SA Crime Quarterly

Publisher:: Sabinet African Journals
Publication date:: 2021-07-19

ISBN:: 1991-3877

Description:

The SA Crime Quarterly, published by the Institute for Security Studies, provides concise analysis of developments in crime trends, and the state's response. The SA Crime Quarterly has replaced the Nedbank Crime Index.

Issue Number

No. 2025-74, June 2025

Latest documents

Custom, culture and crime
South Africa’s 1996 Constitution introduced a dual legal system, recognising African customary law and common law traditions. This article examines how culturally motivated crimes challenge South Africa’s retributive criminal justice system, and explores restorative justice as a more appropriate alternative. Using doctrinal research methods, it analyses constitutional provisions, case law, statutory developments and indigenous practices to evaluate how cultural rights can be integrated into criminal law without undermining justice. The findings show that while South African courts have historically marginalised customary law in criminal proceedings, the Constitution provides a framework for greater incorporation of indigenous principles, particularly restorative, participatory processes that emphasise healing and accountability. The article shows that customary justice practices inherently reflect the fundamental principles of restorative justice. Accordingly, it recommends leveraging existing mechanisms such as victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing and restorative circles as culturally responsive alternatives for addressing culturally motivated crimes in South Africa.
Human rights, the rule of law and democracy at the heart of European prisons and probation
On 24 June 2024 Dirk van Zyl Smit gave the keynote speech at the Annual Council of Europe Conference of the Directors of Prison and Probation Services in Sofia, Bulgaria. In this extract Van Zyl Smit asks what it means to place human rights, the rule of law, and democracy, at the heart of two powerful institutions – prisons and probation. He explores potential tensions between the three ideals and considered how these tensions can best be handled in the context of prisons and probation. The same tensions exist in South Africa, where popular punitiveness is portrayed as the democratic will of the people and presented as if it is inevitably in conflict with constitutionally based human rights ideals. He concludes that such conflict is not inevitable.
Is security our best route to safety?
In this commentary, Barbara Holtmann draws from her experience with regard to urban safety, crime and violence prevention and community development. She examines the emphasis on private security, technology and securitisation in South Africa’s approach to crime and safety. She argues that despite significant and prolonged spending in this sector, feelings of safety – and actual safety – have not substantially improved. The piece highlights the need for a more balanced approach. It should integrate technological solutions with systemic development interventions responsive to deeper underlying causes of crime, such as inequality, exclusion, and social fragmentation. It advocates for a greater consideration of ‘safety’ interventions that foster well-being, social cohesion and inclusive urban environments.
Editorial
This year, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) resumed the editorship of South African Crime Quarterly (SACQ). From 2016 to 2024, the journal was hosted by the Centre of Criminology at the University of Cape Town (UCT), which continued the SACQ tradition of publishing high-quality, policy-relevant research and analysis on crime, safety and justice in South Africa. We are grateful to our UCT colleagues for their stewardship during this period.
A new frontier of cyber vigilantism?
Black Twitter is known to bring to light pressing issues around the world, channel Black narratives, expose misconduct and mobilise social justice movements. With popular hashtags that shape contemporary political and social discourses, the site has encouraged racial debates, cancel culture and doxing activities. Using content analysis, the data examined includes Twitter/X posts and trends, hashtag movements, commentary articles and existing literature on cyber vigilantism. This article addresses a complex interplay of social and technological factors shaping this phenomenon and emphasises the need for greater awareness to mitigate the risks associated with cyber vigilantism. The article submits that cyber vigilantism awareness and prevention strategies will benefit the social and economic wellbeing of a hyper-connected society.
Does data count?
Advances in technology have expanded the possibilities of state surveillance, but they have also expanded opportunities for citizens to collect data on the state.2 At present, cell phone videos, WhatsApp monitoring groups and crowdsourced mapping of real-time events are producing a raft of new data to add to older forms of civic data gathering. In the wake of global mobilisation around issues of police wrongdoing and accountability, it is important to reflect on the impact that data may have on the pursuit of justice, redress, and transformation.3\r\nWhile not discounting the rich policing literature that exists on police accountability and change, we have opted in this article to draw on the work of Sara Ahmed, who explores complaints in the United Kingdom higher education sector.4 Her work, we argue, can help us understand why counting people does not always make them count. In other words, Ahmed shows how the effectiveness of data in securing redress and reform is often curtailed by the same patterns of oppression and stigma that facilitate police wrongdoing in the first place. In this article, we explain Ahmed’s concept of a ‘complaint biography’ and her exposition of complaint work more broadly. We also apply her ideas to incidents of complaints against the police, and interrogate the role and importance of physical violence in this regard.
Electronic records management and provision of justice
In the criminal justice system, effective records management is essential for justice delivery and the protection of human rights. This study investigates the security and backup measures used to safeguard electronic dockets in the South African Police Service (SAPS), focusing on selected stations in Limpopo Province. The SAPS adopted the e-docket system to address persistent problems with manual docket management, including loss, tampering, and delays. Using an exploratory survey design and quantitative approach, data was collected through a structured questionnaire presented to purposively selected police officers. The findings reveal that access to the e-docket system is primarily secured through passwords, making it vulnerable to unauthorised access. Moreover, most stations rely on manual backup systems without off-site storage, leaving electronic records exposed in the event of system failure or disaster. These weaknesses threaten the reliability and integrity of case records, with serious implications for justice administration.
Livestock theft dynamics in the Free State
This study investigates livestock theft in the Free State province of South Africa, a region characterised by high livestock ownership and substantial stock theft rates. A quantitative approach was adopted, utilising structured surveys to analyse trends, perceptions, and the economic implications of this phenomenon. Through these structured surveys with farmers, the research investigates community perceptions and other factors that influence the non-reporting of crimes. Additionally, it analyses theft trends from 2019 to 2024, using statistics from the South African Police Service (SAPS). Findings reveal widespread distrust in the SAPS, with 82% of respondents not reporting livestock theft as they believe the police would do nothing about it. Although livestock theft cases, in particular those involving cattle, sheep, and goat theft, have reportedly decreased, significant fluctuations persist, with cattle theft having the most substantial economic implications. Seasonal trends indicate an increase in theft during peak agricultural periods and religious festivals, with economic losses averaging R175 223 940 over the five years, emphasising the urgent need for effective prevention strategies. The study identifies critical gaps in existing literature and recommends future research in longitudinal studies, qualitative methods and technological solutions to address livestock theft.
Soldiers against gangsters?
The debate on militarisation of domestic security around the world is mostly normative and conceptual, but there are few estimates of the direct impact of the use of military forces in public security tasks. This paper assesses the impact on local homicides of the 2019 deployment of the South African National Defence Force in police station areas in Cape Town, a measure taken to stem gang violence. It uses an interrupted time-series approach to estimate the effect by comparing murder counts in relevant precincts before and during the deployment, compared to precincts with similar murder rates and socioeconomic characteristics. Results show that there was an apparent initial reduction in the month in which the measure was taken, but the presence of the army was not associated with a significant decrease in homicides over the deployment period.
Progressive or regressive rape case law? : Tshabalala v S; Ntuli v S 2020 2 SACR 38 CC
The Constitutional Court's decision in Tshabalala v S; Ntuli v S 2020 2 SACR 38 CC is undoubtedly a step in the right direction towards rape law reform in South Africa, however, this article challenges the court's decision to extend the application of the common law doctrine to common law rape. It is argued that the court could have highlighted the power dynamics at play during the commission of rape without denouncing instrumentality as a central element of the crime. This article further argues that the Constitutional Court, in developing common law rape, should have taken into account that rape is a conduct/instrumental crime under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment 32 of 2007. Instead, the judgment now has the effect of creating different elements for common law rape, in cases where there is more than one perpetrator.