Academic literature on the topic 'Community policing – South Africa – Tembisa'

Abstract Public participation in water resource management is crucial for community development and resource sustainability. Many studies on water resource management have been done on urban river systems, focusing on water quality, and concentrating mainly on the physical, chemical and biological parameters, while neglecting the social impacts. An example of this is seen in the Kaalspruit, a highly polluted river in the township of Tembisa. After the confluence with the Olifantspruit River, the Kaalspruit runs through the residential and highly industrialised areas of Clayville, Tembisa and Ivory Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. The aim of the study is to evaluate public perception, participation and attitudes towards water resource management in the Kaalspruit River, and to aid with a related community management plan. This was achieved by purposive and random sampling of relevant stakeholders and the public. Community knowledge was used to increase water quality awareness. The study revealed that those surveyed are discontented with the river's current state but are interested in rehabilitating it. Their participation highlighted the need for a community-based management plan for the river.

With the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa, new police service was needed to promote the transition to democracy. Community policing was introduced from the United Kingdom in the 1990s into South Africa as a channel to heal the wounds and injustices of the past. Over Twenty-five years down the road, community policing in South Africa has made little or no impact on the majority of South Africans who will openly admit that they do not attend their local community forums, because they simply do not trust the police because of its oppressive past. It is a widely held view by several South Africans that the Police Service simply cannot change overnight from being a very brutal force to become the protectors of citizen’s human rights. This research is a qualitative study; whereby an extensive literature review was carried, exploring the issues and concepts related to community policing. The findings are that community policing has achieved its desired results. All citizens must go back to the drawing board again to bring community policing back on track for the benefit of all citizens to whom the police serve and protect. The author argues that the bitterness and divisions of the past must put be put to one side and that all citizens must co-create a country, where all South Africans are proudly part of and allowed to make their contributions.

Police officers’ views about police-citizen relationships are shaped not only by opportunities to interact with community residents during normal police work but also in part by efforts due to the larger police mission of encouraging and supporting such attitudes. In recent years, police in different countries has shifted from the traditional reactive form of policing towards community-oriented approaches. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore police officers’ views of citizen-police relationships and community policing in Durban, South Africa. A qualitative research approach was adopted, to explore such perceptions in the study area. The findings collected through semi-structured interviews with the South African Police Services personnel suggested that police officer were dissatisfied and at best ambiguous about citizens’ participation in crime prevention activities or support for the police in a township dwelling. However, in a suburban area, the perceptions marked an improvement in their attitudes on various dimensions. These include officers’ views about the overall police mission, increased emphasis on service-oriented policing in contrast to a law enforcement approach, support for community policing, perceived citizens’ willingness to cooperate with the police in crime prevention activities, and decreased cynicism about citizens. These findings suggest confidence in the utility of community policing ideas.

This article is a study of democratic policing in contemporary South Africa. The attempt in this article is to offer a scholarly analysis on the nature of civil policing in South Africa. Empirically, our focus is on everyday observations and also public discourse shaped and transmitted within the civil and political realms of the broader South African community. We argue that civil policing and security in South Africa is typified by a paradox that destroys the civic virtue and rationale of policing. It is our argument also that this paradox has posed a significant challenge to democratic and civil policing in a new South Africa. The solution to this paradox, we will argue, lies in recognising policing and security as uniquely constituted ‘public goods’. We also argue for a rethink on the place of culture in the policing register and grammar of post-apartheid South Africa. In this article, our treatment of civil policing and its challenges in South Africa is informed by recent incidences that have shown an imbrication between violence and the repertoires of policing. Overall, we contend that policing in contemporary South Africa sits at the disjuncture between political liberation and the persistent use of physical force. In all the cases, we shall refer to in this article, we will attempt to show how policing has often been entirely extricated from the habitus of law.

Less than two decades after the end of apartheid, South Africa is witnessing a range of policy interventions that almost iconoclastically challenge the premises of democratic governance. Police military ranks have been reintroduced and an exemplary postapartheid law governing the use of lethal force has also been amended in favor of police discretion. Simultaneously, however, community policing, a benchmark for democratic policing, is being rolled out on unprecedented scale. This article argues that the seemingly contradictory mobilization of militarized policing and popular civilian institutional forms has a definite logic and captures the postcolonial condition of policing in South Africa: a populist-oriented ANC administration has allowed practices of popular policing underwritten by a desire for a forceful state to capture the law that had previously restrained this kind of policing. The result is a violent but intimate relationship between police and people, a situation in which the law is estranged from itself and normalized into the informal realm of private policing.

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

Background: Public order policing (POP) has attracted considerable interest from the academic community due to public protests in South Africa. This is not surprising given that it represents an important component of police work. As South Africa’s democracy has been maturing, the democratic dispensation brought the promise of civil liberties and a human rights culture. Although these parallel developments brought prospects of accountability and legitimacy by the South African Police Service (SAPS), the restoration of public order, especially during public protests, has remained a challenge for the SAPS. Purpose: The objectives of this research were threefold: to explore the role of the POP unit; to explore its capacity to respond to public protests; and to determine the effectiveness of the integrated interventions of the relevant stakeholders to restore engagement and order. Methods: A qualitative research approach employing semi-structured interviews was utilised. To understand the policing of public protests, purposeful sampling was utilised to select 25 participants comprising community members, municipal officials, and POP members. These participants were selected since they are directly involved either in responding to public order or being part of protests, and it was therefore envisaged that their contribution would assist in understanding how protests are responded to. Conclusion: The findings indicate that when the POP units that are mandated to fulfil these goals are not effective, disruptions of public order are minimised and the destructive consequences of those that do occur are contained. The results illustrate that the restoration of public order necessitates regenerating public order characterised by low expectations of violence and a heightened respect for human rights. Recommendations: This article recommends that the relevant stakeholders in collaboration with the POP unit must respond adequately to the maintenance of safety and security during protests. The relevant stakeholders and the POP unit should enhance the effectiveness of the current strategies to be able to deal with anticipated public violence and disorder, improvement of the intelligence-gathering process to plan properly, adequate and proper training facilities, reviewing and updating of training manuals, and methods based on lessons learned and best practices to ensure that the training is relevant. POP members must undergo regular training and in-service training to maintain their fitness levels, standards, proficiency, and competencies.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Having just celebrated ten years of democratic rule, South Africa, as a young democracy, is an emerging country in the international world. It is also emerging, from a history of police brutality in apartheid South Africa, towards embracing human rights, accountability, police-community relations and a people-orientated approach to safety issues. It is this young democratic country that is paving the way for metropolitan policing on the African continent, by setting the example in South Africa. Metropolitan/ Municipal police has found its legislative mandate through the South African Police Amendment Act (Act No. 83 of 1995). It provides an opportunity to enable positioning of local government policing in a manner that will ensure that ‘quality of life’ for all is achieved through effective, efficient and sustainable policing. This study aims to give essence to a governance model as a strategy for sustainable metropolitan policing. The research provided for the following concepts of sustainable governance as a basis or foundation to build metropolitan policing: • Institutional/ Managerial/Leadership/Sustainability; • Political Sustainability; • Representivity; • Development and Growth; • Equitable Allocation and Distribution Resources; • People-centred Approaches; • Democratic Rights; • Professionalism and Ethics; • Financial sustainability; • Effective and Efficient Processes; • Co-ordination and Integration; • Sustainable decision making; • Sustainable results The framework for sustainable governance in Metropolitan Policing is broad and key aspects that influence the main objective of this research, namely co-ordination and integration have been included, for the purpose of this study. The study provides opportunity for deep reflection on how future policing at local government level in this country is structured, shaped and managed. The international basis of the study provides lessons conceptualised within a ‘learning organisation’ context. Metropolitan police services can enrich their organisation through learning from their international counterparts and sister organisations, inclusive of the South African Police Service (SAPS). It is also the relationship with the SAPS that will be the most challenging for the metropolitan police service. A key element that shapes the interaction between the Metropolitan Police organisations and the South African Police Services is based on sharing of policing power and distribution of resources. A sustainable relationship between the SAPS and metropolitan police services is important. It directly impacts on how policing is executed. It also requires consideration when co-ordination and integration processes in metropolitan police organisations are considered. The study aims to prove the importance and necessity of integration and co-ordination; however, it also emphasises the relevance of proper systems, processes and structures within an environment prior to embracing co-ordination and integration initiatives. It binds the concept of co-ordination and integration into all facets of organisational life, arguing the basis for technological assistance to consolidate such transformation. The study brings metropolitan policing into a transit from a ‘local government traffic organisation linked to council policies’ to a modern-day police organisation that embraces the complexities within which such organisations exist, both externally and internally, finding sustainable solutions and strategies for service delivery that fits our young democratic heritage of a single decade. The challenge to shape metropolitan policing to be different from the historic apartheidstyle municipal police force will eventually be a task for leadership of the metropolitan police organisation (across all levels) in its responses to society in terms of service delivery outcomes, which will be determined by how the organisation has shaped its future (vision), what it presents to society in terms of service delivery and the measures taken to achieve sustainability. The latter refers, in principle, and for purposes of this study, to good governance and sustainable development, both of which form the cornerstone of effective and efficient policing.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Teen die agtergrond van die onlangse viering van ‘n dekade van demokrasie, staan demokratiese Suid Afrika as ‘n opkomende land op die wêreldhorison. Die land is ook besig on weg te beweeg vanaf ‘n geskende verlede wat gekenmerk was deur polisiebrutaliteit in apartheid-Suid-Afrika na die omhelsing van menseregte, verantwoordelikheid, polisie-gemeenskaps verhoudinge en ‘n mensgeoriënteerde benadering tot veiligheidsaspekte. Dit is hierdie jong demokrasie wat leiding in Afrika neem met die konsep van metropolitaanse polisiëring. Die Metropolitaanse/ Munisipale polisie verkry wettige bestaansreg in die Suid Afrikaanse Polisie Wysigingswet, (Wet Nr 83 van 1995). Dit voorsien die geleentheid om polisiëring deur middel van plaaslike regering tot reg te laat kom op ‘n manier wat verseker dat “lewenskwaliteit” vir almal deur effektiewe , doeltreffende en volhoubare polisiëring verwesenlik kan word. Hierdie studie beoog om ‘n basis te vind vir volhoubare beheer in metropolitaanse polisiering, te wete deur: • Institutionele / bestuur/ leierskap/ volhoubaarheid; • Politieke volhoubaarheid; • Verteenwoordiging; • Ontwikkeling en groei; • Gelyke verspreiding en toekenning van hulpbronne; • Mens-georiënteerde strategieë; • Demokratiese regte; • Professionalisme en etiek; • Finansiële volhoubaarheid; • Effektiewe en doeltreffende prosesse; • Ko-ordinering en integrasie; • Volhoubare besluitneming; • Volhoubare resultate. Die raamwerk vir volhoubare beheer in metropolitaanse polisiëring is wyd. Kernaspekte wat die hoofdoelwit van hierdie ondersoek affekteer, naamlik ko-ordinering en integrering, word vir die doeleindes van hierdie studie ingesluit om die argument te versterk. Die studie bied geleentheid vir nabetraging oor hoe die toekoms van polisiëring op plaaslike regeringsvlak gestruktureer, geposisioneer en bestuur word. Die internasionale grondslag van die studie bied lesse wat binne ‘n ‘lerende organisasie’ beslag gekry het. Metropolitaanse polisie-organisasies kan hul organisasies bemagtig deur van hul internasionale eweknieë en susterorganisasies soos die nasionale Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens. (SAPD) te leer. Dit is ook die verhouding met die SAPD wat die meeste uitdagings meebring. Naas die verhouding met die publiek, blyk dit die belangrikste te wees as gevolg van die polisiëringsmagte en standaarde wat op beide organisasies van toepassing is. Volhoubaarheid in die verhouding tussen die SAPD en die metropolitaanse polisiedienste is belangrik aangesien dit ‘n direkte impak op dienslewering asook integrasie en ko-ordinering kan hê. Hierdie studie beoog om die belangrikheid en noodsaaklikheid van integrasie en koordinering te toon. Dit beklemtoon egter ook die noodsaaklikheid daarvan dat behoorlike stelsels, prosesse en strukture in organisasies geïmplimenteer word voordat koordinering en intergrasie aangepak word. Die studie verbind die konsepte van koordinering en intergrasie met alle ander fasette van ‘n organisatoriese stelsel, met ‘n sterk fokus op die rol van tegnologie ten einde transformasie te bewerkstellig. Die studie beoog om die transformasie van ‘verkeersdienste-organisasies wat met raadsbeleid skakel’ na ‘n metropolitaanse polisiëringsdiens te vergemaklik, ten einde ‘n moderne organisasie daar te stel wat in staat is om kompleksiteit, as ‘n integrale deel van die interne en eksterne omgewing, deur middel van volhoubare strategieë te bestuur en aan die vereistes van dienslewering in ‘n jong demokrasie van tien jaar te voldoen. Die uitdaging om metropolitaanse polisiedienste in ooreenstemming met hedendaagse demokratiese en konstitutionele beleid te vestig, berus op die leierskap (op alle vlakke) in die organisasie. So ook is daar die verantwoordelikheid om te verseker dat metropolitaanse polisiedienste die diensleweringsuitkomstes behaal deur middel van ‘n volhoubare visie, die tipe en gehalte van dienste wat gelewer word en die prosesse/strategieë wat gevolg word ten einde volhoubaarheid te bereik. Laasgenoemde (volhoubaarheid) verwys, vir die doeleindes van hierdie studie, na goeie beheer en volhoubare ontwikkeling, beide deel van die hoeksteen van effektiewe en doeltreffende polisiëring.

Dan village in rural South Africa managed to eradicate organised crime by resiliently mobilising the community to patrol the area and collectively take a stance against violence. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study is to critically engage the empirical data consisting of interviews and secondary sources to explore the theories of webbing and community policing. Both these theories struggle empirically to identify and cooperate with stakeholders who have the capacity to mobilise the population. To address this problem, the study engages the questions: How did community stakeholders cooperate to address crime? The findings argue that community stakeholders cooperated through a network of formal and informal relations which were centred around community meetings that generated the initiative to mobilise for neighbourhood patrols. Combining the two theories proved to yield analytical benefits when studying the case by overcoming their individual shortcomings.

The security of its citizens is often regarded as the democratic state's primary raison d'etre. However, with increasing crime and perceptions of insecurity among citizens, along with actual and perceived state policing inadequacies, citizens around the world have sought to make alternative arrangements for their security. The explosion of private alternatives to state policing has resulted in the need for the replacement of former static definitions of policing by more fluid understandings of what policing entails. Policing is no longer an activity undertaken exclusively by the 'state police.' Policing needs to be understood within a framework which recognises the existence of a variety of state, commercial, community groups and individuals which exist within loose and sometimes informal, sometimes formal, networks to provide for the security of citizens. Preceding the country's transition to democracy in 1994 'state' policing in South Africa was aimed at monitoring and suppressing the black population and as a result it conducted itself in a largely militaristic way. When the government of national unity assumed power in 1994 it was indisputable that the South African Police had to undergo major reform if it was to play an effective, co-operative and accountable role in a democratic South Africa. While state policing has unquestionably undergone enormous changes since the advent of democracy in 1994, so too has non-state policing. It is widely accepted that the dividing line between state and non-state policing in South Africa is increasingly blurred. Policing, by its very nature, holds the potential to threaten democracy. Consequently it is important that policing is democratically controlled. According to the Law Commission of Canada four values and principles - justice, equality, accountability, and efficiency - should support policing in a democracy. This thesis is a case study of policing in Grahamstown, a small city in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. It will be shown that the policing problem that currently plagues Grahamstown, and by extension South Africa, is not simply the result of a shortage of providers but rather a problem of co-coordinating and monitoring security governance to ensure that the city does not further develop into a society where the wealthy have greater access to security than the poor.

Abstract Title: Building Trust: The contradiction between security and democracy in post apartheid South Africa Author: Magnus Persson Supervisor: Svante Lundberg This paper aims to investigate the contradiction between security and democracy in post-apartheid South African policing, and was executed on the field together with the South African Police Service (SAPS). The theoretical point of departure is that trust between people, in relation to the institutions of society, is fundamental to democratic development. This in combination with previous research on police reform, police academy socialization, community policing and militarization has lead to the conclusion that a remilitarization process is under way and that a militaristic approach to policing is likely to be counterproductive in terms of achieving democratic development. The study has been executed on a South African police academy as well as at two different police stations with the combined methods of participatory observation and interviews.

Thesis (M. A. (Criminology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016
Community Policing Forum is a forum established in terms of section 19(1) of the SAPS Act 68 of 1995 aimed at ensuring police accountability, transparency and effectiveness in the community. It was aimed at bridging the gap between the police and the community at large and builds a harmonious relationship between them. This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of Community Policing Forums (CPF) in reducing crime in Makhwibidung village. Using structured and non-structured questionnaires, a total of 40 participants consisting of three groups, namely SAPS, CPF committee and residents, were conveniently selected to provide their knowledge of CPF in the above mentioned village. The findings revealed, by majority (82.50%) of respondents, identified lack of resources as the main challenge against the functioning of CPF, whilst 55% of 40 respondents pointed out poor relationship between the police and the community among other things. These challenges may therefore lead to the downfall of CPF, and thus showing that CPF still needs full support not only from the residents but from the provincial and national government. However, beside the challenges, the community and the police still manage to work jointly to fight against crime in their area as it is mandated by the Interim Constitution of 1993 that CPF must be established in each and every police station so that together they can fight crime. KEYWORDS: Policing. Effectiveness. Crime Prevention. Community Policing Forum. Community

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Domestic violence is one of the most prevalent forms of violence that police officials encounter on a daily basis. The effects of domestic violence are far-reaching and long-lasting. Globally, the police function as “gatekeepers” in terms of domestic violence victims’ access to the criminal justice system. Intervening in domestic violence has become a controversial process, as domestic violence is a very complex issue, which has been compounded by misunderstandings, stereotyping and myths. Since 1998, police officials in the South African Police Service (SAPS) are expected to promote redress and prevent crimes against women and children through multifaceted approaches, including the building of trust between police officials and citizens. Research reports indicate that victims of domestic violence are hesitant to approach SAPS for assistance, for various reasons. Police officers’ personal experiences of policing domestic violence are however largely unexplored. Consequently, the goal of this research was to gain insight into the experiences and perceptions of frontline police officials, who have to provide maximum protection to victims of domestic abuse in terms of the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998. To achieve the goal and objectives of the study, a combination approach was followed, in which the qualitative research approach dominated and the quantitative approach was applied to a lesser degree. An exploratory study guided by a literature review and a phenomenological approach was conducted at seven (7) police stations in the Western Cape Province. Twenty-eight (28) frontline police officials’ subjective experiences and perceptions of their policing of domestic violence were determined through in-depth interviews based on a questionnaire. Data were analysed by means of thematic analysis, and presented as narratives focusing on four major themes relating to the phenomenon under investigation. The conclusions drawn from the study indicated that the pervasive police culture, lack of insight by some police officials, and their continuous adherence to an outdated concept of domestic violence contribute to the weakening implementation of current domestic violence legislation, leaving police officials frustrated, hopeless and powerless to effect real change. The overall finding of the study is that, in practice, little has changed because of inconsistencies in the actions of the police and society as a whole in rejecting and condemning the brutalisation and intimidation of women and children. What is most unfortunate, however, is that SAPS has yet to accord the same weight to domestic violence in practice as it does to other violent crimes. In order for law enforcement to be effective, law reforms need to be accompanied by fundamental changes in attitudes, values and behaviours on the part of SAPS and all relevant role players, including the communities SAPS serves. The study concludes with recommendations on how to improve police officials’ ability to provide maximum protection to victims of domestic violence, as well as to provide programme developers and policy makers in SAPS with information on which to base policy decisions regarding training interventions and national instructions aimed at the policing of domestic violence.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Huishoudelike geweld is een van die algemeenste vorme van geweld wat polisiebeamptes daagliks teëkom. Die gevolge van huishoudelike geweld is verreikend en langdurig. Wêreldwyd dien die polisie as “hekwagters” wat slagoffers van huishoudelike geweld se toegang tot die strafregstelsel betref. Ingryping in huishoudelike geweld is deesdae ’n omstrede proses, want huishoudelike geweld is ’n uiters komplekse saak wat deur misverstande, stereotipering en mites vererger word. Sedert 1998 word daar van polisiebeamptes in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens (SAPD) verwag om deur middel van meervlakkige benaderings, onder meer die opbou van vertroue tussen polisiebeamptes en burgers, herstel te bevorder en misdaad teen vroue en kinders te voorkom. Navorsingsverslae toon dat die slagoffers van huishoudelike geweld om verskeie redes huiwerig is om die SAPD om hulp te nader. Tog is navorsing oor polisiebeamptes se persoonlike ervarings van die polisiëring van huishoudelike geweld baie skaars. Hierdie navorsing was dus daarop toegespits om insig te bekom in die ervarings en opvattings van frontlinie-polisiebeamptes, wat ingevolge die Wet op Huishoudelike Geweld 116 van 1998 maksimum beskerming aan slagoffers van huishoudelike geweld moet bied. Om die doel en oogmerke van die studie te bereik, is ’n kombinasie benadering gevolg waarin die kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering hoofsaaklik, en die kwantitatiewe benadering in ’n mindere mate, toegepas is. ’n Ondersoekende studie is aan die hand van ’n literatuuroorsig en ’n fenomenologiese benadering by sewe (7) polisiestasies in die provinsie Wes-Kaap onderneem. Agten- twintig (28) frontlinie-polisiebeamptes se subjektiewe ervarings van, en opvattings oor, hul polisiëring van huishoudelike geweld is deur middel van diepte-onderhoude op grond van ’n vraelys bepaal. Data is met behulp van tematiese analise ontleed en word aangebied as narratiewe wat oor vier hooftemas met betrekking tot die studieonderwerp handel. Die gevolgtrekkings van die studie doen aan die hand dat die heersende polisiekultuur, sommige polisiebeamptes se gebrek aan insig, en hul voortgesette navolging van ’n verouderde konsep van huishoudelike geweld tot die al hoe swakker toepassing van huidige wetgewing oor huishoudelike geweld lei. Dít laat polisiebeamptes gefrustreerd, moedeloos en magteloos om werklike verandering teweeg te bring. Die algehele bevinding van die studie is dat weinig in die praktyk verander het weens teenstrydigheid in die optrede van die polisie en die samelewing in die geheel om geweld en intimidasie teenoor vroue en kinders te verwerp en te veroordeel. Straks méér betreurenswaardig is dat die SAPD nog nie in die praktyk dieselfde gewig aan huishoudelike geweld as aan ander geweldsmisdade heg nie. Wetstoepassing sal slegs doeltreffend wees indien regshervorming gepaardgaan met grondliggende veranderinge in houdings, waardes en gedrag deur die SAPD en alle tersaaklike rolspelers, met inbegrip van die gemeenskappe wat deur die SAPD bedien word. Die studie sluit af met aanbevelings oor hoe polisiebeamptes beter in staat gestel kan word om maksimum beskerming aan die slagoffers van huishoudelike geweld te bied, en oor die bemagtiging van programontwikkelaars en beleidskrywers in die SAPD met inligting as grondslag vir beleidsbesluite oor opleidingsintervensies en nasionale instruksies rakende die polisiëring van huishoudelike geweld.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study is to establish if community policing is being implemented by the Cape Town City Police and if so, to what extent. The study further aims to establish whether the full implementation of community policing could be expected to have a positive impact on the reduction of crime in Cape Town. To this end, the reader is presented with a brief overview of local government in South Africa, an in-depth discussion of the transformation process which resulted in the current municipal structures, and an introduction to the non-traditional local government function of crime prevention. Local government's increasing involvement in crime prevention and the resulting establishment of municipal police services are discussed and it is argued that crime prevention strategies of municipal police services should build on existing local government efforts and should therefore focus on removing the root causes of crime. Further to the above, a detailed discussion of community policing is embarked upon. This section provides a theoretical account of what community policing entails, as well as a theoretical framework against which the researcher's empirical study with regard to the implementation of community policing by the Cape Town City Police, can be planned, executed and the results thereof be evaluated. It deals with the relevant historical perspectives, presents a workable definition for community policing that will direct the further conduct of the research and provides detailed discussions on each of the elements of community policing. Implementation of this policing method with specific reference to South Africa, the requirements of a community police officer, as well as the relationship between fear, disorder and crime are also dealt with here. The results of the researcher's empirical study are furthermore presented and it is concluded that certain steps have indeed been taken by the Cape Town City Police towards the institutionalisation of community policing and that the full implementation of community policing by this service can be expected to have a significant impact on the prevention of crime in Cape Town. In closing, the reader is presented with practical recommendations which will ensure the effective implementation of community policing by the Cape Town City Police.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die studie is om vas te stel of gemeenskapspolisieëring tans deur die Kaapstad Stadspolisie toegepas word, en indien wel, tot watter mate. Die studie poog verder om vas te stel of dit verwag kan word dat die implementering van gemeenskapspolisieëring 'n positiewe impak op die vermindering van misdaad in Kaapstad sal hê. Om hieraan te voldoen, word die leser voorsien van 'n oorsig van plaaslike regering in Suid-Afrika, 'n in-diepte bespreking van die transformasieproses wat gelei het tot die huidige munisipale strukture, asook 'n bekendstelling van die nie-tradisionele plaaslike regeringsfunksie van misdaadvoorkoming. Plaaslike regering se toenemende betrokkenheid by misdaadvoorkoming en die gevolglike vestiging van munisipale polisiedienste word bespreek en dit word aangevoer dat misdaadvoorkomingstrategieë van munisipale polisiedienste behoort te bou op bestaande plaaslike regeringspogings en behoort derhalwe te fokus op die verwydering van die onderliggende oorsake van misdaad. In aansluiting met bogemelde word 'n breedvoerige bespreking van gemeenskapspolisieëring aangebied. Hierdie afdeling voorsien 'n teoretiese oorsig oor wat gemeenskapspolisieëring behels, asook 'n teoretiese raamwerk waarteen die navorser se empiriese studie ten opsigte van die implementering van gemeenskapspolisieëring deur die Kaapstad Stadspolisie, beplan, uitgevoer en die resultate daarvan ge-evalueer kan word. Dit bied 'n oorsig van die relevante historiese perspektiewe, 'n werkbare definisie van gemeenskapspolisieëring wat die verdere navorsing sal rig, asook 'n breedvoerige bespreking van die elemente van gemeenskapspolisieëring. Implementering van hierdie metode van polisieëring met spesifieke verwysing na Suid-Afrika, die vereistes van 'n gemeenskapspolisieëringsbeampte, asook die verwantskap tussen vrees, wanorde en misdaad word ook hier behandel. Die resultate van die navorser se empiriese studie word verder aangebied en die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat sekere stappe wel geneem is deur die Kaapstad Stadspolisie ten opsigte van die instelling van gemeenskapspolisieëring en dat verwag kan word dat die volle implementering van gemeenskapspolisieëring 'n daadwerklike impak op die voorkoming van misdaad in Kaapstad sal hê. Ten slotte word praktiese aanbevelings aangebied wat die effektiewe implementering van gemeenskapspolisieëring deur die Kaapstad Stadspolisie sal verseker.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
This thesis explores the notion and practice of community policing as an alternative mechanism. Community policing originated in developed countries, but soon obtained the status of a traveling model as this notion moved across the globe even reaching South Africa

In this case study, an effective community-police partnership in the Thornhill area is described and explored as a function of the successful application of conflict management approaches. The partnership was implemented in a quest to solve the problem of increasing suicides at the Van Stadens Bridge. Indications are that partnership between government agencies and the community have generally failed in democratic South Africa with respect to the education, health and policing sectors. Partnerships between the community and policing system are challenging because the South African Police Service (SAPS) is continuously plagued by incidents of police brutality, police killings and leadership crises.In order to understand the context of the Thornhill community-police partnership and establish if the operation of the partnership is successful, a wide-ranging conflict management approach is taken to evaluate the partnership. The literature review includes the history of conflict in SA, SAPS and Community Policing, leadership in conflict management, theories of social conflict, and suicidology.

This chapter deliberates on youth participation and (mis)representation in community governance structures at South African townships. Youth participation entails active participation of youth in the policymaking procedures happening and problems disturbing their lives. Youth have the opportunity to influence their community governance structures. A study found that the current generation of youth are not aligned to the community governance structures. Youth participation and representation in community governance structures such as ward committees and community policing forums (CPFs) are essential as they could help youth fight issues such as teenage pregnancy, drug use, crime, unemployment, school dropout, etc. because they spend time in socially meaningful activities such as volunteering at different community structures.