Taking stock of the last 20 years - responses to organised crime in a democratic South Africa

• Author: Khalil Goga
• DOI: 10.10520/EJC155526
• Date: 01 June 2014
• Published date: 01 June 2014
• Pages: 63-73

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Taking stock of the

last 20 years

Responses to organised

crime in a democratic South

Africa

Khalil Goga*

kgoga@issafrica.org

http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/sacq.v48i1.6

Like many other countries, South Africa has

struggled with the growth of organised crime, and

the mainstream narrative has often been one of

corruptible, underequipped, under-informed law

enforcement, unable to deal with a rising tide of

dangerous, sophisticated, organised criminals.1

In the mainstream media, South Africa has been

described as a ‘haven for organised crime’ with

veteran investigative journalist Sam Sole describing

Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir’s choice of South

Africa as a refuge ‘symptomatic of the country’s

deepening moral malaise’,2 arguing that ‘unless we

start to exercise discipline as a society, there is a

wave of people like him coming, attracted by our

sophisticated banking and legal system – and our

diminishing capacity to enforce its rules.’

Criminologists and crime researchers have differed

in their assessments of the problem. Early post-

apartheid literature appears to accept that South

Africa suffered from increases in transnational

organised crime and the growing sophistication of

local organised crime groups.3 However, whether

the state has been overwhelmed by organised crime

since 1994, is disputed. South Africa is far from

being a criminalised state4 and it will be argued that

over the last 20 years the state has taken strong

legislative, regulatory and enforcement measures

to combat organised crime, with mixed levels of

success.5 This article assesses the state’s response

to organised crime, and is limited to important direct

state responses.

The research for this article consisted of an analysis

and review of secondary sources, including

* Khalil Goga is a researcher in the Transnational Threats and

International Crime Division (TTIC) at the Institute for Security

Studies. He received both undergraduate and Master’s degrees

from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Following the end of apartheid, the South African state has faced a number of challenges. One of these has

been the growing spectre of organised crime, which has weighed heavily on the public consciousness. The

narrative has been one of organised crime, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous, pitted

against a weakening and ill-equipped state.

This article seeks to give insight into the legal and institutional measures taken by the South African state over

the last 20 years. It focuses on direct state responses to organised crime, primarily changes to legislation

and enforcement structures. It f‌inds that although the state has been active in changing legislation to

combat organised crime, it has often been its own worst enemy where enforcement is concerned, and has

consequently lost some important tools in the f‌ight against organised crime.