Johannesburg - We now know the drill. There is a mass shooting in a tavern which has left some patrons dead.
Soon, a fedora hat perched on his head (maybe a designer scarf adding to the dandy look), his team of bemused police officers in tow, Police Minister Bheki Cele is holding court at the scene – assuring members of the affected community that those responsible for the dastardly deed will be brought to book.
In response, angry residents tell Cele that they have lost confidence in the local police because they are failing to protect them against marauding criminals who have turned their community into their murderous hunting ground. Some tell Cele to fire the uncooperative police officers – threatening to take the law into their own hands if he fails to do so.
This, unfortunately, has become the story of many poor communities who are bearing the brunt of social exclusion. This is the kind of exclusion that is a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, poor health and family breakdown.
Given our history of racially-driven inequality, these communities find themselves trapped in an untenable situation where they are denied basic rights like the right to safety and deprived of their ability to participate in normal relationships and activities, available to their fellow citizens of different socio-economic standing.
The failure by the police to serve these communities as expected raises questions about the effectiveness of policing in this country – especially when it comes to poor communities. This is borne by the high rate of incidents of crimes such as murder and rape in such communities.
Instead of winning the much-needed public trust, the political posturing by the likes of Cele whenever the issue of policing (or lack thereof) comes up, unfortunately, just goes to show that the government is floundering when it comes to dealing with the crime situation in the country.
To redress the situation the South African Police Services must go back to the drawing board and review their approach to crime fighting.
For example, SAPS claims to have a crime-prevention approach to the fight against crime. This is an approach whereby the fight against crime is driven by the police-community partnership model – in which the people are empowered to come up with local solutions to fighting crime.
The reaction by communities that have been victims of the recent tavern attacks is a clear indication that there is hardly any police-community partnership in those areas.
Also, the police’s often-made statement that the “communities do know the perpetrators of the crime and must therefore use their social capital to fight crime” is actually in contradiction with the crime prevention approach to fighting crime. By its nature, the crime prevention approach to crime fighting is based on the understanding of the potential of social capital in fighting crime.
However, making a statement about “communities using their social capital to fight crime” without the police showing what criminologists refer to as “control signals” – which means acts of social control that communicate an attempt on the part of the police to regulate disorderly behaviour – is a clear indication of their lack of understanding of the nature of social capital as a crime-fighting tool.
They, for example, seemingly do not understand that in every community there are two types of social capital – horizontal and vertical social capital. The horizontal social capital relates to expressions of affection, loyalty and reciprocity within a particular community.
Vertical social capital, on the other hand, is about relations that connect community institutions (it could be street committees or community policing forums) to sources of power and resources (in this case the police). Vertical social capital is an important resource when it comes to police-community partnerships. This is because research has shown that where such social capital does not exist, there is a sense of powerlessness within the community – whereby residents feel that those with the power to assist are not listening to their cries for help.
It is therefore incumbent on those who are constitutionally responsible for that safety and have the power to help create “safe spaces” wherein communities they are responsible for can enjoy some element of predictability that can enhance their sense of safety. In this way, the police will gain the lost but much-needed public trust and therefore cooperation from communities as partners in the fight against crime.
Ido Lekota is a former Political Editor for Sowetan