Violent protests: examining SA's trends and responses

Data from ISS' Public Violence Monitor will inform a debate on the latest trends.

Violent protests are making headline news in South Africa. The 40th anniversary of the June 16 Soweto student uprisings is a good time to ask about the factors now driving public violence.

The answer requires accurate information on the number, nature and location of incidents, which the ISS’ Public Violence Monitor can provide.

Experts on public or collective violence in South Africa will discuss the latest trends at this seminar. A new ISS paper At the heart of discontent: measuring public violence in South Africa will also be launched.

The paper sets out preliminary findings from an analysis of the ISS Public Violence Monitor and other research on how to understand and respond to this phenomenon.

Chair: Gareth Newham, Head, Governance, Crime and Justice division, ISS

Speakers:

  • Tsholofelo Sesanga, Manager, Community Interventions, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
  • Lizette Lancaster, Manager, Crime and Justice Information Hub, ISS
  • Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi, Head, Public Order Policing, SAPS (tbc)
  • Prof John Faris, Head, Institute for Dispute Resolution in Africa, UNISA
Development partners
This event is made possible with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The ISS is also grateful for support from the following members of the ISS Partnership Forum: the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA.
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