Derek Watts, a legend in his own time

The first thing that strikes you about Derek Watts is his kind, affable and gentle nature.

A true gentleman who doesn’t mind engaging with anyone. Strangers cannot resist walking up to Watts for a chinwag.

And why not?

He has been part of our lives through several generations.

His name is synonymous with Carte Blanche and, since the first episode was broadcast on 21 August 1988, Sunday nights would not feel right if he wasn’t in our living rooms.

Over Nutella pancakes and coffee at Prison Break Market’s Pancake Pantry, Derek remembered some of his career highlights at the show, and how he ended up in television in the first place.

Zimbabwean by birth, he moved to South Africa to further his career in journalism in the late Seventies.

He debuted in journalism and television at the SABC where he had to learn Afrikaans, too. While initially employed as a news writer, he later happenstance ended up in front of the camera in a sportscast.

He remembers: “Those days you just went onto set without any makeup and was seated on set in whatever you were wearing at the time.” It was kismet though, and piecemeal appearances eventually led to an anchor job on the broadcaster’s sport show Topsport.

Between his first time on television and Topsport, Derek also owned and managed a Squash Court complex in Durban after leaving journalism.

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He said: “I was watching SABC TV1 News when I saw they had introduced a separate sports anchor, the job I always wanted. So, I called my old boss and he said he would call me back in an hour but I had to get there the next week.”

“I had to sell up and leave Durban behind, move back to Joburg, in record time. While running the Durban squash courts, I had a crippling back injury. So, it went from the Disc Squash Centre (as it was called) to the slipped disc! I couldn’t drive a car or even go to movies!”

But within a week he settled into the broadcast journalism saddle full time.

He said: “It became my first job as a sports anchor on the news for three years and then I moved across to anchor the country’s first sports show, TopSport along with Martin Locke.”  

One day, thirty-four years ago, Derek got another call. This time it was Carte Blanche producer Bill Faure who was on the line.

Said Watts: “He told me about this new show that M-Net was doing and asked whether I would be interested in becoming a presenter on it.”

Apparently, Faure had spotted Derek at the airport, had no clue about his day job at Topsport, and simply had a hunch that he may be a good presenter on the then, fledgling show.

Paired with Ruda Landman, the first episode aired, and South Africa was hooked.

Since then Derek has hosted hundreds of Carte Blanche episodes and travelled the world in pursuit of stories.

He said: “In the beginning it was more of an entertainment, song and dance show. Slowly Carte Blanche evolved into the premium investigative show it is today.”

Watts will never forget a story that covered the rehabilitation of animals from the Luanda Zoo to South African zoos.

He remembered: “The zoo in Luanda had collapsed because there was just no money to feed the animals and it was very gracious of the Angolan government to let us fly in, crate all the animals and bring them back to South Africa. There was a lot of red tape and we had to spend a few days there just preparing things.”

An error during the process saw a cage-gate left open by accident and a tiger escaped.

The predator ended up in an alley with the Carte Blanche cameraman and producer Rick Lomba, who was alone and filming. Derek was emotional recounting the tragedy.

“While attempting to get away, the tiger attacked, and killed my colleague, who was also a dear friend, with a strike to the throat.” Lomba pioneered microlight filming in South Africa and was a great proponent for conservation.

Derek has also had several threats to his wellbeing over the years because of stories he covered. He said that luckily enough nothing has happened to date, but given the subject matter the show covers, Carte Blanche work can be dangerous at times.

Derek has a passion for motoring journalism and has been writing about and reviewing everything automotive for several years.

He is presently evaluating a Mercedes Benz C200 with the new AMG styling.

He said: “I have been writing about cars for about two decades. I love it, it is structured and makes me feel like I am in control.” He said the reason for this is that it adds a measure of predictability to his diary.

At Carte Blanche, Derek never knows when a message will come through to book him for a story.

He said: “It can be very challenging to arrange your life. I may be able to make dinner plans for say, a week from now, but the chances of having to postpone it are quite likely. You just never know what’s going to happen.” And while it’s exciting, it does make managing the balance of daily life a challenge.