Residents of Khutsong said they resorted to violence because they were not being listened to and lived in fear. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)
Residents of Khutsong said they resorted to violence because they were not being listened to and lived in fear. By killing six alleged gang members, they said, they were doing the job that the police should have done, which now allowed them to walk safely on their own streets.
Professor Anthony Minnaar, head of the security management programme at Unisa, said vigilante killings are symptomatic of the criminal justice system breaking down and a lack of effective policing. "These actions are not only an expression of people's anger and frustration, but also fear," he said.
The work that the police did was also often hampered by an overloaded judicial system, so suspects would be released on bail or their cases would be indefinitely postponed. "People have lost faith in the ability of the state to prosecute any criminal effectively, especially when they see criminals out on the streets so soon after being arrested."
Read more:
Two of the men who were killed in Khutsong had been out on parole, and a third had a criminal record.
This failure meant communities then felt they had to take the law into their own hands. "In many cases, acts of vigilantism are the expression of frustration and anger at the apparent impunity of criminals from being arrested, prosecuted and sentenced," Minnaar said.
People would then feel that they had to stop the criminality through their own policing, or they would face the "very real threat of being swamped and controlled by gangs".
Increasingly frustrated
Anna Moyo, of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, said communities often take the law into their own hands after trying to resolve things peacefully. "Our research shows that people are getting increasingly frustrated with the systems that are supposed to assist them, especially the justice system."
There is also little confidence that the police can deal with rampant crime, and there is no trust in the police. "Vigilantism reveals that the broader public's levels of tolerance for crime has reached breaking point. People have had enough and cannot take it anymore."
When the police do arrest people, they are often released because of problems with the justice system. Criminals who are bailed out might commit the same crimes again. Communities do not understand the process, so they get angry and feel they need to take an active role in meting out justice, she said.
Resorting to violence then gets the community a reaction from the police, the media and the government. In the case of Khutsong, the violence prompted Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to visit the community.
"The normalisation of violence in our society means people feel that the only way they can be heard or gain the government's attention is through violence," Moyo said.
To solve this, the government, the justice system and the police need to work together and discuss the root problems of violence in communities, Moyo said. "Vigilantism points to communities whose tolerance levels are currently very low."