Coronavirus: M-Net's Carte Blanche to continue with new episodes through Covid-19 on Sundays, will do 2 stories looking at the growing pandemic in South Africa and globally.

by Thinus Ferreira

The weekly investigate and current affairs programme Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) will continue on Sunday evenings at 19:00 through the weeks of South Africa's national lockdown period and will this Sunday once again feature stories about the growing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa and globally.

While production of the weekly current affairs show produced by Combined Artistic Productions, has been impacted similar to a lot of other locally-produced South Africa TV shows, Carte Blanche has quickly adapted. Some inserts have already been pre-recorded for playout and production staffers are also working remotely as far as possible.

Similar to this past Sunday, Carte Blanche will stay on the Covid-19 pandemic story that's dominating headlines in South Africa and abroad with two inserts - one following its impact in South Africa, and one looking at the global impact so far.

Presenter Claire Mawisa and producer Sophia Phirippides will firstly look at the economic devastation of the national lockdown in South Africa as the panic of the lockdown is beginning to set it for members of the public and businesses forced to close.

As the global community fights to contain the pandemic and already depressed economic activity all but grinds to a halt, Carte Blanche examines how South Africans are bracing for the impact.

Then presenter John Webb who is also producing the second insert is examining how Europe and especially Ireland is trying to prepare for the peak in the steady rise of Covid-19 cases.

With Europe currently the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts estimate that Ireland is only likely to see infection rates peak around June and July.

John Webb meet a sports broadcaster, lawyer, tour guide and charity founder from Ireland trying to make sense of life as the Irish government clamps down on free movement and tries to enforce social distancing.

"The Irish I've been speaking to are wathing Italy closely, worried something similar will happen here," he says. "After all, it's only a 2-hour flight away. But they're also determined to see this thing through with a smile on their face."

"Pity the Irish government, though, who have had to get this nation of writers, musicians and raconteurs to stop socialising. Luckily for the most part, the Covid-19 penny has dropped and much of this country has gone quiet."

In other inserts on Sunday evening Carte Blanche will look at the ongoing spate of robberies targeting luxury wristwatches. Presenter Derek Watts and producer Kate Barry speak to the widow of a British tourist who was robbed and killed and investigate what drives the trade in stolen watches and Rolex gangs.

Then Carte Blanche also investigates the dilapidated Bloemfontein zoo where animals have been neglected and some left to die in the months after the provincial department of environment closed the zoo's doors for business.

The Bloemfontein zoo has become the latest casualty of the bankrupt Mangaung municipality with presenter Masa Kekana and producer Stenette Grosskopf investigating.

M-Net's Carte Blanche and Claire Mawisa go to Beira in Mozambique to witness first-hand the devastation after Cyclone Idai and the danger of waterborne diseases.

M-Net's (DStv 101) weekly investigative and current affair programme Carte Blanche on Sunday at 19:00 travels to Beira with presenter Claire Mawisa to witness first-hand the large-scale and horrific devastation that was caused by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique and the looming danger of waterborne diseases.

With hundreds of people dead and the government of Mozambique grappling with the outbreak of diseases as they coordinate the delivery of food aid to displaced survivors, Cyclone Idai has been labelled an unprecedented natural disaster.

At least 1.85 million people across three countries have been affected by the devastating cyclone and subsequent rainfall that tore through southern Africa just over two weeks ago.

Carte Blanche, in an insert produced by Stenette Grosskopf, travels to the port city of Beira to witness first-hand the impact on Mozambique and meet aid workers who have worked non-stop to rescue and assist victims.

Other Carte Blanche stories this Sunday on M-Net include:

Sculptor King

From an imposing statue of Nelson Mandela to a life-size sculpture of Hugh Masekela, artist Lungelo Gumede produces a variety of wax figures from his small workshop. 
It's slow, daunting work, but inch by inch, Gumede sculpts every wrinkle on each face in as he prepares to open Africa's first wax museum at the BAT Centre in Durban. Carte Blanche visits this promising artist.  

Producer: Carol Albertyn Christie

Presenter: Masa Kekana

Fraud and Corruption Inside the Johannesburg Roads Agency

With major Johannesburg roads closed for rehabilitation, thousands of motorists are being redirected onto other highways and bridges. 
But some of these bridges are old and research conducted by the Johannesburg Roads Agency exposes that 94% are in a fair to extremely poor condition. Carte Blanche investigates how fraud and corruption may have led to the dilapidation and destruction of the city’s infrastructure and reveals undercover recordings showing how a top JRA official tried to negotiate kickbacks from engineering contractors.

Producer: Nicky Troll 

Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender

Insects – the Sixth Great Extinction 

A review of scientific studies on the world's insect populations has shown that more than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered.
This rate of extinction is eight times greater than that of mammals, birds and reptiles and it's projected that without intervention, insects could vanish off the face of the earth within the next 100 years. The phenomenon threatens life as we know it on earth. Carte Blanche examines what consequences the collapse of nature’s ecosystems could spell for human civilization.

Producer: Julian Sun

Presenter: Derek Watts

M-Net's Carte Blanche starts a YouTube channel - for the right to see it online.

M-Net's long-running and award-winning weekly investigative and current affair programme, Carte Blanche has started a YouTube channel, giving viewers without DStv the right to see some of it online.

Carte Blanche on YouTube loaded its first video on 21 January this year and has since followed it up with ongoing selected inserts from the broadcast show done by Derek Watts, Devi Sankaree Govender, Claire Mawisa, Macfarlani Moleli, as well as John Webb who is now adding incredible international reporting from across the United Kingdom and Europe.

Content range from 12-minute inserts including expose investigations and profile pieces, to specially produced clips for Carte Blanche's YouTube audience like Macfarlane Moleli explaining and giving tips on how people who want to send footage to the show should film it on their smartphones.

Whole episodes of the Combined Artistic Production produced show are however not shared.

It's not clear what the strategy and reason are behind Carte Blanche's latest platform and brand extension - M-Net was asked multiple times over many weeks - but adding some content to YouTube will clearly have a two-fold impact.

Firstly, the venerable 30-year old show is getting a large new sampling factor and more additional exposure beyond pay-TV viewers. With literally thousands of views, many people have already watched the combined and growing collection of Carte Blanche videos in just a month and a half.

Secondly, it might help drive uptake of DStv Premium under consumers who see the programme with its quality content that is only for top-tier subscribers and who want to get M-Net.

It's the same phenomena as the 290 000 views that the first episode of The Bachelor South Africa got - also on M-Net - after the entire first episode was placed on YouTube, dramatically helping to drive interest, buzz and sampling of that brand-new Rapid Blue produced format show.

TVwithThinus asked Nomntu Mnengi, M-Net publicist in mid-February about Carte Blanche's YouTube move and was promised M-Net is working on the questions, and was asked multiples times again in several follow-ups, although no answers have been forthcoming a month later by 7 March.

Some of the questions M-Net was asked was why the Carte Blanche YouTube channel was started, how Carte Blanche decides what to place on YouTube and how long, what the vision is of and for this brand and platform content extension, what Carte Blanche wants its YouTube channel to be, and if whole episodes would ever be placed on YouTube.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 13 February 2019.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ Communication minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams should try to help the SABC instead of censoring and undermining it.
The arrogant Stella has decided that she has the power to tell SABC journalists what they can and can't do.
■ Stella should be fired if the ANC is serious about democracy and freedom.

■ Auditor-General in Sierra Leone warns that members of the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (SLEWRC) who got DStv for free for a year will have to pay the "fringe benefit" back out of their own salaries.

■ The BBC is fighting to try and prevent Netflix from poaching Sir David Attenborough.

■ "Everyone walks on eggshells around the NFL".
Surprise. You can't say too bad things about the sport you're covering. The relationship between American broadcast networks and ESPN, and its National Football League (NFL) echoes the relationship between SuperSport and South African Rugby.

■ In America the show Running with Bear Grylls seen on Discovery Channel (DStv 121) in South Africa and Africa, is moving to competitor National Geographic (DStv 181 / StarSat 220 / Cell C black 262).

■ Netflix. Showmax. Are video streaming shows really successful. Who knows?
Their refusal to release any real viewership figures makes it impossible to measure the true success.

■ Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257 / Cell C black 503) adds Bloomberg news content.

■ The March 2019 issue of Woman & Home SA covers South African TV newsers, SABC News' Francis Herd, eNCA's (DStv 403) Uveka Rangappa and M-Net's (DStv 101) Claire Mawisa of Carte Blanche.

■ Chef Nompumelelo Mqwebu claims contestants from My Kitchen Rules SA on M-Net (DStv 101) stole 2 recipes from her cookbook and that she demonstrated, that then in turn led to judge David Higgs be inspired to do a version in his book, Mile 8.

■ Where is Australia's "prestige" television?


■ Africa and Africans still grossly underrepresented in American television.
South Africa is one of just 5 African countries accounting for 49% of all mentions in American TV programming.


■ Sky's Property TV channel, the only one in the United Kingdom, is bankrupt.

■ Clueless and uninformed Nigerian complaining about pay-TV services like MultiChoice Nigeria and StarTimes Nigeria. Again.

■ Former M-Net commissioning editor Allison Triegaardt now of The Televisionaries discovered Netflix in December.
"In South Africa, people are saying that there isn't enough opportunity. But there's a move towards ad-funded productions now."

■ Netflix or Sex? New survey finds Americans would give up Sex for Netflix.

M-Net's Carte Blanche to celebrate 30th anniversary with a special 90-minute 'look back' live studio broadcast on 26 August with memorable moments, showing how truth does bring change.

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.

M-Net remains silent over 1Magic's involvement as 'official media partner' with 21st Century Group's now-dubious Women in Media Conference 2018.

M-Net has so far chosen to remained silent over the involvement of its 1Magic (DStv 103) channel, billed as the "official media partner", with 21st Century Group's now-dubious Women in Media Conference 2018.

The event announced to take place on 5 and 6 September in the Sandton Convention Centre, derailed on Wednesday after stars like Taraji P. Henson and Halle Berry who were announced as being part of it, said they won't attend and are not involved with it, and slammed the organisers over "fake advertising", saying it's "shameful that 21st Century Group would advertise this way".

Bonang Matheba has also bailed on the event and Webtickets told TVwithThinus that it has halted all sales.

Taraji P. Henson, who visited South Africa previously as part of a publicity blitz in mid-2016 for Fox Networks Group UK & Africa’s FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) channel, said that she is working on Empire, isn't part of the conference, and that she wants her name and likeness removed from it.

The 21st Century Group in a statement said it is suing and starting a "legal lawsuit" against  42West, a well-known PR firm in the United States, and something called "Superstar Agency".

21st Century Group said that "Superstar Agency is the agency that booked Taraji P. Henson through her management, which is 42West PR. The engagement contract was signed by Susan Bymel on behalf of Superstar Agency. We also have a contract that was signed by John on behalf of 42West (Taraji’s management) confirming the booking. A deposit payment of $120 000 was paid to Superstar Agency."

An internet search couldn’t find a website for Superstar Agency. 

The American talent agent Suzan Bymel does exist, but her first name is spelled with a “z” and she is the co-founder of the Management 360 talent agency in the United States.

It's not clear whether 1Magic, one of the M-Net channels supplied to MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, remains the official media partner because M-Net has so far refused to publicly distance itself from the organisers and the event or to affirm its ongoing involvement.

The 1Magic channel logo appears on 21st Century Group's marketing material for the Women in Media Conference 2018, giving the event its "seal of approval".

In the past week M-Net was asked questions specifically pertaining to 1Magic and the Women in Media Conference, as well as the pay-TV broadcaster's attachment as the event's official media partner.

Nondumiso Mabece, head of publicity at M-Net for local entertainment channels, didn't want to respond to the specific questions and instead referred media enquiries, although made specifically about M-Net and 1Magic and its involvement, to the organisers 21st Century Group.

Nondumiso Mabece said M-Net and 1Magic will not be issuing any statement on the conference.

As the South African public is wondering what exactly is going on, the pay-TV broadcaster was asked how M-Net checked and what steps were taken to verify that it's a legitimate event and what 1Magic's involvement in and with the event is.

M-Net was asked whether 1Magic will continue to be the official media partner of 21st Century Group's Women in Media Conference 2018, and whether M-Net is now looking into what went wrong.

M-Net was also asked whether it helped to secure talent for the event and whether M-Net and 1Magic is still fine for some of the talent like the Carte Blanche presenter Claire Mawisa and Mzansi Magic producer and actress Connie Ferguson to appear and be attached to the event.

M-Net was asked what M-Net and 1Magic wants to communicate and say to the public in regard to the Women in Media Conference 2018 over its involvement with the event and what has transpired so far.

Meanwhile the fallout and public reputation damage around 21st Century Group and its Women in Media Conference 2018 continues.

This reputational damage is also impacting M-Net's 1Magic as an attached partner, with the channel also incurring brand damage as the pay-TV brand remains unwilling to tell the public where it stands and what is going on regarding its involvement.

Webtickets halts ticket sales of the controversial International Women in Media Conference 2018, still includes Taraji P. Henson's name.

Webtickets tells TVwithThinus that it has now halted all ticket sales for the controversial International Women in Media Conference 2018 organised by the 21st Century Group that saw Bonang Matheba bail after Taraji P. Henson slammed the event that listed her inclusion as fake and false advertising, and with Halle Berry also disappearing after her initial top billing talent inclusion.

The Women in Media Conference 2018 that announced Bonang Matheba, the Empire star Taraji P. Henson, Halle Berry, Amanda du Pont, Connie Ferguson, Ashanti, Carte Blanche’s Claire Mawisa, Salamina Mosese and Thabile Ngwato as some of the headliners for the 2-day event purported to take place on 5 and 6 September at the Sandton Convention Centre, imploded on Wednesday following Taraji P. Henson's shocking revelation that she doesn't have any knowledge of the event.

Taraji P. Henson, who visited South Africa previously as part of a publicity blitz in mid-2016 for Fox Networks Group UK & Africa's FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) channel, said that she is working on Empire, isn't part of the conference, and wants her name and likeness removed from it.

Taraji P. Henson on social media said "False! I will not be there. Never heard of this event and was never invited. Please remove my name from this event because it is false," and that "I am working on Empire. It is impossible for me to be there. I hate that this organisation is misleading my fans." 

She said her "team would never agree to anything on my behalf without me knowing. That is not how I run my business."

Amidts growing public embarrassment, the organisers then removed Taraji P. Henson's name, followed by Halle Berry’s disappearance without any explanation. 

Bonang Matheba then pulled out, saying she "had been attracted by the event's apparent women's empowerment principles" but that "as there has been no official feedback or clarity from the organisers following today's allegations", she will no longer be participating.

Tickets with an eye-watering price of R1250 went on sale for the conference that said it want to help women in the business of film and TV production, the art of acting and presenting and "how to make it in Hollywood", with M-Net's 1Magic (DStv 103) channel listed as the event's official "media partner".

With the Sandton Convention Centre’s events calendar that by Thursday afternoon showed no entries on 5 and 6 September for the conference, Webtickets continued to list the event by Thursday afternoon on its website as including "international media mogul Taraji P. Henson".

 While 21^st Century Group in a statement late Wednesday night said "no tickets were sold, and no tickets will be sold, it's strictly by invitation", several people said they had already bought the expensive tickets.    

On Thursday Webtickets told TVwithThinus that "sales have been closed in the interim".

Webtickets didn't want to say how many tickets had already been sold and said "we cannot disclose this information as it is confidential between us and our client".

Asked why Webtickets continues to list and include Taraji P. Henson's name and if Webtickets is going to remove her name, Webtickets said "this will be removed upon client confirmation of the scheduled attendees and keynote speakers".

Asked what happens if someone buys a ticket and an event turns out to be a scam or if it doesn't take place, Webtickets said "our policy in the event of cancellation of the event is to provide all purchasing customers with full refunds of their tickets purchased. In the event in question, we also operate under client instruction".

M-Net's 1Magic was asked about its involvement as official media partner of the event but referred enquiries to the 21st Century Group.

On Thursday morning 21st Century Group in a statement posted on Twitter said "Superstar Agency is the agency that booked Taraji P. Henson through her management, which is 42West PR. The engagement contract was signed by Susan Bymel on behalf of Superstar Agency. We also have a contract that was signed by John on behalf of 42West (Taraji's management) confirming the booking. A deposit payment of $120 000 was paid to Superstar Agency."

21^st Century Group said that "a legal lawsuit" has now been lodged against Superstar Agency and Henson's 42West management "to be able to verify who has misled 21stst Century Group in confirming that the booking was made".

An internet search on Wednesday and Thursday couldn't find a website for Superstar Agency.

Suzan Bymel whose first name is spelled with a "z" is the co-founder of the Management 360 talent agency in the United States.

Another 90 minute extended Carte Blanche episode on M-Net on Sunday at 7pm looking at the Guptas, highway rock throwing and dictator Robert Mugabe's playboy sons.

There will be another 90 minute extended Carte Blanche episode on M-Net (DStv 101) on Sunday at 19:00 of the broadcaster's weekly investigative magazine show due to the higher than usual age restriction of the film following afterwards.

This week's Carte Blanche episode on M-Net has a fascinating look at the playboy sons of the Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe, and further explores the Eskom state capture saga involving the controversial Gupta family.

Carte Blanche also profiles the young train rescue heroes from Kroonstad, looks at the apparent disarray within South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) political party, investigates the shocking highway rock throwing crime, and why telemarketing in South Africa has become out of control.   

First Strike From The AFU

This week the Asset Forfeiture Unit launched their first strike against international consulting company McKinsey and the Gupta-linked company, Trillian. Their preservation order freezes R1.6 billion, but that is just the beginning, says the NPA. They hope to recover another R50- billion. In an exclusive interview, Carte Blanche sits down with Suzanne Daniels, the Eskom executive, who was the first to recommend these companies pay back the money, but was suspended shortly afterwards.

Producer: Joy Summers

Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender

Researcher: Tony Beamish

                         

Young Heroes

At just 12 years old, their selfless efforts to assist victims of the Kroonstad train crash have earned them the admiration of the entire nation. After witnessing the incident, the two boys fearlessly rushed to the scene to help the injured, pulling babies and the elderly from the train. Carte Blanche meets young South African heroes Evert du Preez and Mokoni Chaka.

Producer: Mart-Marie Faure

Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli

DA Future

As the governing party, the ANC is experiencing resurgence under the new leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa, trouble is brewing in the opposition camps of the Democratic Alliance. From Cape Town, to Port Elizabeth, to Johannesburg, major internal power struggles plague the DA.  Can the official opposition survive the political fallout in the Western Cape and its key metropoles throughout the country?  Carte Blanche analyses a party, seemingly in disarray.

Producer: Liz Fish

Presenter: John Webb

Highway Rock Throwing

It’s a deadly practice, often with fatal consequences. Gauteng and KZN have seen a renewed spate of rock throwing from highway bridges, causing serious damage to vehicles, claiming lives and injuring several motorists. But are these just reckless pranks or part of a devious plan to rob injured motorists of their valuables?

Producer: Nicky Troll

Presenter: Claire Mawisa

Telemarketing: Your Rights

We all loath those persistent telemarketing calls offering anything form insurance policies to cellphone contracts. Locally, it’s big business and when it comes to marketing phone calls, South Africa now ranks among the top 5 most spammed countries in the world. But is it legal to offer unsolicited credit or to keep your private contact details on a database after you’ve asked for it to be removed? Carte Blanche finds out what your rights are as a consumer.

Producer: Sophia Phirippides

Presenter: Macfarlane Moleli

Mugabe Boys

Pouring expensive champagne over a luxury watch to prove it's real is the kind of excessive behaviour that enraged Zimbabweans, but it’s also how Robert Mugabe’s sons, earned themselves an international reputation for party excess and big spending.  After years of splurging on lavish hotel rooms and designer clothes in South Africa, will Mugabe's fall from power put an end to his sons' jet-setting lifestyles?

Producer: Journeyman Pictures

M-Net's Carte Blanche is looking at pornography on Sunday evening in another extended 90 minute episode.

Carte Blanche on M-Net is looking at pornography with Sunday evening's episode of the weekly investigative magazine show that will  be extra long again.

Sunday's episode of the Combined Artistic Productions show at 19:00 on M-Net (DStv 101) will again be super-sized to 90 minutes due to the age restriction of the Sunday night movie that will start at 20:30.

In one insert, Carte Blanche will look at the impact and use of online pornography, with South Africa ranking as one of the top 20 countries in the world consuming the most pornography online. Presenter Claire Mawisa looks at why so many South Africans are online porn obsessed.

Other inserts include covering the beleaguered National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the growing outbreak of measles in South Africa, the ongoing scandals at Eskom, car spinning and a womb transplant.

Here's Sunday's line-up:

NPA

It’s been yet another bad year for the NPA. Not only have they had their offices burgled in what appears to be an inside job, but they’ve been roundly trounced for selective prosecutions. What lies behind the deafening silence of the NPA on the reinstatement of charges against the president?

Producer: Nicky Troll

Presenter: Derek Watts

Outbreak

First in Cape Town and now in Gauteng – scientists have confirmed over a hundred cases of highly contagious measles. South Africa’s voluntary childhood vaccination programme was intended to prevent the mass outbreak of disease, but these cases are an indication that the system may be flawed. Are there cracks in the country’s vaccination plans?

Producers: Anna-Maria van Niekerk and Marzanne van den Berg

Presenter: John Webb

Eskom: in recovery or death spiral?

Reports and investigations, irregular spending and auditors blowing the whistle, bonuses and scandals, a lack of corporate governance, and Junk status - you can find it all at electricity utility, Eskom. This week analysts and media are closely watching their latest financial results because what happens on Eskom's balance sheet, impacts the consumer directly. Carte Blanche asks: what does the future hold for the embattled power utility?

Producer: Joy Summers

Presenter: Bongani Bingwa

Miracle Womb Transplant

A woman has given birth to a baby from the same womb she was born from. Sound impossible? Emelie Eriksson was born without a womb and therefore unable to bear children. But following the world’s first successful womb transplant, using her own mother’s uterus, Emelie finally gave birth to a healthy boy. Carte Blanche brings you her remarkable journey to motherhood.

Producer: Journeyman

Spinning

Once deemed the domain of criminals and gangsters, car spinning has wheeled its way into local popular culture. Since being recognised as a national sport in 2014, daring women - and even children – are going behind the wheel of this traditionally male-dominated pastime. Carte Blanche asks: what’s behind this adrenaline-pumping pursuit?

Producer: Lara de Matos

Presenter: Derek Watts

Porn Stats

When it comes to viewing online porn, South Africans rank among the top 20 consumers across the world. And even more surprisingly, recent stats reveal that South African women make up the third largest female audience in the world. But what keeps us clicking for more? Carte Blanche finds out.

Producer: Sasha Schwendenwein

Presenter: Claire Mawisa

An Open Letter to Carte Blanche on M-Net: Adding Claire Mawisa as a presenter is a really big mistake - because I know you're better than this.

Dear Carte Blanche on M-Net

I love you; always have.

I have always watched you. As much and as often as I could.

That book that came out for your 25th anniversary in 2013? Believe me: I could have written it, and even better (and I'm not boasting).

I have VHS cassettes with recorded inserts, promos and theme songs stretching back decades which I will never throw away, so I'm writing to you out of a place of nothing but honest caring, caution and concern when I say:

Adding Claire Mawisa as a new presenter to your storied programme is a big mistake.

Yes. I've said it. A bigger mistake even than the planned spin-off Carte Blanche Pets M-Net wanted you to do, but thankfully never inflicted, on M-Net subscribers.

There really is no nice way to say this, so I will just say it.

Claire Mawisa is not Carte Blanche material. In fact, I think if she stays that she will damage you in ways neither you, nor us viewers, can even imagine.

And I love television, and I love you, and I don't want to see that - or have to write about it.

Claire Mawisa comes across as being one of those worst type of limelight seekers - the Kim Kardashian type who will lunge at, and do anything to be famous or to be on television, even if the type of TV is not appropriate.

Why else on earth would she want to be on Carte Blanche if its completely out of her depth and field of reference?

To them it doesn't matter. They just want to be on it, irrespective of the name and brand damage they cause to themselves, a show, and to others. These people will do anything, anything, for the oxygen of TV.

Who thought Claire Mawisa on Carte Blanche would be a good idea?

Are investigative TV magazine presenters really so interchangeable and replaceable that anyone will do? I refuse to believe that because I watch America's 60 Minutes, BBC's Panorama and Australia's Sunday Night often and they don't do foolish things like that.

ANN7 (DStv 405) is doing "an anchor search" competition to just make someone a TV anchor in prime time. As if you don't have to earn that seat behind the desk. (It's also the reason for that news channel's ongoing problem with credibility.)

A presenter and anchor on an investigative TV magazine show needs to earn their place, and then also viewers' respect - and the same should hold true for something like Carte Blanche.

I was willing to give this woman who doesn't have any formal journalistic education (and who shamelessly admitted it) the benefit of the doubt, until Claire Mawisa appeared on VUZU AMP's (DStv 114) V Entertainment on Tuesday evening just two days after her Sunday Carte Blanche debut. (See what I mean with wanting to be on TV whether its relevant or not?)

Why did you Carte Blanche and M-Net even allow Claire Mawisa to go on V Entertainment in the first place?

I cringed - cringed - when she posed like the model and cover girl she clearly really wants to be, where she talks about her love life, where she says men should say money doesn't matter if they want to try and impress her; where she says she wants to do "people stories".

This is how Paris Hilton acts. Not a presenter on a premium investigative magazine show with cache.

Two days after Claire Mawisa appeared on Carte Blanche - which is a blue chip, flagship M-Net brand - she is riding rough shot over your name and inflicting brand damage not just on your name, credibility and the perception of Carte Blanche, but on every single hardworking person there who is a part of the team working on bringing the programme with such a strong journalism pedigree to viewers.

If Claire Mawisa was really serious about Carte Blanche and really serious about being a serious journalist and TV reporter, she would not spend her time doing frivolous tabloid rooftop interviews in the autumn sun.

In years I have never seen Derek Watts or Ruda Landman or Bongani Bingwa or Devi Sankaree Govender do that.

Did you see the part where she just joined Carte Blanche and is already saying she can see herself returning to radio?

Even if it's true, why is she even saying this or allowed to say this? Is their no minder, no PR person, no briefed talking points? No media savvy or planning? Is Carte Blanche just a stepping stone to something bigger and better?

Help this woman, help you, and help us - the Carte Blanche viewers, the paying M-Net and DStv subscribers - and let Claire Mawisa quietly exit Carte Blanche. For the sake of your name and to protect your excellence.

Someone who says she wanted to tell people "not to watch" doesn't deserve to be on Carte Blanche and is going to damage it. Cut your losses before the embarrassment grows and cut Claire Mawisa loose - or let her stay but first learn basic journalism working behind the scenes.

Claire Mawisa had the gall to tell us that she "has been working with newsrooms" and is "comfortable with certain content". I take it she loves animals and is going to do cute animal stories.

Or am I really to believe that Claire Mawisa is going to do real, hard investigative stories and dare (or even offer) to do the visually confrontational pieces Carte Blanche has built its name on? I think not.

She said she wants to tell people stories and "that for me is the most important thing". Please take note: She didn't say journalism, the pursuit of truth, exposing issues, corruption, mistakes and society's faults. But "telling people's stories". Bless.

In the decades I've watched Carte Blanche as a loyal, loyal viewer and later TV critic, I've honestly never seen or experieced such a tacky, trashy, loud and brashy "introduction" of a new presenter to the Carte Blanche team. It's so ... just really beneath what Carte Blanche is.

Is this what Carte Blanche is going to become now? A KTV-ised, YOTV version for the young crowd with presenters doing selfies as they do stories? I fear for you Carte Blanche.

The time chatting on V Entertainment Claire Mawisa could have used to call Ruda Landman and offered to take her to coffee to ask for advice, to call Les Aupiais for story ideas, to take Devi Sankaree Govender's brilliant work out of the video library and to study her techniques.

My fear is, and I'm scared, that Claire Mawisa is trampling on the legacy built up through hard work and dedication by Michele Alexander, Martine Dennis, Annika Larsen and Chantal Rutter Dros - women who joined Carte Blanche with real journalism credentials and who stayed the course.

What Carte Blanche is actually saying and communicating to us as viewers and to the South African TV industry and media and journalism fraternity, is that there's not enough really great qualified broadcast journalists in South Africa who can be TV presenters as well.

What Carte Blanche says through this daft hire without saying it, is that there's not really great young graduates available in media and journalism from schools across South Africa.

Or that Carte Blanche is really that desperate to go young and trying to get a young(er) audience.

And that it doesn't matter that you actually go and study TV, media and journalism - your hard work and effort is actually in vain since we will take anybody if you can walk and talk. But I digress.

The truth is that Carte Blanche (and this is not dissing those shows, at all) is not Top Billing, or Expresso or 50/50 or The Real Goboza. Carte Blanche has credibility. Credibility it has built up the hard way over a long time.

Its style of TV journalism has become an institution just like its timeslot on Sundays at 19:00 on M-Net has become a tradition.

Adding Claire Mawisa isn't building but chipping away at that institutionality, that tradition and that overall credibility. Believe me.

I'm not tuning in to Carte Blanche to see "people's stories". I don't read newspapers and magazines and consume news media and insightful perspective pieces because I don't have anything better to do.

I do it because I turn to credible, proven media and publications who excel at what they do, who are experts, because I learn from them, and because they expand my view and understanding of the world I live in.

If Carte Blanche starts wasting viewers' time or no longer matters, viewers are going to start to tune out.

Don't look for relevance in cosmetic changes Carte Blanche - you haven't lost any of your relevance. Just keep doing real good work and your viewers who matter (and who matter to advertisers) will always be there.

All though my university studies I didn't have M-Net. On Sunday evenings I would walk kilometres to other other homes and hostels over years where I had friends, just to watch Carte Blanche. What was said and showed mattered that much.

I knew I would get something. Something of value. I knew I would be exposed to a bigger world from people who knew more than me and would transport me to places and people I never could on my own.

Even now with DStv Catch-Up supposedly automatically recording your show, I still watch and still set my own recording for Carte Blanche - too scared to miss it, and just wanting to make sure. It still matters that much.

Through the years there's been mistakes (Carte Blanche Extra which lasted all of 10 episodes, and that guy in the end-funny bon mot pieces who tried to be our Andy Rooney) but I've always stuck with you.

My fear is that as Carte Blanche experiments and dilutes its brand with irrational additions for the sake of whatever, like bringing in the Claire Mawisas of the world, that I might care just that little bit less.

And I don't want to go there.

Guard your integrity, your brand, your credibility, your legacy, dear dear Carte Blanche, just as much as I revel and enjoy (and have enjoyed over many years) the stellar work you've put on television for me to watch.

Continue to hold Carte Blanche to the TV compass that I, when I was almost two decades younger, aspired to and led me to journalism; something that's still a beacon which makes today's new generation of young people who want to be TV and news and current affairs producers and TV presenters want to be a part of your show.

Last month when I attended the official media launch of M-Net's Magic in Motion Film and TV Academy and that one young man was introduced and said from the stage "My dream is to work for Carte Blanche" I was so moved. It was a magical moment.

I knew that George Mazarakis from Combined Artistic Productions, Carte Blanche's executive producer was in that very room.

As a TV critic I felt so privileged to see a young media student in South Africa feel so much reverence, awe and respect for a South African brand of television that he wanted to tell a whole room that that is where he wanted to work - and that he is going to work as hard as he can to try and be good enough to maybe get a job there.

Don't sell yourself short Carte Blanche for the sake of ratings, youth appeal, demos and other superficial, transient fluff.

A really great TV executive once told me TV talent is mercurial; that the very best of television only invests is getting, keeping and showcasing the very best.

Doing your very best will always be enough Carte Blanche. This latest hire isn't.

Show South Africa and M-Net viewers that you continue to be as serious about them - us - as you are about doing serious, dedicated, and respected journalism with credible journalists, dedicated producers and presenters who we trust and believe.

That's the real reason why we keep watching Carte Blanche.

Claire Mawisa joins Carte Blanche on M-Net as a presenter; her lack of experience in investigative journalism for TV raises eyebrows.

Claire Mawisa is joining the weekly investigative magazine show Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) as a presenter, with the hire by Combined Artistic Productions raising eyebrows over her lack of investigative journalism experience.

Claire Mawisa (35), a former SABC1 continuity presenter, model, radio presenter and presenter of other SABC shows like One, joins the existing Sunday night show presenters' corps of Derek Watts, Devi Sankaree Govender, Bongani Bingwa and John Webb.

Claire Mawisa will make her first on-screen appearance on Carte Blanche this coming Sunday evening at 19:00 on M-Net in a story about a "forgotten" historical heritage site.

The addition of Claire Mawisa to Carte Blanche - a show renowned for its hard-hitting investigative stories - is surprising, given her lack of extensive investigative magazine experience, especially for and on television.

It appears that Combined Artistic Productions and M-Net made the hire in an attempt to draw younger viewers to the programme which perennially remains the most watched show on M-Net, as well as the most watched local show on M-Net's top 10 list.

"We're thrilled to add a new member to the team that will also draw a younger audience to our flagship programme," says Lani Lombard, M-Net's head of publicity in a statement on Friday, confirming the unofficial news which leaked on social media on Thursday.

"Claire Mawisa's energy, investigative skills and extensive experience in the media industry will complement the existing team's impeccable work," says Lani Lombard.

After leaving Kaya FM in 2014 where she was a radio presenter, Claire Mawisa has been running life skills workshops for women.

"I have grown up watching Carte Blanche, and it has always had a very high standard when it comes to telling the South African story in a honest and fearless way," says Claire Mawisa in the M-Net statement.

"It always evokes an emotion in the viewer, whether it is heart-wrenching, infuriating, amusing or uncomfortable, you can never accuse Carte Blanche of ever playing it safe".