South Africa: Crime in Transition

Political and social transformation have affected South Africa profoundly

Political and social transformation have affected South Africa profoundly. New and non-racial forms of democratic government have been established at national, provincial and now also at local level, and reconstruction and development have (slowly) begun. But the process has been far from painless: while political violence has ended – excluding in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal – the transition to democracy has been characterised by rising levels of crime.

There is a clear and crucial link between South Africa`s transition and the growth in crime rates which has accompanied it. But, it would be dangerously simplistic to argue that crime is purely a consequence of the transition. Indeed, there is strong evidence to suggest that its roots lie in the apartheid system which the negotiated transition sought to end. There is little doubt, however, that the increase in criminality from 1990 – and in the decade before – cannot be divorced from the political, social and economic changes that have ended apartheid.

Increases in crime from 1990 are consistent with the experiences of other countries undergoing transition to democracy: as change proceeds, society and its instruments of social control – formal and informal – are reshaped. The result is that new areas for the development of crime, which are bolstered by the legacies of the past, open up.

Author

Mark Shaw, Project Leader, Crime and Policing Project, Institute for Security Studies