The security governance of South Africa has faced immense challenges amid post-apartheid constitutional and political transformations. In many cases, policing and governmental organizations have failed to provide security and other services to the poorest inhabitants. Security Governance, Policing, and Local Capacity explores an experiment that took place in Zwelethemba—located in South Africa’s Western Cape Province—to establish legitimate and effective nonstate security governance within poor urban settlements.
There has been, and continues to be, much reticence to endorsing private forms of security governance that operate outside of state institutions within local communities. Those initiatives have often led to situations where force is used illegally and punishment is dispensed arbitrarily and brutally. This book explores the extent to which this model of mobilizing local knowledge and capacity was able to effectively achieve justice, democracy, accountability, and development in this region.
Whenever possible, the book includes raw data and a thorough analysis of existing information on security governance. Examining this case and its outcome, the authors provide a theoretical analysis of the model used and present a series of design principles for future applications in local security governance. The book concludes that poor communities are a significant source of untapped resources that can, under certain conditions, be mobilized to significantly enhance safety. This volume is an important examination of experimental models and a presentation of new groundbreaking theory on engaging the local community in solving security governance problems.
Introduction. Definitions. Good Security Governance. The Zwelethemba
Road. Reaching Zwelethemba. A Road Block. Roads from Zwelethemba. The Road to
This Book. Justice Through Peace. Justice as Just Deserts. Restorative
Justice: Justice as Healing. Restorative Justice and the Criminal Justice
System. Zwelethembas Justice. Mechanisms for Building Justice Through Peace.
Democracy in Many Places. Shifting Conceptions. Democratic Deficit. Democracy
Blackmail. The Displacement of Politics as a Democratic Requirement.
Zwelethemba and the Displacement of Politics. Zwelethemba and the Challenge
of Building Private Democratic Spaces. Disputes over Property . Social
Disputes. Domestic Disputes. Multiple Accountabilities. AccountabilityWhere
We Have Been. A New Crisis of Accountability?. New Ideas on How to Perceive
and Strengthen Accountability. The Zwelethemba ExperienceAccountability
Mechanisms and Challenges. Communal Accountability. Directly Deliberative
Accountability. Horizontal Accountability. Hierarchical Accountability.
Accountability in Learning Processes. Accountability Through the Market.
Human Rights in Development. No Development Without a Strong State. What Is a
Strong State?. Development and Human Rights. Human Rights. Human Development.
Human Security. Conclusion: Zwelethembas Hope. A Road Block and Beyond?.
References. Appendix. Index.
Jan Froestad is an Associate Professor at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen Norway. Clifford Shearing is the Director of Centre of Criminology, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town.
