Decentralising the South African Police Service: Does South Africa's current public safety crisis and the de facto decentralising of policing necessitate a critical evaluation of its present policing model?

Roelf, Nicholas Louis

Decentralising the South African Police Service: Does South Africa's current public safety crisis and the de facto decentralising of policing necessitate a critical evaluation of its present policing model?

Master Thesis

2020

Abstract

Violent crime in South Africa has reached epidemic levels, and something needs to be done about it as a matter of urgency. While the huge socio-economic inequalities in South Africa remain the main cause of crime in South Africa, the focus of this dissertation is on the inefficient, ineffective and unaccountable South African Police Service (SAPS), and how its failings have contributed to the public safety crisis South Africa is faced with presently. In this dissertation I suggest that, given South Africa's current public safety crisis, institutional reform of SAPS is needed in order to adequately address this social ill and argue that it is worth revisiting the decentralised policing model proposed under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993 (Interim Constitution), as a partial solution. The public safety crisis effects every person in South Africa, whether directly or indirectly, however, it is the most vulnerable communities, on the socio-economic margins of the South African society, who suffer the most. The Cape Flats in Cape Town is used as a representative case study to show the failings of South Africa's current centralised policing model, highlighting how SAPS have proven to be ineffective in dealing with violent crime there. As a result of the failings of SAPS people are organising locally to ensure their own safety, including the creation of vigilante organisations. In Cape Town a de facto decentralised police service has been created, which in itself presents a serious problem however also reflects the demand for more localised and nuanced policing in South Africa.

Keywords

Constitutional and Administrative Law

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