Presenters

Derek Watts Derek Watts has been a journalist for more than 25 years, presenting on South African television since 1985. Derek has been an anchor and presenter on Carte Blanche since the programme's inception in 1988.

Devi Sankaree Govender Devi Sankaree Govender began her career in journalism at the age of 21 when she secured a freelance radio position at the SABC, while completing a BA degree at the University of Natal in Durban. She quickly moved from presenting music shows and reading the news, to becoming a talk show host for national public broadcaster, Lotus FM. Devi joined the Carte Blanche team as an investigative television journalist in January 2002.

Bongani Bingwa Bongani Bingwa has worked on television on a variety of shows beginning in 1993 when he was still a student. He has hosted shows on business, entertainment and news. His career in journalism began on radio as a newsreader and talk show host.

Chantal Rutter Dros Chantal Rutter Dros began her career as a broadcast journalist at the SABC after completing a BA degree from the Rand Afrikaans University more than a decade ago. She then moved to Radio 702, where she worked as an EyeWitness News reporter, and later to e-tv as a Senior Reporter and News Anchor while completing a Masters degree in Media Ethics. She joined Carte Blanche as a presenter in 2010.

Editorial

George Mazarakis George Mazarakis is a director of Combined Artists, the production company that produces Carte Blanche. Under his editorship, Carte Blanche has become known as an investigative programme and has won several local and international awards.	Jon Sparkes Jon Sparkes is the owner of the Carte Blanche production company, Combined Artists. He has been responsible for the production of more than six Miss World and Miss South Africa pageants, and successfully promoted tours by Billy Connolly, UB40, Wet Wet Wet and Mike and the Mechanics.
Jessica Pitchford Originally from the Eastern Cape, Jessica Pitchford has been a journalist in Johannesburg since graduating from Rhodes University in the eighties. Her position as managing-editor at Carte Blanche is a departure from a long career in reporting and producing for SABC news and current affairs.	Peter Griffiths Peter is a Rhodes graduate with a Bachelor of Journalism degree with a specialisation in New Media. He is in charge of the Internet and interactive TV concerns of Carte Blanche.
Billie O'Hara Billie O'Hara is the link between 'us' and 'our viewing audience'. She screens likely stories, provides background, and contact information regarding all Carte Blanche programmes and is often swamped by hundreds of electronic mail enquiries.	Gerrie Bouwer Gerrie was appointed as Carte Blanche’s Production Manager in August 2003. His role is to coordinate and supervise the production of Carte Blanche. Prior to this position, he was employed at M-Net In-house Productions. In 2008 he decided to pursue a freelance career in corporate, entertainment and current affairs television. Since June 2009 he has been contracted to Carte Blanche.
Amalia Christoforou Amalia Christoforou, Bachelor of Science Honours graduate (Cum Laude - Wits), began her career as a journalist with community newspapers in 2003. Having won a number of awards for her work as a print journalist, she joined the Carte Blanche team two years later. In 2008 Amalia completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (University of Pretoria) and graduated as the top student in her class. Her passion lies in the research, investigation and production of material that is in the public interest. This, to impact meaningfully on the lives of others. Amalia is currently line-up producer for the medical show.	Wynand Grobler As a graduate in Film and Video Technology from Pretoria Technikon in 1996, Wynand Grobler began his career in television as a production coordinator on sport programmes before freelancing on an investigative series for Discovery Channel.
Susan Comrie Susan Comrie began her journalism career at The Daily Voice in Cape Town in 2005. She worked for five years as a freelance investigative journalist for newspapers and magazines across the country, focusing on politics, crime, the environment and South African subcultures. She joined Carte Blanche in July 2009, and is a graduate of The Red & Yellow School.	Leila Dougan Leila graduated from Rhodes University in 2010 and is the third recipient of the Carte Blanche bursary. She specialised in television production and since then has worked on environmental documentaries in Cape Town.

Production

Diana Lucas Diana Lucas has been a Carte Blanche producer for more than 10 years, preferring stories of an esoteric nature with human drama elements. She has been to all four corners of the globe with Carte Blanche covering stories such as life on a US Aircraft Carrier off the Iraqi coast, a look into the mystery of civilization and the Egyptian Pyramids, an interview with the famous Brazilian healer, and more recently an interview with alternative health guru Deepak Chopra.	Backyard Productions Director/Producers Odette Schwegler (nee Quesnel) Nicola de Chaud have 25 years joint experience in directing and producing award-winning television. Working in South Africa and abroad, Odette and Nicola have produced, directed, edited and researched news, current affairs, documentary and magazine programmes.
Joy Summers Joy Summers began producing for Carte Blanche in 1995. Two years later she was appointed Story Editor. In 2001 she moved on to become the Africa and International Commissioning Editor. She spent five years as the managing editor on the local version of the show. For several years she was the studio director of Carte Blanche Africa. Currently she is back in the field working as a producer for Carte Blanche.	Carol Albertyn Christie Carol's career in television started when she got a Diploma in Film and Video Technology Pretoria Technikon in 1985. Thereafter she worked as a video editor for 11 years. In 1996 she became a producer of documentaries, corporate programmes, television channel promos and branding, music videos and magazine inserts. Carol joined Carte Blanche as a producer in 1998 and has since won a number of awards.
Bernadette Cook Bernadette Cook is a Rhodes graduate with a degree in Journalism and postgraduate qualification in International Studies with an Africa focus. She started her career in television working for The Felicia Show and then turned her attention to consumerism working with Isabel Jones on the Fair Deal programme.	Angus Begg Angus Begg is a relatively rare species in today's journalistic world in that he has experience in all the various media: TV, print, radio and the Internet. He has vast experiences, which include covering, as an independent journalist, the Somalia crisis in 1992 and the Rwandan genocide in 1994 before producing for Carte Blanche. In his first year with Carte Blanche he was a winner in the 2006 CNN Africa Journalist of the Year Awards.
Sophia Phirippides Sophia Phirippides started her career in television in 1990, where she has edited, directed, written and produced a variety of programmes. She started producing for Carte Blanche in 1999, winning a variety of awards, including second place in the television category for 'CNN African Journalist of the Year'.	Susan Purèn Susan Puren joined the Carte Blanche team in 2000. She won the CNN African Journalist of the Year in 2002 and was nominated for an Artes, twice for a SAFTA and twice for an Avanti since 1995. She holds a BA Degree in Psychology and Criminology from the University of Pretoria and has worked in print, radio and television as a news reporter and photographer.
Julie Kelly-Laurenz Julie Kelly-Laurenz and co-producer Nicky Troll are Durban-based producers for Carte Blanche. Julie produced her first story for Carte Blanche in 1999 on the effects of glue "smoking" on street children. The story won best current affairs story of the year at the African Journalism Foundation awards in 2000.	Eugene Botha Eugene Botha joined Carte Blanche in 1999, he has been involved in the television industry in a freelance capacity for more than 15 years. Over the years he has produced a variety of material in a variety of genres for all the channels and broadcasters in South Africa.
Nicky Troll Nicky Troll studied Journalism and joined Julie Kelly-Laurenz in 2002. Since then she's produced a number of award winning stories for Carte Blanche, including SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year and CNN Journalist of the Year, General Feature. While Nicky has worked in all aspects of television journalism, her passion is investigative stories exposing crime, corruption and consumer scams.