Vigilantism accounts for 10% of murders
ALMOST 10% of murders can be linked to vigilante attacks that have resurged in Cape Town townships.
Just last week, four men were killed when members of the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi East took the law into their own hands. The community said they were sick of being targeted by criminals and the police’s response was unsatisfactory. Venting their frustration, they held a march and protested.
Manager of the Crime and Justice Hub at the Institute for Security Studies Lizzette Lancaster said a docket analysis of police stats showed that vigilantism contributed to 10% of all murders.
“Over 208 have been reported in the media and obviously there are far more.
“It is clearly a big problem in South Africa and one that could potentially grow because communities are increasingly becoming frustrated by crime and police’s inability to deal.”
Lancaster said people feel the need to take the law into their own hands because they have little faith in the police and added that the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry came up with some good recommendations. “I think if the recommendations of the commission are properly adopted in the Western Cape and implemented we could see a difference.”
The commission was established five years ago after a spike in vigilante attacks in Khayelitsha and repeated complaints about police from the residents.
Some of the commission’s recommendations were:
Establishing an oversight team to ensure inefficiencies at the three police stations in the area are eradicated,
Guidelines for visible policing in informal settlements by the police commissioner
A multi-sectoral task team on youth gangs to be established by the Department of Community Safety.
Community Safety MEC Dan Plato condemned the recent attacks and said: “I continuously engage with the provincial SAPS management on how to effectively detect, address and deter any type of vigilante killings and will raise the information received from officials with the provincial commissioner.”
He added that residents should distance themselves from mob justice and should communities feel they are not receiving the necessary safety service delivery, they must report to neighbourhood watches, local CPF’s or the police ombudsman.