Rise in protests as a means to air grievances is worrying
RECENT provincial statistics have indicated that there has been an overall increase in robberies, rape, murder, hijackings, and organised crime in the province.
The head of the justice and violence prevention programme at the Institute for Security Studies reportedly explained that the murder rates have increased at an alarming rate in recent years. The July 2021 riots, looting, and mayhem are also evidence that the province has a violent culture which has persisted even after the attainment of democracy.
South Africa has had a history of political violence, which was predominantly inculcated during the apartheid era. It was a means to communicate emotions of inequality, inadequacies, and racial discrimination that South Africans were forced to live with.
The political violence was more often than not motivated by a complex web of power relations between political parties, but gangs and professional, violent entrepreneurs opted to engage in violent and criminal activities too.
However, the single objective of the majority of these violent engagements was to get rid of the apartheid regime.
Recent empirical research that has emerged from a current project in which I am involved has revealed that some South Africans believe that protest action ensures that their grievances are heard by the government. This is also further affirmed by Heidi Brooks, who published an academic article on protests in South Africa in 2019.
So, can we insinuate that other communication avenues are ignored?
Media reports do disperse relevant statistics and information, but it does not elicit an immediate or remedial response. The murder rates have been projected to be increasing this year, but our government is yet to deliver a combating strategy so that we can have a safer society.
The Institute for Security Studies also questions if there are strategies in place
to strengthen crime intelligence, which will be central in addressing crime in South Africa.
Today, criminal activities are also motivated by hunger, deepened poverty, and unemployment. Overall discontent and disappointment concerning poor service delivery, the lack of urgent strategies to alleviate unemployment, and the rising costs of food, motivate political protests, which inevitably become violent events.
Protests have become a mainstream form of communication for historically disadvantaged African communities, who comprise the majority of our population. Political protests are also perceived to be a cry for government to be more inclusive and adopt a public participatory approach to governance at local and national levels.
Despite this, many of us are now questioning if we are a democracy. As a representative democracy, our leading political party has failed to keep its promises to South Africans.
Democratic South Africa is still experiencing economic disparity, which has worsened and the lack of political and judicial accountability, which has resulted in South Africans having minimal public trust in their leaders.
But the pertinent result of this situation is the deepening of violent and
criminal activities, which impacts our society at all levels tremendously.
South African women have to fear being alone in certain areas to avoid the possibility of rape, murder, or a violent theft attack. We have to ask: is this the type of society that many anti-apartheid stalwarts and activists fought for?
We are a democratic nation that is still fraught with deepening injustices and inequalities, and as the years go on, we witness racialised capitalism and protests that have become increasingly violent.
The culture of violent protests and other criminal activities needs to be urgently addressed. Practices and behaviour patterns that have been prevalent for far too long eventually have the potential to become acceptable normative patterns in society, especially if South Africans believe that it is the only way to communicate discontent and grievances.
Ideally, there should be an urgent strategy in place to address the increasing violence and crime in South Africa, but this cannot be isolated from the bigger national concerns such as deepening poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. But at the same time, we cannot be duped into thinking that protesting as a means of communication is eventually going to diminish without
a structured intervention. While the government strategises about poverty and unemployment interventions, how do we deal with South Africans who have adopted violence and crime as a coping mechanism and as a form of communication? Relevant stakeholders and our government need to realise that the economic disparities need to be addressed urgently.
Perhaps an initiative to develop a structured communication system for South Africans to communicate directly with leaders and political parties could contribute towards minimal political protests, which can be potentially dangerous and harmful to citizens. We have realised the severity of unemployment, hunger, and poverty, but that is only the first step.
Meanwhile, sadly, we live with the risk of unexpectedly being a victim of violence and crime because South Africans believe and feel that they have no other option but to communicate their grievances and discontent in this manner.