The development of vigilantism in South Africa
Amber Courtney Cupido · SUNScholar (Stellenbosch University) · 2021
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research presented in this study aims to engage the topic of vigilantism. This study serves to demonstrate an overview of the development of vigilantism in South Africa, paying particular attention to the apartheid and democratic eras. The research question posed by this study is: How has vigilantism developed under the governance of the apartheid and democratic regimes in South Africa? Thus this thesis delves into how the apartheid and democratic regimes have governed, focusing on the relationship between the state and non-state actors in society. A discussion offering an overview of how the state operated under apartheid and democracy provides insight into the level of state strength and state capacity under each regime. Moreover, this discussion provides the contextual background for analysing the occurrence of vigilantism experienced during apartheid and democracy. A framework compiled for the purpose of this study is used to examine the phenomenon of vigilantism in South Africa in order to identify if and how vigilante groups and their activities have changed from apartheid to democracy. This study focuses on vigilante organisations as non-state actors that take on the roles of the state in various ways and practise a limited degree of social control on the communities in which they operate. Key findings in this study indicates that experiences of vigilantism have differed from apartheid to democracy in the structure of vigilante groups and in the type of vigilantism practised by these groups. Similarities have been found across incidents of vigilantism from apartheid to democracy in the nature and methods used when engaging in vigilante activity. Key findings indicate that the motivations behind vigilante groups, their activities and objectives are context specific, and thus are always changing. Furthermore, this thesis demonstrates that various factors such as inequality, marginalisation, inaccessibility and unresponsive state institutions, as well as complicity by the state and its institutions, act as contributing factors to the continued presence of vigilantism from apartheid to democracy.