Policing in the Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Environment of South Africa

Abstract

South Africa is a diverse country with a notoriously high crime rate. These two variables place exceptional pressure on the police machinery to perform to the liking of every cultural or ethnic grouping in the country. The Police in South Africa do not have specific policing guidelines regarding the policing of minorities. In fact in South Africa’s history the minority White group policed the majority Black group in a Para-militaristic style. After democratisation of South Africa in 1994 the para-militaristic style of policing had to give way to a more human rights welfarist policing approach. The Black majority population took control of the police force and changed it into a police service. New policing philosophies and strategies were introduced such as community policing and sector policing. However in recent years it became evident that this envisaged community based style of policing did not curb the violent crimes in the country. In fact violent crimes are increasing annually and it appears that the South African Police Service (SAPS) are reverting back to a militarised style of policing. At no stage did the police introduce special policing priorities for the minority groups in South Africa. They do however have Immigrants (legal and illegal); some ethnic groups in South Africa (e.g. Venda ethnic group) as well as White people (especially White farmers) are now minority groups in the country. Another vulnerable minority group who needs specialised policing is the LGBTQI-community in society otherwise known as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex community. However this minority is currently also not privy to specialised policing in South Africa. The police nonetheless work according to the directions of the South African Constitution, namely that everybody is equal before the law. For this reason no specific minority policing initiatives and policy are in place but there are broad legislative frameworks that can be hazily interpreted that the police are considerate to some minority groups such as the victims of crime. In fact in certain instances police are even guilty of not protecting minorities like illegal Black immigrants from neighbouring countries. To comprehend this archetype of policing one needs to look at the history of policing in South Africa. Also attention should be given to the current status of policing in the country to grasp the reasons why specific policing strategies for minorities are not in place.