Just Another Miracle: A Decade of Crime and Justice in Democratic South Africa

Ted Leggett Just Another Miracle: A Decade of Crime and Justice in Democratic South Africa THE APARTHEID REGIM E BRANDED THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS a terrorist organization. To defeat the ANC, a range of tactics was employed. The military and the police combined to create a sizable presence in volatile areas, but remained inaccessible for ordinary community concerns, ensconced in armored vehicles. Massive cordonand -search operations were conducted in which large numbers ofpeople and premises were searched without specific probable cause. The ANC itself was banned, making membership a criminal offence. Suspected members were detained without charge and trial for extended peri­ ods of time. These incursions on civil liberties were seen as necessary responses to an emergency situation. The ANC leadership apparently found this approach effective. Ironically, though perhaps not surprisingly, virtually identical tactics were proposed when the country encountered its first terrorist threat a few years after the first democratic elections in 1994. The threat was a popular vigilante organization that, under enforcement pressure, mutated into a revolutionary fringe of bomb-throwing Islamists that murdered prosecution witnesses and state officials alike, known as People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad). Pagad rose out of an ethnic minority community’s frustration with a perceived increase in crime levels, especially drug traffick­ social research Vol 72 : No 3 : Fall 2005 581 ing, after the 1994 elections, and a popular sense that democracy had emasculated what was once a formidable law enforcement apparatus. Contemporaneous attacks on white farmers also fed demands that the state get tough on crime, or face civil unrest (Shaw, 2002). And these pressures coincided with the transition between the nation’s first (Nelson Mandela) and second (Thabo Mbeki) presidents. The result was a radical shift in criminal justice policy, from a discourse of crime prevention to a discourse of crime combating. This article traces these shifts in South African policing policy from the time of the democratic transition to the present day. Fortunately, it appears that the tide may be turning yet again, as a more confident ANC enters its second decade of rule. EXPECTING CHAOS Many would argue that a crime wave following South Africa’s transi­ tion to democracy was inevitable. First, major political or social tran­ sitions seem to be accompanied by increases in crime rates, such as those seen in the former Eastern bloc countries. Many reasons for this phenomenon have been suggested, from generalized social disorder to a deep sense of normlessness. More technically, democratization means restructuring the criminaljustice system, and a period of reduced effec­ tiveness is inevitable. Insofar as the police, courts, and prisons play a role in deterring, incapacitating, and reforming criminals, these effects are likely to be muted as new policies are adopted and civil servants relearn their jobs. Postconflict situations are also associated with more crime. South Africa’s “miraculous” transition to democracy did involve years of bloodletting, but most observers were surprised that there was not more. After years of systematic oppression, some deep-seated hatred might be expected. The country had suffered many years of violent struggle, during which violence was said to be “normalized” in some communities. The traumatized population contained many men expe­ rienced in the use of weapons with enduring reasons for using them. 582 social research Apartheid had relegated the majority of the people to poverty, and the pace of social reform was tempered by the need to make the economy investor-friendly. It might be argued that a people who had suffered so greatly for so long were entitled to a little informal redistributive activ­ ity in lieu of comprehensive social justice. South Africans themselves were acutely aware of these chal­ lenges, and skepticism about the ability of the new government to govern, rooted in part in the racial attitudes of minority and majority communities alike, generated widespread fears that the new democ­ racy would collapse into chaos. But, once again, South Africa’s remarkably tolerant population may have surprised everyone. According to the official statistics, of course, crime rates did soar after the 1994 elections, but these figures do not withstand serious scrutiny. Crime figures everywhere are depen­ dant on public reporting of crime, and, prior to democracy, the major...