DOCSLIB.ORG

Politics and Policing in South Africa: a Knowledge Leadership Inquiry

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Politics and Policing in South Africa: a Knowledge Leadership Inquiry COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017). POLITICS AND POLICING IN SOUTH AFRICA: A KNOWLEDGE LEADERSHIP INQUIRY BY CHRISTOFFEL JACOBUS BOTHA 920107328 MINOR- DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER IN PHILOSOPHY in PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP In the College of Business and Economics SUPERVISOR: Prof LMM Hewitt DECLARATION OF INTENT AND ADHERENCE I, CHRISTOFFEL JACOBUS BOTHA, Student number 920107328, the undersigned, hereby declare that this minor-dissertation submitted by me in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Master’s degree MPhil in Personal and Professional Leadership at the University of Johannesburg is my own original work, and that the intellectual property of the authors cited in the product was not compromised. C. J. Botha _______________________ PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER _______________________ SIGNATURE Original signed and kept on file at 9 Eden Park, Witteboom Street, Hartenbos (6520). _______________________ PLACE Completed at 9 Eden Park, Witteboom Street, Hartenbos (6520) on 4 January 2020. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Soli Deo Gloria - and this is not negotiable. Thank you, Father, that You guide me to use my talents (that You have given me) to exercise my gifts (that You have also given me). May my contributions to my environment be a pleasure to you, and may Your name be glorified through it. My study leader, Professor LMM (Magda) Hewitt, for her continuous encouragement, wise counsel and patience with a 65-year-old student. Professor, to me you are the walking image of ethos, pathos and logos. Thank you so much for your care! My friend and former colleague at the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University (and in so many other endeavours and linkages), Professor (Emeritus) Erwin Schwella, who has created and still creates opportunities for me. Professor Schwella is, to me, the walking image of caritas. The professors who participated in this study. Working through their narratives, I again came to understand just what giants these people really are. I have known them all for many years, spoken to them on many occasions, read them, and am humbled that they took the time off in their busy schedules to sit down and write me a story. I will continue following them, and learning from them. I hope that I do justice to their narratives in this minor-dissertation. All the people who have had an influence on me since my birth. At my age, the list is too long to do justice to them all within the confines of this page. May the Lord bless them and keep them always. iii ABSTRACT “Remember always, bad things happen when good people keep quiet”. (The impact of Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, through Idasa, on this researcher, c 1987). This minor dissertation interrogates the relationship between politics and policing in South Africa and examines the issue from a perspective of Knowledge Leadership (KL). It is a qualitative study by an indigenous outsider participant observer. The researcher is therefore mindful of subjectivity and always aware of ethical considerations. The participants are all professors at South African universities active in the broadly defined world of policing. The population was selected from a list of South African researchers active in this policing world. The list was constructed by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in consultation during 2016. These professors all have doctorates. They have on average 34.5 years of experience in academia and their average age is 67.1 years. The study finds that policing in South Africa is unduly and adversely influenced by politics through the actions of politicians. It is clear and reported so in the study, that this was also the case under colonial rule, as well as under Apartheid rule. This means that the current political dispensation in South Africa more than often glibly referred to as the “democratic era” (while it is more likely a “dominant party” era), acts exactly the same as the political dispensations, and therefore the regimes, found during the colonial and Apartheid eras. The South African Police Service (the SAPS) is a paramilitary organisation resembling a “force” in reality, and not a “service”, as its name and the foundation statutes dictate. The policing systems during the colonial and Apartheid eras were police forces, not police services. The SAPS is instrumental in keeping a regime in power. It protects powerful political figures against thorough investigation and prosecution for alleged crimes, just as the police forces during the colonial and Apartheid eras did. The SAPS is instrumental in the oppression of opponents to the dominant party state, just like we found under colonialism and Apartheid. The courts, civil society, academia iv and the media (specifically investigative journalists) are closely watched. Many books and articles are published daily detailing corrupt and other criminal activities from within the political elite circle, yet solid SAPS action in partnership with the National Prosecution Authority is clearly missing in action. Also, while some judges, civil society actors, academics and critical journalists are subjected to the most horrible treatment that one can find, both in the public and private domains (resembling the “Stratcom” initiatives under Apartheid) in a constitutional democracy under the rule of law, none of these people are openly challenged in courts of law; and While the SAPS support criminality to carry on unchallenged among the political elite, some members of this policing institution are actively involved in the committing of crimes in their own right – as it was under colonialism and Apartheid. The study offers professional policing as the antithesis to this political domination of policing in South Africa. It explains professional policing not in terms of the traditional British view, that of “policing by consent” but as “accountable policing” within a “collective community responsibility”, as advanced by Shearing (as cited in Wood, 2014). According to this view, the state (for instance, to advance the point clearly, through the SAPS) should not be the owner of policing. Rather, the SAPS should be a partner in societal safety without the veto. In this respect, the problem-solving capabilities that we have within our communities on a local level are crucial. So is the multiplying effect supplied by private security as well as knowledge (based on solid, peer-reviewed research, of course) from outside of the SAPS? The study proposes that professional policing is best served by knowledge leadership (KL) in realising the professional mandate. In this study, KL is defined and a contextual discussion provided to share more detail on the issue. The contribution of academic researchers to policing policy, rather than populist, knee-jerk political decisions, is emphasised. The idea is that peer-reviewed research be utilised to the benefit of policing policy and practices. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF INTENT AND ADHERENCE ....................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... xi 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .......................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Conceptualisation of Key Terms ...................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Politics ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2.2 Policing ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2.3 Leadership ....................................................................................................... 2 1.2.4 Inquiry .............................................................................................................. 3 1.2.5 Knowledge Leadership .................................................................................... 3 1.2.6 Evidence-Based Policing ................................................................................. 4 1.3 Study Concern and Focus ............................................................................... 4 1.4 Background ..................................................................................................... 6 1.4.1 Policing
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Annual Report 2015/2016
    SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE: VOTE 23 ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT 2015/16 SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE VOTE 23 2015/16 ANNUAL REPORT REPORT ANNUAL www.saps.gov.za BACK TO BASICS TOWARDS A SAFER TOMORROW #CrimeMustFall A SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE: VOTE 23 ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 B SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE: VOTE 23 ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 Compiled by: SAPS Strategic Management Layout and Design: SAPS Corporate Communication Corporate Identity and Design Photographs: SAPS Corporate Communication Language Editing: SAPS Corporate Communication Further information on the Annual Report for the South African Police Service for 2015/2016 may be obtained from: SAPS Strategic Management (Head Office) Telephone: 012 393 3082 RP Number: RP188/2016 ISBN Number: 978-0-621-44668-5 i SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE: VOTE 23 ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 SUBMISSION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT TO THE MINISTER OF POLICE Mr NPT Nhleko MINISTER OF POLICE I have the honour of submitting the Annual Report of the Department of Police for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016. LIEUTENANT GENERAL JK PHAHLANE Date: 31 August 2016 ii SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE: VOTE 23 ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 CONTENTS PART A: GENERAL INFORMATION 1. GENERAL INFORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT 1 2. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS 2 3. FOREWORD BY THE MINISTER 7 4. DEPUTY MINISTER’S STATEMENT 10 5. REPORT OF THE ACCOUNTING OFFICER 13 6. STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY AND CONFIRMATION OF ACCURACY FOR THE ANNUAL REPORT 24 7. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW 25 7.1 VISION 25 7.2 MISSION 25 7.3 VALUES 25 7.4 CODE OF CONDUCT 25 8.
    [Show full text]
  • Cyril Ramaphosa's Marikana Massacre “Apology”
    Cyril Ramaphosa’s Marikana massacre “apology” is disingenuous and dishonest May 11, 2017 South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s apology for Marikana has ignited controversy. EWN/Dr Jack South Africa’s Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has “apologised” for his actions in the run up the Marikana massacre when police killed 34 striking mineworkers on August 16, 2012. His supposed apology during a speech at Rhodes University on May 7, 2017 – reportedly followed advice by struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela that he make amends and visit Marikana. But, was it a proper apology? Ramaphosa only referred to “language” he used in emails to fellow Lonmin directors, which he said “may have been unfortunate” and “not appropriate”. But, to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever requested an apology for “language”. The concern is about his actions and their relationship to the killings. Ramaphosa added that it was never his intention to have 34 mineworkers killed, but this again skirts the issue. Nobody suggested he was responsible for the 34 deaths, which followed after police opened fire on protesting miners and employees of Lonmin Mine in Marikana. The argument is that his intervention made bloodshed more likely and that he could probably have stopped the killings had he acted differently. His critics (me included) are very clear that his failure to insist on negotiations led to the deaths. Some fact checking is in order. What the Marikana Commission found The evidence in the Marikana Commission of Inquiry showed that Ramaphosa interceded at two specific moments. We need to separate these if his culpability is to be accurately assessed.
    [Show full text]
  • Developing a New Policing Reform Agenda
    APCOF Policy Paper 15 Februay 2017 Substantive areas of police reform: Developing a new policing reform agenda Melanie Lue Dugmore Introduction Against a framework for democratic policing, this paper provides the reader with an accessible overview of the extensive policing reform agenda in South Africa over the democratic period. Mindful of the still-pending review of the South African Police Act, it provides a summary of some of the key issues that should be considered. The paper addresses substantive reform in the following thematic areas: • The protection of human rights and demilitarisation, with particular emphasis on public order policing; • Independence and operational autonomy of policing institutions and oversight bodies; and • Police responsiveness, efficiency and professionalism. This forms the basis for revisiting outstanding police reform imperatives that should be addressed in an agenda for change. The recommendations proposed in this paper are not new. They have been consistently addressed by judicial commissions of inquiry, task teams, parliament, the Ministry of Police and by the police themselves. Given the vast range of reform initiatives, including those pertinent to areas such as systems and logistics management, democratic policing principles were used as a lens to focus the study on those areas of reforms relevant to the interaction between police and civilians. David Bayley identifies two essential features of policing in a democracy: responsiveness and accountability.1 A democratic police service ‘responds to
    [Show full text]
  • Marikana: a View from the Mountain and a Case to Answer
    Marikana MARIKANA A View from the Mountain and a Case to Answer Peter Alexander Luke Sinwell Thapelo Lekgowa Botsang Mmope and Bongani Xezwi Cover photograph: A view from the mountain. Photograph taken from the top of the Contents mountain on 15 August 2012. The area with trees is the hillock. Nkaneng informal About the authors settlement lies beyond, on the right near the top of the photograph. The pylons carry electricity to Lonmin, but none of this goes to the settlement. The area between the 6 hillock and Nkaneng is the killing field, where the first deaths occurred on 16 August. Acknowledgements The following photographs are acknowledged and credited: 7 Greg Marinovich: front cover and p33 Maps of the area Peter Alexander: pp17 and 41 Reuters/The Bigger Picture: p37, bottom photo, and p149 8 Amandla magazine: p37, top and middle photos 1 Introduction: Encounters in Marikana Thapelo Lekgowa: pp49, 59, 63, 141 and 145 13 Asanda Benya: p55 Joseph Mathunjwa: p137 2 The massacre: A narrative account based on workers’ testimonies 23 3 Background interviews 46 First published by Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd in 2012 Revised edition 2013 4 Speeches 61 10 Orange Street 5 Interviews with mineworkers Sunnyside Auckland Park 2092 71 South Africa 6 Analysis and conclusion +2711 628 3200 131 www.jacana.co.za They died at Marikana © Peter Alexander, Thapelo Lekgowa, 157 Botsang Mmope, Luke Sinwell and Bongani Xezwi, 2012 © Front cover photograph: Greg Marinovich © Maps: by John McCann All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-4314-0733-0 Cover design Maggie Davey and Shawn Paikin Set in Garamond 9.5/12.9pt Printed by Ultra Litho (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg Job No.
    [Show full text]
  • South African Police Service Data on Crowd Incidents: a Preliminary Analysis
    SOCIAL CHANGE RESEARCH UNIT, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE DATA ON CROWD INCIDENTS: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS PETER ALEXANDER, CARIN RUNCIMAN AND BOITUMELO MARUPING © 2015 SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCH CHAIR IN SOCIAL CHANGE, SOCIAL CHANGE RESEARCH UNIT, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG. South African Research Chair in Social Change _________________________________________________ SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE (SAPS) DATA ON CROWD INCIDENTS A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS Peter Alexander, Carin Runciman and Boitumelo Maruping Social Change Research Unit, University of Johannesburg 1 2 Contents Executive summary .................................................................................................... 5 Authors ....................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... 7 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 8 Figures and tables ...................................................................................................... 9 List of appendices .................................................................................................... 10 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Source of data ...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Commissioners and Commanders and the Exercise of Authority and Influence by the Senior Police Leadership and the Marikana Massacre Leadership of the SAPS
    About this monograph ISS Pretoria This monograph examines the South African Police Service Block C, Brooklyn Court 361 Veale Street (SAPS) in the build-up to the Marikana massacre: the killings by New Muckleneuk police of 34 striking miners on 16 August 2012 at the Lonmin Pretoria, South Africa Marikana mine. The monograph focuses on decision-making Tel: +27 12 346 9500 Commissioners and commanders and the exercise of authority and influence by the senior Police leadership and the Marikana massacre leadership of the SAPS. ISS Addis Ababa 5th Floor, Get House Building David Bruce Africa Avenue Addis Ababa, Ethiopia About the author Tel: +251 11 515 6320 David Bruce is an independent researcher on policing, crime and criminal justice. His work focuses on the use of force by police, ISS Dakar 4th Floor, Immeuble Atryum and police accountability. In 2016 he was appointed to the Route de Ouakam panel of experts on policing established on the recommendation Dakar, Senegal of the Marikana Commission. He has a Master’s degree in Tel: +221 33 860 3304/42 management from the University of the Witwatersrand. ISS Nairobi 3rd Floor, Elysee Plaza Kilimani Road off About the ISS Elgeyo Marakwet Road The Institute for Security Studies partners to build knowledge and Nairobi, Kenya skills that secure Africa’s future. It provides policy advice, practical Cell: +254 72 860 7642 training, technical assistance and independent research. Cell: +254 73 565 0300 Acknowledgements www.issafrica.org This monograph was made possible with funding provided by the Ford Foundation. The ISS is also grateful for support from the members of the ISS Partnership Forum: the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA.
    [Show full text]
  • The Press Coverage of the August 2012 Marikana Shootings
    The press coverage of the August 2012 Marikana Shootings by Clive Emdon A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journalism JOUR 5909 Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2015. Press Coverage of Marikana MJ Thesis Clive Emdon Abstract In August 2012 the South African police shot and killed 34 striking miners, and injured 78 at the Lonmin platinum mine at Marikana. This news event was such that it had the potential to force a change in government, as well as to impact labour employment and production in the mining industry. As a complex event, Marikana was chosen to analyse the press at work. This thesis has focused on four main narratives from the media coverage: firstly, the economic narrative; secondly, the narrative about the carrying of tribal weapons and practices used by the striking miners; thirdly, the accounts of the shootings; and fourthly, the fall-out within the unions. The main findings reflect a lack of in-depth reporting and analysis of the mining economy and its labour; and the failure of the press to adequately narrate the impact of the police shootings on the three partners in government. 2 Press Coverage of Marikana MJ Thesis Clive Emdon Acronyms AMCU Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union ANC African Nation al Congress BRICS Nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa CCMA Government Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Cosatu Congress of South African Trade Unions Fedusa Federation
    [Show full text]
  • Avoiding Another Marikana Massacre
    Avoiding another Marikana massacre Why police leadership matters Gareth Newham* [email protected] http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/sacq.v53i1.4 The Marikana Commission of Inquiry report presented damning findings against the South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner, Riah Phiyega, and the senior commanders involved in the Marikana massacre. Their decision to disarm and disperse striking miners was found to be flawed and to have resulted in police officers unjustifiably shooting 112 striking mineworkers, killing 34 of them. Moreover, their integrity was found wanting on the basis that Phiyega and her senior commanders withheld crucial evidence, constructed misleading evidence, and provided untruthful testimony before the commission. This article argues that a necessary condition for improvements to take place in the SAPS relates to improving the top leadership of the organisation. Fortunately, the National Development Plan provides a starting point as to how this can be achieved.‘Police supervisors at any level need to be aware that their behaviour has a strong impact on the organisational culture, which in turn contributes to police behaviour.’1 Since 2012, official government policy documents and current SAPS leadership is presented. No have increasingly focused on police leadership in explanations are provided as to how these failings South Africa. The National Development Plan (NDP)2 may be the cause of key organisational challenges speaks of a ‘serial crisis of top management’ and facing the SAPS, or what the consequences are for includes recommendations aimed at improving the public safety. quality and competencies of senior police managers.3 The Marikana Commission of Inquiry into the killings It identifies good leadership as being at the heart of that took place in the run-up to and on 16 August what is required to address the numerous challenges 2012, provides useful insights into the workings of facing the South African Police Service (SAPS).
    [Show full text]
  • Order, the Judiciary and the Rule of Law
    Order, the judiciary and the rule of law [This article is the second chapter of the South African Monitor Midyear Report of 2014. The complete report can be read or downloaded from www.sa-monitor.com.] The separation of powers in a democracy can only work if the impartiality and competence of the judiciary, police and prosecuting services are ensured. In South Africa, several forces and trends indicate severe shortcomings in this regard. These forces and trends include extensive practices and sometimes institutionalised norms of nepotism and corruption; close links between some politicians, the heads of security agencies and the illegal domain; as well as the weak protection of citizens and communities against traumatic violent crime. In addition, there is widespread corruption, partisan ANC influence and cadre deployment in the police. A serious emerging trend is the apparent withholding of proper protection of citizens and communities that are not considered to be part of the ruling faction. Nepotism and corruption South Africa has a formal conventional economy, which has become strongly entangled with the ANC political elites. However, there also is an informal economy, part of which is dominated by crime syndicates with links to politicians and security agencies. As in countries like Mexico and Colombia, these two domains co-exist in the same political system. Historically, the legal and illegal domains are also interlinked. In the case of the ruling ANC, partnerships of some cadres with drugs and smuggling crime syndicates during the years of the political underground and exile have continued after 1994. A former Mandrax specialist became a business partner of Billy Masethla, former chief of the National Intelligence Agency and now a Zuma loyalist.
    [Show full text]
  • South Africa 2016 Human Rights Report
    SOUTH AFRICA 2016 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY South Africa is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which constitutional power is shared among the executive, judiciary, and parliament branches. On August 3, the country held largely free and fair municipal elections, in which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) received 53.9 percent of the vote. In May 2014 the country held a largely free and fair election in which the ruling ANC won 62.2 percent of the vote and 249 of 400 seats in the National Assembly, which re- elected Jacob Zuma to a second term as the country’s president. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Principal human rights problems included police use of lethal and excessive force, including torture; prison overcrowding and abuse of prisoners, including beatings and rape by prison guards; and vigilante and mob violence. Other human rights problems included arbitrary arrest; prolonged pretrial detention and lengthy delays in trials; forcible dispersal of demonstrators; abuse of refugees and asylum seekers; corruption; pervasive violence against women and children; sexual harassment and societal discrimination against women; abuse of children; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons, and persons with albinism; trafficking in persons; attacks on foreigners; and forced labor, including by children. Although the government investigated and prosecuted officials who committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the government, there were numerous reports of impunity. Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings There were reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
    [Show full text]