radio voice-over: safm, 104-107 nationwide, - leading the conversation. the talking point with cathy mohlahlana. male caller: cathy, the time is coming where the soldiers l will have to patrol the streets of south africa _ like the police. how much more can we endure? everybody says to me, "you know what? your dad's in a better place." and, yeah, yeah, it wasn't — it wasn't supposed to be like that. you don't live here any more. no, no, no, we don't live here any more, since the incident happened. yeah, we had max security gates, everything.

we felt that we were doing everything to keep safe. this was going to be the forever home, yes. this was the room where we had ourfamily time. this was — this is the most hard. hmm? tearfully: the most hard of everything. i you can take — you can take a moment, if you need to. yeah and, i mean, the way he — the way he left was uncalled for. he never — he was never someone that hurt anybody. he died in a way which was —

it didn't take long. in august last year, ingrid's husband duane was shot and killed by armed intruders at the gates of their farm. a person was standing there with a 9mm weapon in his hand and he said to me, "i'm going to shoot," he said to me. didn't say anything else. and then, i look and there was another guy with another 9mm and an ak—47 weapon as well. that's when they shot through my shoulder. i went to him and collapsed and, yeah, he was — he was as he was, sitting next to the door, with his weapon was still there. south africa's murder rate is now at a 20—year high and the fear is that there may be worse to come.

how do you feel about the state of crime, you know, in the country right now? i feel it's a dire situation. it's chaos. people are working very hard at being farmers to keep our country on the go. there's shortages of everything. and then, you have to fear for your life to be a farmer. it's unlikely anyone will be arrested for duane's murder — the detection rate for murder across south africa is less than one in five. these farmers are taking matters into their own hands. they're part of a pressure group called afriforum,

who campaign on behalf of afrikaners. they have more than 300,000 members nationwide. what are you looking for on the route? any signs of movement, signs of people cutting fences, branches broken — signs that people are targeting a specific area. they tend to cut the cables — electrical cables — and sell that copper. are the torches off because it's supposed to be undetected? yes. 0k. otherwise, we'd give ourselves away. now, this fence has been cut. oh, i see it's been cut there. yes. and you can see the footpath right through here. there it goes. so, it's a well—used footpath. so, if you see that light, and that is where the —

where the guys with the trucks, the users, the dealers are staying. 0k. yeah. so, this is the path they will be taking, yeah. dogs bark. usually, when you're so quiet, you can start hearing dogs barking. south africa's crime problem cuts across all racial and ethnic lines. 60km down the road, another volunteer patrol is about to set off. we're in diepsloot, a township on the outskirts ofjohannesburg. so, what are you expecting to do tonight? we're going to the ground. we going to do stop and search inside the township. whoever we meet with during the night, we have to search that person.

what are you searching for? guns, knives. people are scared in township. who's next? who's going to die? what are some of the dangers you're likely to face on a night like tonight? diepsloot is in the hand of the criminals and we know that once they've found out who are patrolling here, we will be a target. and we are ready for that. and we will fight against the crime that is in diepsloot. we need to take our diepsloot back. we need to defend our diepsloot. this is our community, this is our children, this is our women. we need to chase these thugs away. the team is working closely with the local municipal police.

are the police going to drive alongside? yeah, they are coming with us. 0k. yes. siren wails. the farm patrol has stumbled across an abandoned building. we are looking for stash. maybe they put something away. it was like a nightclub, a strip club. and so, this is where they would pick their items up? they will stash it here and then, they will pick it up and go, yeah. and that's usually —

the pick—ups will be anything from four in the morning till even six o'clock. they will usually load some plastic bags on top and then, they will hide the stolen property underneath, yeah. the smoke — it means there was recent activity here. ok, let's see. i think the sides might be hot. chance is very good that maybe they spooked them coming in. they might have been herejust minutes ago. minutes. yeah. do you ever step outside sometimes and realise how dangerous, how not normal this is for a regular citizen? we are living in cages, and that is abnormal. it shouldn't be like this — checking around what's happening before you enter a farm, before you get out of your vehicle — and that's why it becomes a way of life.

in diepsloot, the volunteers are unpaid and badly equipped. the risk to their lives is very real. is this when he was younger or is it a recent picture? he's so young. so, he was 21? yes. 0k, 0k, yeah. two years ago, david's son alpha was shot and killed whilst out on patrol. how would you describe the kind of person alpha was? so, you were surprised to hear that he was a patroller?

i understand that this might be difficult for you, so, if you.... yeah. can you tell me what happened to alpha that night? and what do you think

of the patrollers? yes. we are approaching the bridge. that is the most dangerous bridge in the extension 1. why is it the most dangerous? it's where most of the things is happening here. people have been killed in this bridge. there were more than 27,000 murders last year in south africa.

that's 45 people per 100,000. for comparison, the us rate is six. what are you looking for on the streets? we are doing stop and search and if you are a criminal, you've got something that is dangerous to our community, we're going to take it. and if you're not going to comply with us, the sjambok will apply also to you. this is a traditional leather whip. does that mean you'll beat him? we have to. even last night, someone was shot and killed. now, the kids are parentless. if we don't fight against crime, they will end up entering into our houses and kill me in front of my kids. music plays.

if you're a young black male living in a township like this, then you're most at risk of being murdered. but the fear of crime permeates across south african society. what i'm going to ask you is wear your bulletproofs. if you don't have a bulletproof jacket on and you're not trained, if a vehicle stops wherever we are, which is not part of our group, please move back behind the vehicle. in a few minutes, we'll be heading out to tonight's mass patrol. the patrol is going to be happening in cars today and we're told that the area is much bigger and so, we will be out for longer than we were last night,

trying to find any suspicious vehicles, trying to see any suspicious activity. again, like last night, no alcohol, 0k? you guys, we are allowed to carry weapons but for self—defence. we've got to comply to the rules. please, concealed carry. dewald is what is known as a first responder. you're going to a gunfight with a knife. that's how it goes. you're prepared to use your firearm and be in a gunfight. i won't hesitate to protect my family, that's it. if i must come into a scuffling between other guy and he will hurt me, i won't stand back for him. as a volunteer, you also are volunteering to protect others and use your firearm to protect others. yeah, in the correct way. mmm. like i say, i'm not the law.

it's not like we just stop everyone. - that's not the case. you hear the people - on the groups, whatsapp or phone, tell us, "listen, theyjust stole copper- cables from me," orjust, "my fence has been cut."| let's go. there's the guys. the people passing by, - they know the green lights, they know it's quite safe. just hold that guy. hold that guy.

these shopkeepers say they've just been robbed and the volunteers, who say they're here to assist the police, think they have a suspect. slapped him. why were you hiding? whip cracks. why were you hiding? i was not hiding! where are those other guys? what do you want this time of the night? whip cracks repeatedly. what do you want this time of the night? what do you want at this time? there's no evidence that this man has done anything wrong. they're questioning this young man about his whereabouts prior to when they found him. they suspect that he knows where the two men who allegedly robbed the household down the street are. all right, man. are you letting him go? yeah, we let him go.

two-way radio chatter. stefan, what are you looking for? just for people moving around, maybe. according to the world bank, crime is costing the economy at least 10% of its gdp each year. three weeks ago, in a matter of about four or five hours, there was five incidents. two were killed, one is still in hospital — they were shot. and that's farm workers, and that was at the end of the month. the intel that these suspects got was, "ok, it's a bloody weekend." they're easy targets. easy targets, yeah. it brings the farming to - a standstill, the production,

so there's a big influence. there are clear dangers. who holds these patrollers, who are mostly armed, to account? so, how long have you been here on this land? on this farm, i've been here roughly about 11, 12 years. small properties butjust adjacent to each other and you can farm it as one. you have to plan accordingly, getting your property safe. if anything happened to me, about eight guys lose theirjobs. each night, you go to bed, you pray. every morning is god's grace, giving you a new day.

is the way you live now sustainable? yeah, it's going to be difficult to carry on like this because you work full day and at night, you do patrols. you do get exhausted after two weeks doing four or five patrols a night or doing four orfive hours a night. i don't think you can carry on like that. radio host: really strong views here coming through. _ male caller: the level of crime is higher than l what the police can cope with. deal with issues of poverty, deal with issues of- unemployment, fix society. i'm back in diepsloot to catch up with abel. 0h!

so, you're saying the street has been safe — well, compared to others? yeah. the community has built a gate for protection. it's where abel waits for his wife to come home from work. what time does your wife come back? eight o'clock, because it's very far. do you worry about her when she comes home? yeah, that's why i wait here. i open the gate and stand outside and wait for her to come. like most people of working age in diepsloot, abel is unemployed. so, this is how you spend your days? yeah. during the week, i — i stay like this. and then weekend, yeah, weekend, you know, it's from friday, you can't — you'll never rest. you have to go out and try to rescue your community as such. mmm. yeah. when criminals hear about you

coming to the neighbourhood, what threat do you pose to them? as patrollers, our duty is to save our community, not to kill. have you killed someone? no! not at all! i can't kill someone. what else... ? i'm fighting against this crime. mmm. how can i kill someone whilst my intention is to save them? afriforum say that farmers are in danger and they are under attack. they feel that they are protecting their families and their communities, much like you say you're doing the same for your community and your family. he scoffs. what they told you, they're out of their mind. we blacks, we don't have the facilities that they have. we blacks, we don't have that. and you saw that night when we were walking together, there was no—one who was driving, no—one

who has a gun, no—one who has a bulletproof. it was just the reflectors and the sjambok. there's a few white guys that they are not good to the black community, there's a few black people that are dangerous to the white community. we don't have enough security. we just rely on the patrolling. mind your steps here. yeah. just come straight to here. the gates are locked. you cannot go through that street. why are they locked? it's because they are preventing the movement of the criminals to come through. remember, we are trying to minimise the movement and the killings of the people in our streets. whistle blows. oh, god!

siren wails. commotion. this is a policeman. yeah, it's a policeman. a policeman has just been shot. he was off duty. theyjust hijacked him — him and his girlfriend. they take his car and the gun. so, what's going to happen now? there's a backup that is running up and down to search for the car — the car that has been hijacked. so, this is a regular occurrence? yeah, this is a regular occurrence, situation

that is happening. the way life it is now in diepsloot, no—one is safe. losing a loved one to violence is an experience many south africans have in common. for some of us, all we can do is make bitter peace and try to move on with our lives.

both these communities live in fear. but class — which in this country is so closely linked to race — class determines who has a better chance at safety. and if everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to survive, i can only imagine the kinds of violence we're yet to see.

hello there. well, wednesday was certainly a day of contrast. the sun is strong at this time of year, and if you get some, wow, those temperatures start to climb. in fact, it was a beautiful afternoon in surrey with a high of 21 celsius — 70 fahrenheit. it was a different story however, further north and east, we had a real cluster of thundery downpours across eastern scotland and they drifted their way into northeast england, threatening—looking skies to close out wednesday across sunderland. and those showers are continuing to move their way steadily southwards as we go through the day thursday. so, some of the showers will continue to be quite heavy. not too bad a day across much of scotland, and northerly winds still feeding in a few scattered showers here. but there is a greater risk across the east midlands, east anglia, and southeast england by the middle part of the afternoon, seeing some

sharp thundery downpours. and if you catch one of them, well, they could bring a lot of heavy rain. now, further west, we will see the best of the sunshine. fewer showers here, 19—20 celsius not out of the question. a pleasant afternoon for northern ireland on the whole, fewer showers generally through scotland. and, if you get more in the way of sunshine, fewer showers here, 19—20 — again, it's quite possible in sheltered western areas. now as we go through thursday evening and overnight, those showers will ease away. but that northerly wind always just feeding in a little more cloud off the north sea. a relatively mild start to our friday morning. and with clearer skies out to the north and west, there will be some early morning sunshine around. but, because of the wind direction, we always run the risk across eastern england, down towards the southeast of seeing a few scattered nuisance showers. and if you don't get the showers, you could have quite a grey day. further north and west, there'll be a lot of sunshine, maybe some cloud continuing

to linger in the northwest of the great glen. but where we get the best of the sunshine, again, we could see temperatures into the high teens, possibly 20 celsius. a little bit cooler on those exposed east coasts. as we head towards the end of the week, this high pressure will continue to feed in from the west. we will be chasing cloud amounts around from time to time, but it's certainly going to be a drier story. some significantly drier weather. we haven't seen a good five—day stretch quite widely across the country of dry, settled weather since january. so enjoy the sunshine and the warmth.

live from washington, this is bbc news. israeli troops press

on with their rafah operation, amid reports that us—supplied weapons were used in sunday's deadly air strike. the first day ofjury deliberations wrap in donald trump's new york "hush money" trial. and votes are being counted after what could be a pivotal election in south africa. hello, i'm carl nasman. the us is under pressure to address reports us—manufactured bombs were used in sunday's deadly israeli strike in rafah. 45 people were killed when the air strike sparked a massive fire in a densely populated displacement camp. investigations by the new york times and cnn claim that debris from the strike is consistent with remnants from a type of bomb called a gbu—39 — similar to these weapons. the white house made clear it would limit weapons supplies to israel,

if forces entered rafah�*s "population centres" or launched a major