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It has been a little over five years since metropolitan police departments were first established in South Africa. Despite relatively small numbers of operational personnel, they now form a familiar part of the policing landscape. With good reason, metro police officers do better at traffic control than crime prevention, and their relationship with the SAPS needs attention. Gareth Newham reflects on their achievements over the past years and some of the key challenges confronting these local level police agencies.
Bilkis Omar evaluates police crowd control. From the heavy-handed crowd control under apartheid to the abusive actions of the Internal Stability Division during the early 1990s, public order policing in South Africa has been steeped in controversy. However, things changed after 1994 when this component of the police was radically transformed.
South African sex workers, especially those working on the street, have good reason to feel afraid when they are on the job. Not only do they have to contend with the inherent dangers of their profession, but because sex work is a crime, they face frequent abuse and harassment from the police who are ostensibly upholding the law. Nicole Fick exposes policing and the sex industry.
Several media and research studies have reported on police abuse and ill-treatment of undocumented foreigners in South Africa, concluding that xenophobia is a major problem in the SAPS. Themba Masuku asks 'how pervasive is xenophobia in the police?'
By focusing on petty crimes, community courts hope to encourage a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to criminality, develop integrated and constructive responses to local crime problems, and alleviate case loads in magistrates’ courts. Based on an evaluation of three community courts in the Western Cape, Melanie Lue-Dugmore and Vanja Karth argue that overall, the courts are functioning satisfactorily.
