Living in fear on South Africa's farms

Loading player...
In February, American President Donald Trump signed an executive order which said that South African Afrikaners - descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who arrived in the 17th Century - could be admitted as refugees in the USA as they were "victims of unjust racial discrimination". President Trump’s move to prioritise the resettlement of white South African farmers reignited global controversy when he referenced what he has described as a “genocide” against white farmers. Thousands of South Africans have now applied for refugee status in the USA, and are waiting to potentially relocate there. Farmers in South Africa are predominantly white, but farmers and farm workers of all races fear theft and violent crime in the country. Claire Mawisa is a reporter for BBC Africa Eye and recently travelled to meet farmers in South Africa.

Kings, or chiefs, in Ghana don't hold much formal or political power, but they are hugely important to people and hold a lot of cultural and social influence. But there are also powerful royal women in Ghana. They've held power in certain parts of the country for a long time, but it seems their influence is now on the rise. It is a story that caught the eye of Stefania Okereke of BBC Focus on Africa.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.

Presented by Faranak Amidi.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Laura Thomas.
20 Dec 2025 8AM English United Kingdom Education

Other recent episodes

Eternal horizons

*** This programme contains graphic descriptions of body mutilation *** In the Nepalese Himalaya, one of the world’s rarest and most spiritually profound funeral rites is still practised: the Sky Burial. In some circumstances when a person dies, their body is offered to wild vultures. According to local Bon and…
15 Jan 8PM 30 min

Stories from the New Silk Road: The Bering Sea

In 1867, the US government bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars. At the time, critics questioned the value of purchasing such an inhospitable and remote territory. Yet today, due to its abundance of natural resources, America’s largest state has proved to be a significant investment. BBC foreign correspondent…
14 Jan 8PM 30 min

Putin's foreign fighters

*** This programme contains very strong language *** Over the past year, BBC Eye has followed the journeys of young men from Syria, Egypt, and Yemen who travelled to Russia in search of work, only to end up on the frontlines in Ukraine. Why are these men risking their lives…
12 Jan 7PM 32 min

The Netherlands: 10 new cities?

'Start by lighting a candle every morning.’ In other words, pray. That’s the advice on one social media platform to those looking for a rented property in the Netherlands. The pressure on housing is immense: an estimated shortage of 400,000 homes. It was the number one issue in the recent…
12 Jan 8AM 31 min

Bianca Raffaella: A world of blurred vision

Bianca Raffaella is a partially sighted painter based in Margate. Working entirely by touch and memory, her flower and figure paintings emerge from a world of blurred vision, visual static, and sensory recall. Raffaella paints what she perceives in flickers, dappled fragments of colour, flashes of form, shaped through instinct,…
11 Jan 8PM 28 min