His longtime former colleagues Devi Sankaree Govender and Ruda Landman might very well return to the Carte Blanche studio this Sunday evening on M-Net (DStv 101) at 19:00 when the whole hour of the show will be a tribute episode to Derek Watts who died earlier this week after losing his battle against cancer.
Today kykNET (DStv 144) will rebroadcast a sit-down interview with Derek Watts when the episode of Hannes Aan Huis in which Hannes van Wyk talks to Watts at his home, will be shown again at 17:30.
Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes the Combined Artistic Productions show has immediately started to rework Sunday's entire episode as a tribute programme to Derek Watts.
John Webb, Carte Blanche executive producer, says that an hour feels like too little time to honour and showcase Watts' massive contribution but we're going to try our best.
Devi Sankaree Govender told TVwithThinus that few people are aware that Derek Watts "hated doing confrontational interviews. He hated it with an absolute passion and I had no idea about this because I was watching Derek from the time I was 15 years old when Carte Blanche started".
"I never would have guessed that. I joined Carte Blanche in 2002 and I just had this leaning towards catching the crooks and the bad guys and it was just something that I loved doing."
"It didn't take Derek long before he came up to me the one day and he said: 'I'm so happy that you do these stories and you do it so well because it means I don't really have to do it because I don't like confronting people - it makes me feel awkward."
"The thing with Derek is that he was just genuinely such a nice guy. He was the real deal. He actually felt bad for the skelms. He always remarked on that he just really found it difficult. He did ask the thought questions in his own way and he was always able to get answers out of people in a very gentle, almost kind, kind of way."
"He never like the confrontations and in a way we bonded over my confrontations because he was just so grateful and always acknowledged it when I did great work which I appreciated as a young journalist just starting out."
"I got to work with my television icon - one of the people along with Ruda Landman and Manu Padayachee, so I know I was the lucky one."
e.tv is switching its weekly current affairs show Devi anchored by Devi Sankaree Govender from Fridays at 18:30 to a late-night slot on Tuesdays at 22:30 to make way for its new local weekday hospital drama series Durban Gen.
From Tuesday 13 October Devi will be shown at 22:30, with the same episode repeating during the week on the TV news channel eNCA (DStv 403) on Thursdays at 20:30.
The well-produced show, in the style of America's 60 Minutes, has brought new gravitas to e.tv's news and current affairs schedule with a more finessed approach than the grittier Checkpoint investigative show.
A doyenne of South African current affairs television, Devi Sankaree Govender will be making her debut on Friday on e.tv and eNCA (DStv 403) when her new TV show, DEVI, launches on e.tv at 18:30 and on eNCA (DStv 403) at 20:30.
The highly-respected Devi Sankaree Govender left the Sunday night actuality show Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) in late-January after 18 years to start a new chapter in her life since her kids have grown up.
Since then, Devi had to deal with the devastating impact of Covid-19 as well as the death of her mother to cancer during the national lockdown period, things that led her to somewhat rethink her original show plan she had before this Friday's TV return.
Besides working on DEVI, Devi Sankaree Govender will be working with eMedia Investments on other broadcasting projects as well.
Antonio Lee, eMedia Investments COO, says that they're "delighted to welcome Devi to the eMedia family and look forward to the dynamism she brings. Devi remains one of the country's most accomplished journalists and presenters. She will add great value to an already strong line-up on both e.tv and eNCA".
"Using her trademark unique sense of humour and straight-talking approach, Devi will continue to "fight the good fight while taking viewers into the lives of extraordinary guests".
She says that "the Covid-19 pandemic has created panic and negativity. This show isn't going to add to the gloom. Instead my team and I are creating 30 minutes of in your face Friday night television. You will be outraged. You will laugh. You will be inspired while we keep it very real."
"I'm looking forward to getting back on the road chasing crooks. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to shaping something in a way that I see it for myself," Devi tells TVwithThinus.
About the past two months and spending more time with her kids at home, Devi says "it's been fantastic but it's also been really challenging. There are 4 of us in our family, and my daughter plays golf and she finished matric last year, so we've always had a system - a system we've all worked with for the last 15 years. But we were never all always at home at the same time."
"So what's really nice for me is that over the past couple of months I am not complaining that I have my immediate children under my roof. It's been challenging though in trying to keep the kids motivated because if you don't leave the house, it's quite easy to become stuck in some kind of a rut."
"The challenging part is all of us learning to navigate and to learn to live with each other all of the time and then my mom passed away and to have that happen to you in the middle of a pandemic and to also deal with that - and her funeral was a whole other story because it was in another province - it was really hard."
'The dream my mother had for me keeps me going'
"When someone becomes ill, you've got to deal with it as family members as part of a support structure, especially with ageing parents. You are responsible for absolutely everything and then add distance to the equation and then you've got a really difficult thing to deal with," says Devi Sankaree Govender.
"For me, it was a case of my mom's illness, combined with the fact that I'm on a new TV channel, my original show idea isn't going to work because of Covid-19 and social distancing, I need to keep agile and adapt, my kids need mentoring and I need to keep them motivated."
"You know what you do? I think there's a part of you that just keeps the focus on what needs to be done. And my mother was always so supportive of what I did. I just keep reminding myself that there's no way that I can just collapse into a heap. I can't do that."
"People always say 'be strong, be strong'. People don't know what 'be strong' means until you have to go through something like this," says Devi.
"It was really, really tough. It's only a month since my mom's death but it's also so important for me the dream that my mother had, and the dream she supported, and that's what has kept me focused and keeps me going".
About caring for someone with cancer, Devi says if there is something she's learnt, it is to "put your own oxygen mask on first" - the analogy of airlines telling adults to put on their oxygen masks first in case of an emergency and to take care of themselves before they help children or other people, since the other way around might lead to both going unconscious with neither available to help each other.
"With cancer and dealing with a loved one, there will be nothing left of you if you don't ensure that you look after yourself."
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.
Ruda Landman will be back on Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) this Sunday evening at 19:00 for the weekly investigative show's landmark 30th anniversary that will take the form of a special 90-minute look-back episode.
Ruda Landman will return for a special appearance next to her former co-anchor Derek Watts with whom she shared the Carte Blanche stage for 19 years at the Combined Artistic Productions show until she left 11 years ago.
Together Ruda Landman and Derek Watts left an indelible imprint on South Africa's TV landscape with the iconic Sunday night show that it still going strong after three decades and Sunday's episode that will reflect on how "truth does brings change".
Sunday's special episode of the programme with its signature theme song, slogan of "the right to see it all" and currently with presenters Derek Watts, Devi Sankaree Govender, Claire Mawisa, John Webb and Macfarlane Moleli, will include a look back at Carte Blanche's memorable moments, highlights and groundbreaking investigations over the past 30 years.
The highly-successful Sunday night 19:00 TV staple on M-Net since its very start in 1988 with jaw-dropping stories over the years has seen South Africa transition through seismic political, cultural and socio-economic changes with a weekly mix of investigative and consumer journalism stories, profile interviews and agenda-setting exposes based on a similar format as America's 60 Minutes.
"Ruda Landman will be back for a guest appearance," Derek Watts told OFM in a radio interview. "Ruda was a great part of the show and she will be back and it will be the whole team there, all presenting segments."
"It's quite a thing to look back on 30 years and how many lives have changed, how many laws have changed. People have been affected. And you can't help feeling a bit nostalgic going back 30 years but it's been quite a trip for everybody on the team," said Derek Watts.
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.
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.
Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) comes across as extremely sexist after suddenly promoting Macfarlane Moleli who has been with the show for just a few months to the anchor chair, instead of Claire Mawisa who has more experience on the show and who has been with the show several years longer than Macfarlane Moleli.
Macfarlane Moleli is replacing another man, Bongani Bingwa in the Carte Blanche anchor chair despite being part of the weekly investigative magazine show for the shortest amount of time - just 5 months - out of all the presenters.
Carte Blanche shocked on Sunday evening when anchor Derek Watts in the closer of Sunday's episode announced that "next Sunday our new anchor Macfarlane Moleli, our new anchor, will be joining us in the hot seat, as we say goodbye to Bongani Bingwa, who's made such a valuable contribution to our show for more than a decade".
Bongani Bingwa dropped Carte Blanche to join the SABC as the new SABC News weekday prime time co-anchor next to Francis Herd on SABC News (DStv 404) and SABC3, with Macfarlane Moleli who will be behind the Carte Blanche anchor desk from 18 March.
For years only Derek Watts and Bongani Bingwa as two men alternated as anchors of Carte Blanche, before Devi Sankaree Govender was finally allowed since the middle of last year to anchor episodes of the Combined Artistic Productions show broadcast on Sunday nights from the Randburg studio.
Despite years of experience as an investigative TV journalist and having also anchored hours and hours of studio coverage during the Oscar Pistorius trial on MultiChoice's Oscar Pistorius Trial channel on DStv - ironically produced by the same production company responsible for Carte Blanche - Devi Sankaree Govender was for some reason not used or seen as a Carte Blanche anchor until mid-2017.
Since Devi Sankaree Govender joined Carte Blanche in 2002, it means it took her - as the first female anchor since Ruda Landman left - 15 years to make it to the show's anchor desk.
Claire Mawisa, with TV presenting and in-studio presenting experience joined Carte Blanche in April 2015 as a field presenter and since then has done dozens of stories. She is a year older than Macfarlane Moleli.
Macfarlane Moleli quietly joined Carte Blanche in September 2017 as a field presenter just 5 months ago.
Interestingly, neither M-Net nor Combined Artistic Productions issued any official statement or press release when Macfarlane Moleli joined Carte Blanche in late-2017, as was the case with Claire Mawisa in 2015 and others previously, with Macfarlane Moleli's addition as a new presenter that came across as decidedly low-key.
Now Macfarlane Moleli has suddenly been appointed as a studio
anchor on the show, above Claire Mawisa who has been with the show longer, who has done more stories, and who has more on-the-ground and behind-the-scenes experience with the actual news magazine show.
Carte Blanche was asked why Macfarlane Moleli has suddenly been made an anchor on the show and why he was chosen as a man to replace Bongani Bingwa who also happens to be a man.
With Devi Sankaree Govender who had to wait years before being made an anchor, and with Claire Mawisa who joined Carte Blanche before Macfarlane Moleli, Carte Blanche was also asked why she has not been allowed to anchor or to become an anchor before Macfarlane Moleli who has been with the show for a far shorter time than Claire Mawisa. M-Net in response to a media enquiry says "why Macfarlane got the anchoring job, it’s quite simple: He
comes with a huge amount of live studio anchoring experience under his belt
from his time at eNCA and the SABC. Hosting live TV is a very unique skills set
that Macfarlane already joins the team with." "Macfarlane has spent the past two decades honing his presenting and investigative journalism skills on issues around current affairs, politics, economics, business, sports and environmental affairs," says George Mazarakis, Carte Blanche executive producer. "He is a seasoned studio presenter and we're thrilled to welcome someone of his calibre to our team of highly experienced anchors". Carte Blanche says "Macfarlane Moleli has more than 14 years' work experience as a journalist in the media and entertainment industry under his belt. Most recently he worked at Kaya FM, following a 5-year stink at news channel eNCA." "Macfarlane was also a former prime time newsreader on SABC3 for the 19:00 news. During this time he hosted 180 Degrees on SABC News International, as well as the drive time news and current affairs anchor on "The Touch Down show on Touch Central." When Claire Mawisa's name is searched for in online search engines, lurid stories doesn't come up like one last year about Macfarlane Moleli where headlines blare 'Lover' says Macfarlane shattered her heart with things like an alleged girlfriend, Lerato Phakathi, who told The Daily Sun that he allegedly "has a tough time keeping 'it' in his pants".
Carte Blanche will celebrate its 30th anniversary in August. The show's current roster of presenters are Derek Watts, Devi Sankaree Govender, Claire Mawisa, Macfarlane Moleli and John Webb who is apparently relocating overseas and leaving South Africa but who will still be doing inserts for the show.
Investigative news mags - because they value and protect their credibility and integrity in a genre of television where the faces directly represent the credibility and trust of viewers built up over years of doing stories and interviews - usually promote from within.
America's 60 Minutes, the BBC's Panorama and the BBC's interview show HARDTalk only elevate insiders from within the fold to the prestigious rank of anchor presenter, and only after many years of having built up a cache of credibility and having proven their mettle through a vault of stories and interviews.
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?
Carte Blanche anchor Devi Sankaree Govender visits Trevor Noah in New York this Sunday evening at 19:00 on M-Net (DStv 101) before the stand-up comedian's latest visit next week for live shows in Durban and Johannesburg.
Devi Sankaree Govender flew to New York where Trevor Noah now lives, for another extended 90-minute Carte Blanche episode this Sunday evening on M-Net.
Devi interviews the comedian while she also gets to spend time with the 33-year old on the set of The Daily Show, his weekday faux news show broadcast on Comedy Central Africa (DStv 122).
Trevor Noah gives Devi Sankaree Govender and Carte Blanche a peek behind the scenes of his life in The Big Apple before his latest South African tour.
Next week Trevor Noah is back in South Africa, doing public stand-up performances in Johannesburg on 9, 10 and 11 August at The Ticketpro Dome, and on Sunday 13 August in Durban at the ICC.
Besides Trevor Noah, Carte Blanche also got an interview with the respected ANC member of parliament, Dr Makhosi Khoza who have been facing death threats and intimidation for speaking out about corruption and state capture.
Carte Blanche also looks at waste-free living. When the garbage collector comes to Bea Johnson’s home in California, there’s always nothing to collect. Dubbed “The Priestess of Waste-Free Living”, her family of four astonishingly generate just a single glass jar of rubbish every year.
Carte Blanche's Bongani Bingwa and producer Carol Albertyn-Christie decided to find out how she does it. finds out how she does it.
Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) has won the TV category at the 2015 Legal Journalist of the Year Awards.
The weekly investigative magazine show saw Joy Summer and Tony Beamish win the Legal Journalist of the Year award in the television category.
Carte Blanche won for the story from Joy Summer and Tony Beamish who investigated thepractice of lawyers overcharging clients in contravention of the Contingency Fees Act.
Their Carte Blanche insert focused on the overcharging practices of the well-known South Africa attorney, Ronald Bobroff who was grilled on-air by Devi Sankaree Govender.
Ronald Bobroff's disastrous on-camera interview with Devi Sankaree Govender on Carte Blanche made for compelling viewing.
Carte Blanche also got a commendation in the TV category at the Legal Journalist of the Year Awards for Michael Duffet's work for "Week 7: Dewani Trial" covering the Shrien Dwani trial.
The veteran and brilliant Carte Blanche presenter Devi Sankaree Govender of M-Net's award-winning weekly investigative magazine show Carte Blanche was attacked and mugged in Bloemfontein this morning.
Devi Sankaree Govender is okay but her necklace was ripped from neck on Wednesday morning in Bloemfontein - something she's worn for 13 years.
Devi Sankaree Govender and film crew was filming an insert for the Combined Artistic Productions investigative show on M-Net in front of the department of health's head office in the Free State.
The mugging of Devi Sankaree Govender and Carte Blanche comes days after a mugging on live television of the SABC News crew Vuyo Mvoko on live prime time television.
The mugging of SABC journalists made international TV news headlines in several countries with a video clip which went viral.
On Twitter on Wednesday Devi Sankaree Govender said she is just "grateful I wasn't stabbed or shot".
Devi Sankaree Govender started to scream when she felt a man's hands around her neck on Wednesday in Bloemfontein's city centre. According to her, he tightened his grip, she stopped screaming, and he ripped off her necklace.
So far no word from M-Net and Carte Blanche on today's shocking crime incident.
On Sunday night in Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) at 19:00 June Steenkamp, mother of Reeva Steenkamp who was shot and killed by Oscar Pistorius, will break her silence in an interview with Devi Sankaree Govender.- a mother's voice that all of South Africa has been waiting to hear.
"I don't feel anything, he [Oscar Pistorius] is not anything to me," June Steenkamp says to Devi Sankaree Govender. "I feel angry for what he's done to her. It is my child. I gave birth to her."
On Sunday night June Steenkamp takes Carte Blanche's Devi Sankaree Govender into her home after almost two years of media silence, sharing her most intimate thoughts about life without her daughter who was killed on 14 February, Valentines Day, last year by the paralympic "bladerunner" who is now behind bars.
Este de Klerk is the Carte Blanche producer of the big get, in an hour during which Carte Blanche will also has a revealing Eskom expose as South African households have been warned that they could be plunged into darkness and load shedding this weekend again.
I'm told getting and securing the interview with June Steenkamp took Carte Blanche two weeks to iron out the details, with the cameras which rolled this past Tuesday at June Steenkamp's home in Port Elizabeth.
Devi Sankaree Govender tells TV with Thinus "it felt surreal" to do the interview and to talk to June Steenkamp, following her months covering the trial as one of the anchors on MultiChoice's Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel on DStv.
"I read the book [June Steenkamp's book published by Jonathan Ball] with great interest and there were quite a few dots I needed to connect in my
head," says Devi Sankaree Govender.
Seated in her lounge with Devi Sankaree Govender, with a large canvas featuring Reeva's face behind them, June Steenkamp reveals her true thoughts about the trial and what it was like for her to face the man who killed her daughter day after day in court and to finally reach a place where, as a Christian, she could forgive him.
"Sorry can never cover what he'd done," says June Steenkamp who will reveal that Oscar Pistorius "wanted to see us. He did try and make an appointment, but we weren't ready to face him". "I think I'd like to look in his face so he can see exactly what he's done to us and he's taken away from us. I want to say to him: 'Here, I am the mother and you have taken everything from us."
On Sunday evening Carte Blanche viewers will see June Steenkamp talk about the "special connection" she still feels with Reeva following her death and she will also talk about her husband Barry Steenkamp and his struggle to confront the brutal way in which their daughter died.
June Steenkamp opens up to Carte Blanche about what it has been like being financially destitute and the decisions they made around finances.
"It can never get better, unless somebody can bring her back to life, it's never going to get better. You got to learn to live with it, to get on with you life," June Steenkamp tells Carte Blanche. "When I first saw him, I thought: this was the person who killed my daughter". "And I think that I, in a way, unnerved him. And I liked that part of it. I wanted to be there for Reeva, so, to me it was good that I unnerved him."
She also reveals to Carte Blanche, and speaks openly and candidly to Devi Sankaree Govender, about appearing strong but inwardly dealing with "incredible pain" that she would not wish on anyone - and the way in which she knows that no amount of time will allow her and her husband to come to terms with what happened.
"I've forgiven him. As a Christian, you have to forgive. Otherwise you going to carry all this pain inside you, and this hatred and I am not like that," says June Steenkamp.
While Carte Blanche can't broadcast the full interview in its entirely, the full interview will be made available on MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up service right after Sunday evening's Carte Blanche episode.
Above is Devi Sankaree Govender, the brilliant presenter and journalist of M-Net's weekly investigative magazine show Carte Blanche as viewers saw her on Sunday night's episode.
Below is Meryl Streep portraying Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, currently available on DVD and DStv Premium's DStv BoxOffice service.
Is Devi Sankaree Govender South African television's "Irony Lady"? Undoubtedly.
Carte Blanche Extra on M-Net is possibly not going the same cancellation route as the previous two spin-offs last year Carte Blanche Medical and Carte Blanche Consumer - although the 3rd spin-off attempt did broadcasting its final episode tonight ... for now.
''Welcome to the final episode of Carte Blanche Extra for this season,'' said presenter Devi Sankaree Govender at the start of tonight's 10th and unusually short season. The Combined Artists produced show gave viewers a more behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of this investigative magazine programme. But Devi Sankaree Govender did say season and not series. Could M-Net possibly be thinking of bringing Carte Blanche Extra back in the future? ''Keep your stories coming in,'' said Devi Sankaree Govender.
She again reiterated at the end of the final episode that ''that's it for the final episode of Carte Blanche Extra for this season,'' this time with special emphasis on the word season. ''Thank you very much for your stories and invaluable support. We will be back with more. Join Derek on Sunday evenings for Carte Blanche at 19:00 and on behalf of the Carte Blanche Extra team, goodnight.''
I ran past Devi Sankaree Govender from Carte Blanche and the anchor of the new Carte Blanche Consumer Thursdays at 19:00 on M-Net, who quickly stopped for a chat. Devi tells me that it's amazing to work on Carte Blanche Consumer and a TV show giving a real voice to viewers. I asked her how the past few months since January has been for her.
''It's been fantastic because we've grown a huge lot since January. What's been amazing for me is that we've really, really tapped into our market of viewers. We've always had people calling us and people begging us to do this story, or that story – and now we've been completely inundated by viewers. The quality of stories have absolutely been fantastic coming from our viewers. We've always thought we could research our own stories better ourselves. But a lot of our viewers who send us stories to Carte Blanche Consumer have all the records, they've kept everything, and they make it easy for us to tell and air their grievances with companies and service providers.''
Devi Sankaree Govender tells me although Carte Blanche Consumer is still finding its feet, its firing on all cylinders trying to get resolution for consumers who approach the show with a myriad of complaints. ''Carte Blanche Consumer is really only a few months old at this stage and the show is still finding its place,'' she says, ''but for Carte Blanche Consumer one thing has been very clear right from the beginning and that's ''go-go-go!'' for the crooks.''
Carte Blanche Consumer started tonight at 19:00 on M-Net, hosted by Devi Sankaree Govender, as a brand-new weekly Carte Blanche addition to the Sunday night show, that will be focused on consumer issues.
I asked her a few questions on what viewers will get to see on Carte Blanche Consumer, how she feels when confronting crooks and what consumer advice she has for people. Devi talked about being a working mom, a home-body and her ''off the wall'' diary.
Click on READ MORE below to access the full interesting interview!
You're reading it here first.Carte Blanche presenter Devi Sankaree Govender will become the new anchor of the brand-new weekly half hour Carte Blanche spin-off Carte Blanche Consumer that will start on Thursday, 21 January at 19:00 on M-Net.
M-Net tells me that there's been a huge need to tell more consumer related stories. ''Carte Blanche gets inundated by consumer stories of all kinds that can't make it on the flagship Sunday show that can only accomodate four or five stories each Sunday.''
''M-Net has decided to create Carte Blanche Consumer to address some of the big consumer issues in the country and to champion consumer rights as it's set out and protected in the Consumer bill of rights.''
M-Net says it doesn't mean that consumer stories will just be contained to Carte Blanche Consumer, but that the new spin-off is an additional platform to come to consumers' aid. Carte Blanche will give consumer tips and advice as well and do investigative consumer stories.
You're reading it here first. A quick programming note is that M-Net's investigative magazine TV show Carte Blanche is planning a hard-hitting story for tomorrow evening at 19:00 on Joost van der Westhuizen.
After Wednesday night's first live and exclusive interview on Kwêla, Thursday's soft ball pre-taped interview with the magazine show All Access on M-Net and the weekend's scandalous admission after months that it really was him (to co-incide with the launch of his book this past Monday and the Afrikaans version hitting the streets this coming Monday), Carte Blanche is looking at HOW REALJoost van der Westhuizen's plea for forgiveness all really is.
Carte Blanche first interviewed Joost van der Westhuizen in 1998, at the peak of his career. ''More than a decade on, his off-field antics have taken him from hero to zero,'' Carte Blanche tell me for the insert that presenter Devi Sankaree Govender and award winning producer Susan Puren has been working on this week. ''He's now trying to gain credibility in his autobiography which sold out in a day. BUT JUST HOW CREDIBLE IS IT - AND WILL IT SAVE HIS MARRIAGE?''
