Safeguarding the Republic? The South African Police Service, Legitimacy and the Tribulations of Policing a Violent Democracy

Abstract

Since 1994 the South African Police Service (SAPS) has undertaken various efforts to build legitimacy in South Africa. Extensive community policing resources have been made available, and a hybrid community-oriented programme (sector policing) has been pursued. Nevertheless, public opinion data has shown that there are low levels of public trust in the police. Using Goldsmith’s framework of trust-diminishing police behaviours, this article suggests that indifference, a lack of professionalism, incompetence and corruption on the part of the police, particularly in high-crime areas, have eroded public trust in the SAPS. Furthermore, in an effort to maintain order, reduce crime and assert the authority of the state, the police have adopted militaristic strategies and practices, which have contributed to numerous cases of excessive use of force, which has consequently weakened police legitimacy in South Africa

Researching Protest Policing in South Africa: A Discourse Analysis of the Police–Researcher Encounter

“…With the introduction of democracy in 1994, the right to protest became enshrined in the South African Constitution (Duncan, 2016;Kinnis, 2019), and the African National Congress (ANC) government established SAPS, the new national police organization (Lamb, 2018). The ANC attempted to drastically reform policing to counteract the violent and racist institutional culture inherited from the SAP (Marks et al, 2009;Marks and Bruce, 2015;Lamb, 2018Lamb, , 2021Brooks, 2020). Approaches to public order policing were overhauled and transformative training for Public Order Police (POP) 2 was introduced (Marks and Bruce, 2015;Lamb, 2021).…”

“…The ANC attempted to drastically reform policing to counteract the violent and racist institutional culture inherited from the SAP (Marks et al, 2009;Marks and Bruce, 2015;Lamb, 2018Lamb, , 2021Brooks, 2020). Approaches to public order policing were overhauled and transformative training for Public Order Police (POP) 2 was introduced (Marks and Bruce, 2015;Lamb, 2021). Uniform procedures were developed for the policing of protests which were intended to be community-orientated and reflect the aims of the new democratic Constitution (Lamb, 2021).…”

“…Researchers have been especially critical of the role of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the policing of protest (e.g. Tait and Marks, 2011;Alexander et al, 2013Alexander et al, , 2016Hornberger, 2014;Marks and Bruce, 2015;Lodge and Mottiar, 2016;Bruce, 2019;Lamb, 2021 ). This critique, coupled with the South African public's low trust in the police (Wale, 2013;Gumede, 2015;Lamb, 2021), has prompted challenges from civilian oversight structures (Brooks, 2019).…”

“…Tait and Marks, 2011;Alexander et al, 2013Alexander et al, , 2016Hornberger, 2014;Marks and Bruce, 2015;Lodge and Mottiar, 2016;Bruce, 2019;Lamb, 2021 ). This critique, coupled with the South African public's low trust in the police (Wale, 2013;Gumede, 2015;Lamb, 2021), has prompted challenges from civilian oversight structures (Brooks, 2019). Resultantly, and as several studies have attested to (see Marks, 2003;SAPS, 2015;Runciman et al, 2016), SAPS officers tend to be suspicious of researchers.…”

Analysis of the Quality of Peace and Security from the Perspective of Community Policing in Lira city, Northern Uganda

“…Community policing is a paradigm shift grounded in the principles of policing a community using a close partnership between the Police personnel and the community [8]. It is a strategy where members of a community are involved in the promotion of peace and security, the Police Force is viewed as active partners in peacebuilding, and members of the community are co-producers of peace and security in societies [9].…”