer journalism stories, profile interviews and agenda-setting exposes based on a similar format as America's 60 Minutes.
As a South African TV institution, the special 30th birthday episode of Carte Blanche on 26 August will be an extended 90-minute broadcast from 19:00 until 20:30, and will include a look at some of the show's historical moments and the groundbreaking TV journalism investigations that the show brought to viewers over three decades under its slogan of "the right to see it all".
Devi Sankaree Govender who has been with Carte Blanche for the past 16 years, told Jacaranda FM in an interview that the special 30th anniversary episode will look back at some of the best stories over the years, "stories that have affected the country, stories that brought about change".
"We're looking at the investigative stories, the catching crooks stories, the happy stories, the adventure stories - marking 30 years, and 30 years of the fact that truth does bring change."
In an interview with 702 Devi Sankaree Govender said "Carte Blanche has been the greatest privilege of my life because I've had access to people and situations that ordinarily I wouldn't have access to".
"A big part of transformation for me, is transparency. And the only way you're going to get that, is if you're not afraid to ask the really tough questions. People don't like to be put on the spot," said Devi Sankaree Govender.
"When you're sitting across from somebody during an interview, it's just about you and that person. It's not about clever, fancy questions with big words. It's about keeping it real, asking questions that matter, but more importantly, finding some kind of direction."
"I'm a sucker for 'I'm sorry'. Very few of the people I interview actually say 'I'm sorry'. If you're sorry, then let's see how we are going to fix this together," she said.
