Community Policing and Disputed Norms for Local Social Control in Post-Apartheid Johannesburg
Date
2008-03
Authors
Benit Gbaffou, Claire
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Southern African Studies.
Abstract
This article, based on field study in suburbs and townships in post-apartheid
Johannesburg, argues that there are different ‘cultures’ of policing and different
conceptions of local social order embedded in different local histories and
contrasting socio-economic settings. The South African state is currently attempting
to homogenise security practices and to ‘educate’ people in a democratic policing
culture. At the same time it is also firmly setting some limits (for instance by rejecting
road closures and vigilantism) to the local security experiments developed in the
period following the demise of apartheid. However, its current policy, supposedly
designed to ‘unify’ the policing systems under common principles, is based on the
broad encouragement of community participation in the production of security, as
well as on the promotion of zero-tolerance principles. These policies actually serve to
exacerbate local differentiation regarding the content and practice of policing as well
as the undemocratic principles rhetorically resisted by the state.
Description
Keywords
Policing Southern Africa, post-apartheid, local social order, community participation, production of security.
Citation
Benit Gbaffou,Claire. 2008. Community Policing and Disputed Norms for Local Social Control in Post-Apartheid Johannesburg. Journal of Southern African Studies. March 2008. 34:1 p93-109