The Grahamstown
Police-Community Relations Survey

by

Janine Rauch & Graeme Simpson

Report Commissioned by the Commission on Policing in Grahamstown, April 1993.

Janine Rauch is an independent consultant.

Graeme Simpson is a founder and former Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Introduction

This research was commissioned by the "Commission on Policing in Grahamstown" which was established in September 1992 after a dispute arose between the police and members of the Rini community. The Commission was established under the auspices of the Local Dispute Resolution Committee, itself a structure of the National Peace Accord.

The Commission felt that a proper understanding of the nature of the Grahamstown community and its social problems would be an essential pre-requisite to the development of any form of "community-policing". The Commission therefore requested that the Policing Research Project of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation assist in obtaining the necessary data and developing recommendations.

The researchers found the state of police-community relations in Grahamstown better than in many other parts of the country. The fact that the local black community has begun to engage in a dialogue with the police over issues of crime and policing suggests there is great potential for achieving improvements in the relationship. Although this report focuses on problems with policing, we believe that there is good foundation for further developments in police-community dialogue in Grahamstown. The local SAP particularly impressed us with their enthusiasm for a new style of policing, and the seriousness with which they participated in this study.

The primary research for this study consisted of a number of interviews with "stakeholder groups" in Grahamstown. The interviews were conducted over a two week period in January and February of 1993. The Policing Commission (effectively a subcommittee of the Local Dispute Resolution Committee (LDRC)) hosted and organised the research visit. Interviews with the various groups consisted of a questions relating to the state of police-community relations and perceptions about policing, problems and possible solutions. Sources of the verbatim quotes used in this report are not identified, as respondents were guaranteed anonymity as a condition of participating in the research process. We have attempted to reproduce many of the perceptions expressed without specifically evaluating their correctness or otherwise, so that the Policing Commission is made aware of them. Taking full account of these perceptions will be critical to the process of generating productive police community dialogue.

A further component of the study is a profile of the police organisation in Grahamstown, constructed from interviews with a range of police officers. A number of serving members of the SAP in Grahamstown were interviewed. Some of these were more formal interviews, with senior officers and commanders, and some were less formal group discussions with a range of junior members from various branches. The commanders at the Grahamstown and Rini police stations made their staff available for these discussions. It has not been usual for researchers to gain such co-operation from a police organisation, and we were impressed by the police's willingness to discuss their problems and ideas. Police respondents were asked the same questions about police-community relations, problems and solutions, as all other respondents. However, interviews with the police highlighted a number of internal police organisational issues which are described in a separate section below.

All respondents were questioned on their assessment of the existing police-community liaison forum. As the central component of the SAP's new "community-based policing" approach, the forum is discussed in some detail. In terms of recommendations, we talk about a process of police-community consultation, rather than about "community policing" because we believe that many of the pre-requisites for community policing cannot be met at present and are only likely to be dealt with in the longer term. This does not mean that a process cannot be set in motion in Grahamstown in the interim.

Community Views of Policing

In this section of the report, we list the problems which were raised by the various sectors of the Grahamstown community. Although we would argue that all these sectors need to be seen as part of one community, the reality is that they have had different experiences of policing, and continue to be subject to significantly different living conditions. It is necessary to understand the range of perceptions of the police as a basis for developing a holistic set of recommendations.

Black Community

Mistrust and Lack of Confidence in Police

There is a general mistrust of the police, which is obviously rooted in the history of police practice under apartheid.

Some people who know they are meant to go to the police demonstrate some reluctance in going there because of treatment they have previously received.

We don't really have confidence and trust in the police.

This has resulted in a fundamental communication problem - the people don't communicate with the police; and the police don't know what to do to please the community.

One possible outcome of this situation is that people resort to informal "self-help" measures as a substitute for formal policing.

We would rather protect our own members than put our trust in the SAP.

This latter view was encountered only once in all our interviews with representatives of the black community - in fact, we were encouraged by the respondents' recognition of the role that the police could play in creating security for the community. This is also demonstrative of the fact that the impoverished community has to rely on the state police, because they cannot afford to purchase private security.

Respondents told us that the informal justice structures of the street committees had largely disintegrated in recent years, thus forcing the community to rely on the formal police. It is, in fact this process which led the community to demand better service from the SAP. We suggest that when a community tackles the police directly over issues of safety and service, there is an increased potential for improvement in the police-community relationship.

In contrast to the prevalent views expressed above, a member of the Rini Administration claimed that the Rini Community was appreciative of the actions of the police in the township:

The community from what I have learned from them, they appreciate it. They are responsible people, they appreciate the presence and the actions of the police here in the township because they are also exposed to these radicals and they are complaining about the violence and the intimidation so the visibility of the police is very important to them … . The only complaints are when they don't see regular patrols. They are complaining about that, they would like to see them regularly patrolling the area … to keep the criminals out of the streets.

Police Attitudes

The oft-cited problem of police attitudes is less tangible than many of the other problems raised by black residents of Grahamstown, but an equally serious problem. Respondents complained of racism, sexism and arrogance on the part of the police. Many people felt that it is the older policemen who have problematic attitudes, and that they should be retired or retrenched.

However, there was also some understanding that the police are also the victims of a racist system:

The police force have been trained to see all the black people as enemies. That cannot be changed over a period of 2 years or 3 years.

One of the products of apartheid was the effective separation of the lives of black and white South Africans. This is manifest in the perception that senior, white, police decision-makers have no understanding of life in the black community; and that this ignorance underlies and perpetuates racist attitudes:

The police should go to the township and consider the problems of the people, but they don't.

Our analysis of policing in Grahamstown suggests that deeply ingrained, perhaps subconscious racism underlies the police force's approach to their task. The under-resourcing of policing for the black community is evident in almost every sphere. The lack of energy that has been put into serving the black population's needs obviously has historical and political roots. But, unless it is recognised and addressed, the disparities will continue to generate perceptions that the police are racist.

However, negative perceptions are as deeply ingrained on the side of the community as they are in the police and it is clear that police and community attitudes feed off each other. Because they have not experienced significant changes in police attitudes or police service, black residents continue to feel threatened by the police:

They don't see the police as providing safety - they feel threatened. I think it's a chronic psychological problem.

Police Efficiency

The main problem with the police expressed by black residents is that the police are inefficient in dealing with the problems of crime and social disorder in their community.

Our main problem seems to be the criminals [not unrest]. The complaints of criminals needs no negotiation, except to be arrested and face their charges in a court of law.

When we've reported other problems that we've seen in town, we reported it at the police, but they were saying, no, there is nothing they can they do. They have to catch them in the act. We told them that we are witnesses but they didn't take action on that.

Our main complaint is that when we report a case, many a time they say they can't find the hooligans, the thieves, whatever, and it takes over a year before they get hold of them - when the young fellows [the hooligans] are still in the location.

It's a waste of time going to the police.

We do report cases, but nothing gets done. We do rely on them, but they don't attend to our problems. If we go to them several times and they don't attend to our problems, what must we do?

An important concern was expressed by an administrator in the Rini Council. This concern was that obsessive concern with community relations may actually render the police ineffective.

I'm just worried that the police are so concerned about their image and the relationship [with the community] that they are reluctant in some cases to act when their actions are needed … . Man, what is the use of phoning you and getting you out and you are not prepared to act. The reply you get is that they've got different orders now …

The implication here was that there are times when it is necessary for the police to be unpopular and to take firm action, but where they may be crippled by concern over their "public image." This was specifically attributed to the constraints on police action consequent on the changes in the post-1990 period and the beginning of negotiations.

One of the Rini Town Councillors interviewed blamed inefficient policing even more directly for the problems experienced in the Rini township. His story is instructive and is reproduced here:

I, on the other side, blame the police for what the location is like now. For instance, if you report a case, the robbers, they won't arrest them … . The next thing they come back. Your house will be stoned throughout the night even the following day. You see as the case is now, I was a man who was robbed in broad daylight in my home. My money was taken, I was robbed at the point of a revolver. An assegai was put on my throat, throttled and dragged into my room. I was kicked about so much that even now I am not well … . It is about four months ago. I reported the matter to the police. Even now nothing has been done, they have not looked into the matter. Those boys are still here. I know them. I gave the police their names. They have robbed three people after they attacked me. Nothing has been done. People are afraid to talk, because the robbers are about. If you say anything, you run the risk of being attacked.

These sentiments are matched by a belief that the service provided by the police the white community and in the city, is more efficient than that provided in the black community. This perception is strengthened by the visible disparity in policing resources (both in terms of quality of police officers and in terms of police infrastructure) between the two areas.

While there may be many valid reasons for the lack of progress in a criminal matter, the tension that is currently being generated by police inefficiency could be reduced if the police instituted a more effective system for keeping complainants informed on the progress of their cases. The lack of police follow-up to complainants generates the perception that the police are lazy, unwilling or inefficient in pursuing cases that involve black victims. These perceptions serve to harden negative attitudes towards the police and diminish the chances for better co-operation between police and community.

Police Response Time

The poor police response time to calls from members of the public was an oft-cited complaint, particularly by residents of the township:

When one makes a call to the police, they usually arrive two hours later.

If you have a burglary in the house, and you phone the police to come at once, or a fight, when it is becoming dangerous, it is hours before they come.

We call the police, they get there after two or three days to make an arrest - you get annoyed because every time you phone and tell them to come immediately because there is a skirmish here, they never come.

The problem of poor response time in the township is clearly linked to inadequate resourcing of township policing. It is exacerbated by the situation of the former municipal police, who may be less skilled or less equipped than their SAP colleagues; and by the Internal Stability Unit's (ISU) refusal to get involved in incidents which they pass during routine patrols.

Rapid response time is one of the most common demands of police services around the world; and attention to this problem has been a component of most models of community policing developed elsewhere. The police's response to calls is their first interface with the public over a criminal case, and is crucial in setting the tone of future interactions. If the police impress complainants with efficient service from the outset, public confidence in the police is bound to improve.

Municipal Police

Township residents were almost unanimous in their criticism of the former municipal police who police the township since their incorporation into the SAP. There is a strong perception that these members do not have the same standards of training or service delivery as their counterparts in the SAP in Grahamstown:

They are useless.

You find that they are relaxing there the whole day. After a while you see they are walking in groups to a shebeen; and the government is overtaxing us to pay them. They used to be the Municipal Police, and now the government is paying for them to have a nice time.

It is so bad that people do not report cases to them, they just go to the police in town.

As an ANC representative pointed out, the perceptions of the municipal police are strongly influenced by popular memories of their historical role:

The past does play a role. People remember the municipal police as not being interested in their concerns. They are still not accepted by the people.

Internal Stability Unit

The problems in relation to the introduction of the ISU were listed in a previous report to the LRDC. The LDRC had mediated the issues between the police and a community delegation. However, we found that a number of these issues were again raised by several of the representatives of black community organisations interviewed for this study. Although some mentioned the paramilitary style and the historical role of the riot police as problems, most people were concerned that the ISU seems unwilling to take on normal police duties while they are out on patrol in the township.

One time when we were having problems here, we reported to the police in camouflage. They were standing very close to us. They said, no, there is nothing we can do, just go to the police station.

There is no doubt that the ISU is the most visible face of policing in the township, and yet residents feel that they are being "observed" rather than "served" by this unit. This is partly because of the military approach of the ISU. The detail of organisational differentiation between the ISU and other units of the SAP is not understood by members of the community who simply want good service from all the police.

Lack of Visible, Preventative Policing

Apart from the ISU, residents complained that there is an inadequate visible police presence in the township. They echo, in some senses, the calls made by the white community for "bobbies on the beat". The lack of visible police presence was also related to the police's failure to do effective crime prevention work in the township.

There is, of course, a contradiction implicit in these statements of township residents - on the one hand, the police are not trusted, but on the other, there is a call for a more visible police presence in the township.

The problem with the ISU is that they are visible, but people don't trust them.

Even though we do not trust them, we need them.

This is obviously also a relative demand - relative to the high visibility of the SAP in the city centre of Grahamstown.

Respondents linked the issue of police patrols in the township to the problem of response time:

If there was a patrol (in the township) at least, they would communicate by radio and hopefully they would arrive sooner.

Police Involvement in Gang Violence

We have a group of gangsters here who call themselves the Amashampi. They go around molesting people, rape - going to the schools and pulling the children out, raping them. It's a nasty game.

The gang violence which currently grips the Grahamstown townships is a major source of concern to the black community. Because the police have been ineffective in containing the problem, there is a perception that the police are somehow involved with the gangs. The issue of police action against the gangs has been previously addressed by the LDRC, but we found that many sectors of the black community had not seen any improvement in the situation; and also that some had not been informed about what the outcome of that mediation was.

The reason why we believe that the gangsters are aided by the State, directly or indirectly, is because you find that the gangsters kill people, rape people, but you see them roaming the street, but they have been identified. Or if they are ever caught by the police, they sleep only one night in the prison, the following day you see them in the street.

It is clear that decisions to grant bail, to charge or release offenders, are not made solely by the police; and that many of the perceptions around police inactivity are, in fact, related to the criminal justice system. This suggests the need for better inter-agency co-operation within the system, as well as for improved public education about the criminal justice process.

However, more disturbing are allegations made to researchers about police corruption and involvement with gangs, and police refusal to disarm or arrest suspects. Although it is likely that some of these allegations are rooted in a general mistrust of the police, it is equally likely that there is some material basis for the allegations. With gang violence (especially rape) being one of the black community's central concerns in relation to crime, it is especially important that the police conduct themselves in these cases in such a way as to engender confidence in their ability to control the problem.

Public Education

Many respondents identified public ignorance about crime and the criminal justice system as one of the factors inhibiting the police-community relationship.

Victim Aid

The general disillusionment with levels of police service is reflected in the fact that residents despair that the police will ever be able to deliver effective aid to victims of crime. While people did not necessarily expect that police would be able to solve all criminal cases or address all the damage arising from criminal acts, they do desire a police service that is sympathetic and sensitive. This is particularly stressed in cases of violence against women and children, as these incidents are currently the main source of concern in the township communities.

We need supportive policemen. Nobody is actually taught to listen in the police force.

The lack of attention paid to victims is not only referred to in relation to police attitudes and conduct, but also in relation to the fact that their relationships with other agencies such as welfare organisations and hospitals are not adequate. The 'multi-agency' nature of community policing elsewhere has emphasised the need for co-operation between different institutions if issues of crime prevention and victim aid are to be adequately addressed by the police.

Campaigns around the policing of rape and domestic violence have contributed to the sophistication of community policing strategies (including victim aid) in other parts of the world. The fact that rape and child abuse by gangsters is topping the community agenda in terms of policing in Grahamstown, suggests a strong demand for more "victim-oriented" policing in the town.

Police Misconduct and Abuses

Several respondents in this survey referred to drunkenness, bribe-taking and reckless driving among members of the SAP. Although hard evidence of this problem was impossible to find, we believe that such allegations must be taken seriously and investigated in a manner which will restore community trust in the police. These problems represent not only a failure of ordinary policing, but the failure of the SAP to represent an example in impoverished and marginalised communities - particularly among the youth.

Police Training

They actually cannot take a proper statement. They don't know what they are listening for. They don't know which details are significant. … Listening and interviewing and being able to extract the essence of a story and put it down on paper as a statement - that seems to be a skill eluding most of the police people I've met.

Many respondents felt that the problems and solutions in terms of police practice lie in police training. Many respondents suggested that if the police were trained "differently", the situation would improve. One respondent suggested that the training should "enable" the police officers. Others suggested that a social or community dimension would have to be included in the training:

They have to be taught how to be involved in the community, because they don't understand the needs of the people.

Inequitable Resourcing

The inequitable distribution of police resources is a central and potentially volatile complaint by residents of the black communities. The number of policemen and police vehicles in the centre of Grahamstown far exceeds those in the black communities. The black communities are also far larger than the white community, and therefore require more resources.

This leads to a perception that police resources are distributed according to racial or political criteria, rather than according to need. This serves to reinforce cynicism about the police and to suggest that the SAP are not concerned about ensuring the security of township residents.

Intimidation by Criminals

One of the reasons given for the black community's unwillingness to co-operate with the police or to join the neighbourhood watch is that the criminal element is quite strong and the gangs are quite organised. The result is that there is a real possibility of intimidation by gangsters if one is known to be co-operating with the police. If policing was effective in containing gang activity, and if people felt more confidence in the SAP, this problem could be avoided.

White Community

The concerns of representatives of the white community in respect of policing differ in many respects from those of the members of the black community. Although there are some common concerns, much of the material emanating from the white community focuses on the causes of crime in the area, rather than the problems of the police community relationship. In many respects this is due to the fact that the white community experienced the issue of policing in much less critical terms and was more satisfied with the service which they received. Where problems were raised, these often revolved around perceptions of the relationship between the SAP and the black residents of Grahamstown.

Perceptions of the Community

Informants from white Grahamstown were particularly aware of the divisions within the wider community. One civic representative expressed the hope that a single administration would ultimately unite the community. Another pointed to the divisions even within the white community in the town. In terms of the racial divisions, it was pointed out that these coincided with differential access to resources. It was noted that racial integration was wishful considering that few blacks could afford the cost of living in the white areas. These problems were further complicated by the fact that those groups within white Grahamstown that were concerned to bridge the cultural gap, were constantly confronted by uncertainty as to who were appropriate representative structures within the township community which itself was seen as severely divided. It was also pointed out that the University was a key institution in overcoming all of these problems and in building contact across racial lines. This potential was also seen as inherent in church organisations.

There is a widespread perception in "white" Grahamstown, that the problems of crime and violence are all rooted in the black communities of the town - that Rini and the "coloured" areas are the sources of problems for the residents in the white areas. When asked about the perceptions of the white community in Grahamstown, one member of the Rini administration confirmed this view of the white community. When pressed further on this issue, he also suggested that these perceptions were probably justified.

From the perspective of another informant, this was largely attributable to class rather than simply racial differences within the wider community, emanating mainly from the problem of unemployment in the black areas. It was also pointed out that racist attitudes and an out of date "master-servant relationship" still prevailed in Grahamstown, despite changed attitudes of many of the farmers in the area.

Perceptions of Police-Community Relations

One informant pointed out the dangers of an inclination to romanticise "the community" in forging a policy of community policing or accountability of the police to the community. The divisions within the community made this very difficult. It was argued that in many situations the police find themselves in very difficult situations and yet manage to handle them quite well. There is tendency to focus on the criticisms of policing, but the changing environment makes it very difficult for police on the ground to adapt. The result is that we tend not to accredit them with the successes that are their due. Even where they don't act because of new constraints, there will be interest groups that complain because they are used to relying on "hard" policing methods. An example cited to illustrate this was the Ethiopian Church dispute which permeated communities within and beyond Grahamstown. In one town it was alleged that the police were siding with one side, whilst in another town the opposite was alleged. This interviewee cited the problem of civic activists who historically have insisted on due process of law, and who were to be heard demanding that the police "take action" against one or other faction in the dispute. This makes this a no-win situation for the police.

In this regard it was widely felt by representatives of the white community, that the police have been playing an extremely positive role in the LDRC. However, this is really in the arena of non-political disputes such as the church dispute and the water dispute. It was noted that the problem of trust may well arise again where the police are active in a political context such as in an election situation. Here the legacy and memory of certain high profile policemen may plague their ability to act effectively in a politically volatile context. One interviewee was extremely positive about the role of the SAP at the LDRC, but cautioned that this involved only one or two key individuals. However, she did mention that an extremely positive sign was the initiation of education training workshops run for SAP personnel.

I think the police are often placed in a situation of being de facto mediators and that often is not easy for them.

Generally the representatives of white Grahamstown, including the Ratepayers Association and the municipality, were extremely positive about the role of the police-community liaison forum. As one informant pointed out:

I haven't come across any bad points when I have attended. There has always been a lovely atmosphere, lots of discussion. The people are very informal, and the people who are present have always done their homework.

However, another informant suggested that the police-community liaison forum was little more than a public relations exercise. It was acknowledged that this nonetheless had an important role, but that there was a problem with the nature and content of much of the discussion which took place there. It was also perceived that much of what came out at the forum was initiated by the police - it was largely seen by this informant as being police-dominated. It was recognised that a related problem was the failure of community representatives to invest in the forum with any consistency or regularity. It was also raised that the methods of publicising the meetings were inadequate. Finally, it was suggested that the police who participated in the forums were often inexperienced in running such a thing and it was further suggested that there needs to be some training of police in this regard. For example, it was seen as simply insensitive that the SAP representatives frequently addressed the meetings in Afrikaans.

Few of the journalists interviewed had participated in the police-community liaison forums, but most were under the impression that they were white-dominated and concerned with such issues as neighbourhood watch reportbacks etc. They suggested that the forum had an image as being insensitive to the township policing needs.

Perceptions of Crime

It was claimed that there was very little violent crime in white Grahamstown. Most of the problems were reported by one journalist as being the result of unemployment in the township - petty theft, housebreaking, bag snatching and the like. Members of the Grahamstown Town Council reported that the major problem was the "break-in phenomenon", particularly during the Christmas period when people were not at home. Bag-snatching in town was the other problem related. Store managers were particularly concerned with massive amounts of shop-lifting and the theft of trolleys from the larger retail outlets. One informant claimed that hawkers were a real problem and regularly stole from at least one shop that she was aware of. Those interviewed also complained of vandalism, for example, of parking meters.

It was interesting that women were often perceived as the major victims of this sort of petty crime within Grahamstown. Much of the crime described was also perceived in racial terms - as "black on white crime."

One informant referred to a recent bank robbery in Grahamstown, but said that such crime was completely exceptional. She went on to say that the real problems were with petty crime, but that this nonetheless generated "a bit of a siege mentality" amongst white homeowners, who created fortress-like security behind high walls, burglar bars and alarms etc. The source of the problem was regarded as being unemployment, but this was exacerbated in Grahamstown due to the proximity of the township to the white areas. As noted above, white Grahamstonians ultimately saw the problem as emanating from the township population. This view resonated well with the views of farmers interviewed from the areas surrounding Grahamstown as well.

The other problem which was raised was the problem of "mass action" which was seen as leading to criminal behaviour. This was identified, either in the form of crime during marches, or in the form of intimidation during labour unrest or stayaways. It was considered impossible for the police to effectively combat this sort of subtle intimidation.

Other informants emphasised the levels of domestic violence which was on the increase in the community, but related this mostly to the black community. This too was attributed to the levels of unemployment.

For the farmers who were consulted, the main problem was identified as stock theft. However, depending on the proximity to the township, this became a more general problem of theft of "anything and everything," as well as a great concern with personal safety. As one farmer said:

… stock theft is not new, it is a totally traditional exercise in this area. The part that I find alarming is the way crime is actually becoming much more violent. They treat you with total contempt and we are feeling much more threatened … I walk about with a gun. But still, stock theft causes me more loss than the drought!

Efficiency and Effectiveness of Policing

One informant argued that most people who reported robberies or housebreaking incidents to the SAP at the station, did so for insurance purposes rather than out of any belief that they would ever recover their goods or see the thief caught and prosecuted. Nonetheless, in contrast to many other informants, the interviewees from the Grahamstown Ratepayers Association, praised the rapid response which they received from the SAP in the town.

Another interviewee acknowledged the difficulties which the SAP confronted, especially in respect of solving crime. Nonetheless, he argued that the perception of police inefficiency, whether it was justified or not, was all important as it inhibited the development of more co-operative and productive police-community relations.

For their part, the farmers interviewed were exceptionally positive about the role which the Stock Theft Unit was playing in the area. Problems that were raised, however, included the suggestion that the Stock Theft Unit was hopelessly understaffed and also suffered severely from the transfer of effective policemen who had worked at building a relationship with the farmers. "Every time a new guy came in, he had to start all over again." On the question of personal safety, the farmers interviewed said that the nature of the rural areas demanded that farmers rely more on each other and their neighbours for support than on the police who could never protect them effectively. They explained a kind of farmers support system akin to a neighbourhood watch, which they had set up in the Grahamstown vicinity.

Failures in the Criminal Justice System - The Effect on Policing

White informants from the Ratepayers Association, as well as some of the farmers interviewed, complained bitterly of the counter-productive effects of the early release system and the ease with which accused persons could get out of jail and intimidate witnesses or complainants. In particular it was pointed out that this detrimentally affected the morale of the police, and brought the legal profession into disrepute. One informant added that many of the prosecutors were also to blame because, for example on the question of stock theft:

… they didn't know the difference between a sheep and goat and this sort of incompetence could undermine even the most watertight of cases in the courts.

Some of these interviewees also suggested that there must be greater communication or accountability to complainants about the progress of their cases, so that those affected don't become disillusioned with the role of the police.

It was also recommended that there should be more effective protection of people who press charges or who offer to give information to the police.

The views of these informants were generally that people blamed the police unfairly for these failings which were the responsibility of other branches of the criminal justice system.

Community Education

The representatives of the Grahamstown city Council were generally extremely positive about the role of the SAP in the area and suggested that the various branches of the administration had extremely good working relations with the SAP. Especially the Traffic police worked very closely with the SAP and found them to be utterly reliable and efficient. In this regard it was argued that the SAP had played a vital and constructive role in resolving problems and disputes in relation to the various taxi associations operative in the Grahamstown area.

Even though there was an acknowledgement of the problem of trust of the SAP by members of the black community, this was regarded as a problem of education of this sector of the community and not as an objective problem with police practice.

Problems of Accessibility of the Police

One informant from within the white community was particularly concerned to point out the problem of the new police station in Grahamstown. He argued that it was a big mistake to move from the "user-friendly" police station in New Street, to the new "fortress" that is currently the main police station. He also argued that the SAP's day to day dealings with the public in the charge office were often alienating.

However, what can begin to change is the relationship and the attitude and the behaviour of the police, themselves. If they want people to think of them as being more user-friendly then there are specific changes that must take place on their part, to demonstrate that they are in fact a new organisation.

Some of the white informants suggested that there should always be a senior policeman present in the charge office who could deal with the more sensitive issues which came before him.

Another informant raised some problems with the competence of black constables who staffed the charge office and suggested that she had little confidence in their ability. She went on to suggest that neither they, nor some of the Afrikaans speaking policemen, were comfortable with complainants who spoke english and that this was a real problem. Other members of the white community noted that the police were changing their attitudes and were slowly but surely overcoming the historically political nature of policing and were thus becoming more objective in handling criminal and other sorts of violence.

From the journalists interviewed there were suggestions that the police were sometimes quite slow in responding to requests. They seemed insensitive to the press as a source of information and a vehicle of accountability to the community, and tended to deal with the press when it suited them or when they wanted to publicise an initiative of their own. It was claimed that the police often felt threatened by the interest of the press in particular issues.

Visible Policing

From many of the informants the view of policing over the recent period was extremely positive and appreciative of the changes that had taken place. One quote reflects this view:

I think in the last number of months, the policing in Grahamstown has improved … . With this visible policing, the bobby on the beat, we see them all the time in town, they are pretty widely spread … . Given that the police have a very meagre manpower resource, they are doing the best that they possibly can.

However, other informants emphasised the need for more visible policing, particularly in the form of foot patrols in the city centre. Several parties from within the white community expressed scepticism about plain clothes policing as "this is not visible policing." Once again, the thrust was for a "bobby on the beat" system of policing:

I spoke to the Captain there, and he said: 'well we've got policemen there.' So I said: 'well, I haven't seen them' and he replied that they were in plain clothes. But if you need help you don't know who to run to, and I think it is a deterrent to the thieves just to see that policeman. I don't agree with the plain clothes especially when patrolling the streets.

The Internal Stability Unit

On the question of the deployment of the ISU, this was perceived by some white informants to be a consequence of the failure of the municipal police to be effective in the township and was seen as a supplementary force in this regard. The ISU was seen as a township unit which did not contribute to the visible policing profile of the white areas.

Training and Resourcing

One informant said that it was clear that the police were under-staffed and undertrained. Another suggested that the problem with the police is often one of training coupled to the historical legacy of policing methods. Either way, one of the central problems noted by most of the informants from this sector of the community, was the vital need for intensive training and re-training within the SAP in Grahamstown. This view was reflected in relation to most of the problems that have already been discussed under the headings above. The training of policemen and women at the charge office desk was seen as essential to making policing more accessible to the public. Training was also regarded as essential to the establishment of effective visible policing and the establishment of a "bobby on the beat" type of service. Training was also identified by many of the interviewees as being the vital mechanism through which change in the police force could take place, especially the critical need for educating the lower ranks about new policing strategies and policies. In short, there was no single area canvassed, in which training was not seen as an essential element of change, of increased efficiency and of improved police-community relations.

Constraints on Change

One informant argued that there can be little doubt that public perception of the police is largely negative, but he noted that at least at a management level, there is a clear concern to change. He claimed that in some cases this may be cynically motivated, but for the most part it appears sincere. The most important remaining problem was seen to be how to spread the new approach down the ranks, and this informant argued that intensive training was the only workable method.

An interesting point was made by one of the informants from the white community when she said that one of the key factors in building trust between police and the community representatives, both black and white, resided in the willingness of some of the key police figures to acknowledge the mistakes of the past and the attempt to overcome them in dealing with the future. There was still some residual mistrust in relation to these sorts of high profile policing figures.

The central constraint on appropriate change within the SAP was identified by one of the informants from the white community as being the absence of such mechanisms as rendered police policy and approach visible to the general public. There must be more room for public intervention in the framing of policing priorities and policies. The problem was summarised as one of a lack of accountability. One of the primary solutions to this problem was motivated as being the transformation of selection and recruitment procedures so that members of the wider community saw the police force as a hospitable home with career prospect for themselves. The Churches and the civics were seen as the new recruitment terrain which the police should prioritise in an attempt to change perceptions and prejudices.

In a similar vein, for many of the white informants the simple problem confronted by the SAP was the impossibility of recruiting the right sort of black policemen to police the townships. It was argued that any black township resident who was seen wearing a uniform would be killed. This was even taken to include members of St. Johns or the Red Cross!

It was also argued by some that the national nature of police accountability could act as a liability which inhibited the creativity of local level police responses and initiatives. They were seen as quite literally having to account for every penny expended to the regional and national levels.

Community Involvement in Policing

Another suggestion was that the neighbourhood watch system had to be improved and more community participants had to be recruited.

The DP representative said that a lot had already been done to improve the patrolling of Grahamstown's white suburbs, but that still more could be achieved in this regard. To achieve this, however, the police would need specific training and upgrading of their skills.

Also a push here for police patrols to be less lethally armed.

For one of the farmers interviewed, the police weren't seen as a problem, but it was acknowledged that they simply couldn't cope without community support. To this end he said:

I have no gripe with the police, but what I would like to suggest is that we consider joining the commando and become much more police and civil defence oriented, and bring out staff as well into the whole thing. We've got to regard the criminal as an expendable resource, absolute vermin.

Having said this, one of the farmers interviewed also pointed out that it was an essential responsibility of the police to establish contact and good working relations with the staff employed on the farms if they were to be at all effective.

I do feel that the blacks often are left out of the discussion and they should also actually get involved in police patrolling etc. They shouldn't only patrol from a landowner's point of view. They should involve the blacks so that the blacks immediately … become more involved with them. They shouldn't only come and visit us. They should make a point of talking to the staff. "Do you have any problems? What would you like to see us do?" That sort of thing, you know?

It was nonetheless acknowledged that the blame in this regard was as much at the door of the farmers who excluded their staff, as it was the responsibility of the police.

The Legal Fraternity

A number of officials in the Grahamstown courts were interviewed for this study, as well as various legal practitioners. Because the profession interacts with policing issues on a regular basis, they were considered an important sub-community within the Grahamstown policing survey.

A prominent member of the profession outlined a classic dilemma which affects the policing of black communities such as in Grahamstown. He noted that on one hand, the community is demanding more effective policing and a greater police presence, whilst on the other they are reluctant to co-operate with the police and distrust them. The result, he argued is the failure of many cases brought before the courts because of a reluctance on the part of many township residents to provide information or to step into the witness box. It was suggested that there must be a greater structured participation of community members in combatting crime and it was suggested that the ideal mechanism would probably be some sort of neighbourhood watch in the townships. However, it was pointed out that the danger of such a structure becoming a law unto itself has also to be recognised. The only way that this can be avoided is if two things are done: firstly, there must be a rebuilding of credible and responsible civic structures within the township; and secondly, there must be more effective communication and liaison between community representatives and the police. In any event the critical factor is that there must be a build up of trust between police and the community. It was argued that this trust is essential to the effective operation of the criminal justice system.

Crime

From the perspective of the public prosecutor, the crime rate in Grahamstown is high. He estimated that there were between 200 and 250 new cases coming before the courts each month. Of these, there were only approximately 2 killings per month, many of which ended up as culpable homicide rather than murder charges. The majority of the cases revolved around housebreaking and theft charges, although there were also a large number of rape and sexual assault cases - most of them being domestic/marital abuse.

In the category of violent crime, it was reported that there are few instances of political violence. Most of the violent crime results from domestic conflict and the perceived causes were attributed to general factors such as socio-political circumstances, particularly poverty, which results in high levels of domestic stress. Related to this, another member of the legal profession argued that the township gang phenomenon which had long-term historical roots, continued to pose a serious problem of lawlessness which the police were not really dealing with effectively.

One of the prominent lawyers interviewed argued that the level of police competence in dealing with crime and violence has dropped considerably in the past while. This was attributed to the fact that it is frequently young, under-trained policemen who are being left alone in investigating serious crimes such as murder, rape etc. The inefficiency was regarded as "very worrying," and one case was mentioned where failure to take an alleged rape victim to the doctor, undermined the whole case because there was no medical evidence of the trauma. This informant claimed that the situation was even worse in the police stations in the townships where, he argued, many policemen and women at the charge office were simply incapable of taking down a statement accurately. This potentially served to completely undermine the complainants' cases. He also cited the example of some of his clients who had walked into town to report a matter at the central police station, only to be told that they must go back to the station in the township and report it there.

The Criminal Justice System

A grave problem which was reported is the effect of inadequate policing methods on the public image of the criminal justice system. One source estimated that over half of the dockets before the Senior Public Prosecutor are sent back for more information or for further investigation. In some cases this was attributed to simple disinterest or negligence on the part of the investigating officers - although it would be wrong to generalise, as some of the policemen are known to be extremely impressive and the prosecution staff are particularly knowledgeable about who are the good/reliable policemen.

An important problem which was raised was that black, township-based complainants simply couldn't expect the same enthusiasm or quality of attention in police investigation of their problems. At least three prominent members of the Grahamstown legal establishment suggested a similar racial bias in this regard. One of them said:

I can't say what the reason for that is. If there is a crime being committed and its a white person there is a lot of investigation, but if there is a crime being committed and its a black person, your black officers must go out there … . You don't get the same kind of quality of investigation if the complainant is black. But that attitude is not so much prevalent … . The problem is not so much the individuals, but the infrastructure and how the system works.

Another commented:

Generally speaking, I suppose they don't treat blacks as courteously as they do whites … Its their initial reaction that causes animosity … . In the white areas it [policing] is very good, but from the little bit that I have gathered, it is not so good in the black areas.

Another lawyer noted that even in the context of common law crimes, the lack of trust in the police resulted in a reluctance of members of the public to assist. Similar sentiments were expressed by many of the policemen interviewed as well.

The police were also regarded as being generally inaccessible to the residents of Rini and the police stations in the township are seen by members of the legal profession in Grahamstown as being under-resourced and lacking in infrastructure. Added to this are the beliefs that many of the police present as poor witnesses before the court and many are incapable of taking down proper statements from witnesses. This is frequently due to their lack of training and/or experience. Furthermore, it was reported that police generally give minimal support to victims of violent crimes and are generally disinterested in the complainant once they have taken a statement.

All of these factors, although they go to the question of police "inefficiency", have a direct bearing on the public attitude to the criminal justice system as a whole. Because the system is so reliant on effective and sensitive policing, problems at this level often serve to discredit the entire legal framework of criminal justice. This is compounded by the fact that the police are usually the first and central point of contact between the public and the criminal justice system.

An important consequence of the perceived failure of the criminal justice system was alluded to by the Attorney-General who noted that: where members of the community did co-operate with the police in a particular matter and where this did not result in a conviction, the danger was that members of the community would then take the law into their own hands. Whilst this couldn't be condoned, it must also be seen as a consequence of a loss of faith in the criminal justice system, which may or may not have been a result of inept or inadequate policing.

The causes of the failure of a criminal case before the courts are very hard to ascertain under these circumstances - whether it is due to inadequate policing or whether it is due to a reluctance on the part of the community to participate and co-operate, is seldom if ever detectable. Where there is any indication of corrupt or inadequate investigation by members of the police force, it was pointed out that there are readily available direct channels of communication between the Attorney-General's office and senior police in Grahamstown and these must be used without reserve.

A further point was made that the slow workings of the criminal justice system may itself sometimes serve to frustrate ill-informed members of the community who expect virtually instant justice. The failure of the system to deliver this, sometimes has the reverse effect to that discussed above, in that community members blame the police for the failings of the criminal justice system. Many of the lawyers and officials interviewed argued that the community is generally under-educated about the rights of an accused before the courts, with the result that they are often intolerant of the delays and processes which the criminal justice system demands. Community education about this problem was viewed as vital. People need to know how the system works, they need to understand due process of law - both to avoid the sort of tensions discussed above, as well as to benefit themselves should they ever come before the courts.

The classic example given here was of an alleged rapist who, having been reported to the SAP by members of the community, is seen out on the street the very next day, having secured bail. This was described as an irony of the development of a human rights jurisprudence which sought to protect the accused, but which was not accompanied by adequate witness protection or victim aid programmes. Community misunderstanding of these issues serves to substantially complicate the community-police relationship. Add to this the devastating effects of early release of criminals on police morale, as well as on community perceptions of policing and of the criminal justice system itself.

On the issue of imprisonment, one lawyer raised the problematic issue of the imprisonment of juveniles in the police cells, especially street children. He argued that the police often did not do enough to locate the parents of these children and the result was that they frequently sat in jail.

Police Misconduct

Informants remarked positively that few of the crimes with which police themselves were charged involved crimes of "dishonesty." It was also claimed that investigation of crimes against policemen are generally of a higher-than-average standard, despite the fact that the criminal charges against them were generally for petty crimes such as reckless driving or drunken driving. Nonetheless, it was also pointed out that conviction on these offences seldom saw police being suspended or dismissed.

Another lawyer raised more serious problems with the practice of the SAP policing themselves. He expressed little faith in the internal disciplinary procedures (especially regarding charges of police assault) and argued that this generated further suspicion and mistrust of the SAP. This informant claimed that the problem was even worse where SAP members met charges of assault against them, with charges that the accused was resisting arrest. Pursuit of the truth in these situations is too reliant on SAP investigation of themselves. It was suggested that there must be an independent source of investigation of charges involving police abuse of power. It was also claimed that a high proportion of the complaints about police assault appeared to involve the Internal Stability Unit. The particular interviewee also noted that, in his experience, the success rate in prosecutions of police for assaults was between 80-90% of those charged. However, it was argued that the prosecutions were generally much slower than for ordinary civilians, and that few of the policemen were ever suspended pending the outcome of such prosecutions.

On a slightly different note, one lawyer noted that instances of police violence had dropped off substantially over the last period. He suggested that this was due to a change in police attitude at the managerial level, but that it was no guarantee that the bias and prejudice of the past did not still exist at grassroots level within the force.

In a similar vein, another legal representative argued that a large proportion of the assaults in custody allegedly perpetrated by police, involved younger policemen who were not supervised closely enough. Many of the assaults with which this lawyer had had to deal, took place in the police station over weekends - when senior officers were too often not available. This point was extended saying that it was often impossible to contact a senior policeman on the weekend.

In contrast to the above, a spokesperson for the Attorney-General's office suggested that the internal investigation of policemen by the SAP appeared to be fairly efficient. He did note, however, that it is not standard practice to suspend a policeman pending a criminal charge and this lies within the discretion of the police department. The wide range of charges which occasionally face policemen makes it impossible to stipulate a general rule on suspension pending a charge coming to court.

Perceptions of Police Organisational Problems

A member of the legal profession who has previously represented black policemen, claimed that one of the biggest problems within the SAP is that of racism:

There is a clear division in the police force and most of these black guys seem to feel they are downtrodden by their white counter-parts. Generally there is dissatisfaction amongst black cops.

He went on to argue that these racial tensions were exacerbated by the number of non-residents, sometimes Zulu speakers who were recruited into the force - particularly within the municipal police based at Rini - and who have recently been brought under the control of the SAP. It was suggested that, although these people have to some extent been integrated into the Grahamstown black community, there is a real danger that a community such as this, relatively free of any ethnic tensions, could be infected by national political developments in conjunction with these sorts of short-sighted policing strategies. This was not viewed as a current problem, but as a potential danger in the future, which had not necessarily been foreseen.

Another potential problem which was outlined in terms of the policing "hierarchy" was the danger that any attempts to implement structures and processes of community policing at the local level, would most likely be impeded unless there is approval from above. It was felt that this may even require Ministerial approval. The danger was outlined that if such approval was not obtained, then either police at the local level would be powerless to implement local agreements, or those agreements could later be sabotaged by the Minister or a General who does not approve of the method or of the process. This could serve to discredit the police themselves even further - and could thus be counter productive - or it could discredit community leaders who invest in the programme and who are then unable to deliver anything to their communities.

Proposals

The specific perspective of the legal fraternity in Grahamstown and their particular view of policing through the prism of the courtroom, demands that the suggestions which they made be set out separately from the wider community.

General recommendations, however, included the suggestion that there must be an upgrading of the police station in the township to ensure that it was on a par with the station in town. It was also felt by several members of the profession that there needs to be improved training within the force to ensure that police know that they are supposed to be in the service of the community. It was suggested that practically this might entail raising entry requirements, as well as providing longer and better quality training.

One important suggestion was that there was a need for a fairly senior policeman at the court to work with a member of the public prosecutor's office and to liaise with members of the public who come to find out about the progress of their investigation/case. There is also a need for smoother liaison between the prosecutor and the police so as to avoid the collapse of cases at the last minute or once they come before the courts.

The point was strenuously made by one member of the legal profession that "supervisory committees", ombuds-structures or formal liaison structures could merely blur the realities of police-community relations on the ground. He thus emphasised the need to build better grassroots liaison through senior black policemen and through accountability in terms of decisions made by the police on a day-to-day basis.

Another important suggestion was that it may be important for the Attorney-General's office to be directly involved in the LDRC as well as in the police-community liaison forum or any comparable structures that may be put in place. This was seen as an important way of accrediting the structures, whilst also enabling these forums to grapple with the complexities of the relationship between policing and the criminal justice system.

It was also suggested by some of the members of the legal fraternity that the profession could play an important role in not only police-community liaison, but in scrutiny of policing as well. One person even suggested that lawyers could be involved in a lay visitors' scheme in the police stations - provided this was requested by the community.

On the issue of police abuse of power, one respondent argued that there should always be a senior police officer on duty in the charge office. The critical issue is to ensure that someone responsible and accountable was always available to arrestees as well as to the public. He also suggested that there should be a routine weekly visit by a member of the profession or by some other respected community member (preferably not a magistrate) to the cells to hear any complaints which prisoners, detainees or those awaiting trial may have in respect of their captors.

Without exception, every member of the legal profession consulted in the course of this community survey, expressed concern over the vital need for popular education on the workings and role of the criminal justice system. It was suggested that this should begin at an early age within the schooling system, and should be spread in the realm of adult education as well.

Police Needs and Organisational Problems

Achieving an improvement in the police-community relationship does not only require efforts by the police in terms of their external relationships, but it may also require substantial reorganisation of the internal organisation of the police force in order to make it a more flexible and accessible organisation. This section lists both the external and internal factors which police respondents felt needed attention if the police-community relationship was to be significantly improved.

External Factors Identified by Police Respondents

Political History

The police recognise that the political history of apartheid is largely responsible for the poor relationship between themselves and the community. They are also aware of how difficult it will be to address the long-term problems which apartheid created for policing. As one policeman pointed out:

Even if Mandela is in power, it won't help.

No Co-operation from Witnesses

The police complain that their investigations are hampered by the lack of co-operation from the community, and that witnesses do not readily volunteer. Some police respondents suggested that this is a result of intimidation, but others believed that it simply reflects the community's lack of confidence in the SAP. This is a vicious cycle, because the police's problems in completing investigations, are inevitably reflected in the community's complaints about police inefficiency.

Hostility Towards Police

Some units of the police are more exposed to community aggression towards the police by virtue of their work. These include the SANAB - narcotics - and the ISU. When the narcotics police are making a search, arrest or seizure in the township, the result is invariably that a large, angry crowd forms and expresses aggression towards the police. This has been a problem for the Narcotics police, who see themselves as a specialised investigation unit which should not have to play a central role in the police-community relationship. More lately, they call the ISU for assistance when this sort of situation develops. They are appreciative of the ISU's efforts which usually result in the situation being contained. This example suggests that policing methods themselves may in fact generate further conflict.

Related to this example is the fact that a number of respondents from the black community explicitly proposed to us that the police should not be pursuing cases involving small amounts of marijuana; and that the problems of violent gangsterism are far more deserving of the police's attention. These issues will be at the heart of negotiations between police and community over police priorities and methods.

One of the major dilemmas faced by the police is the tension between demands for, and their own desire to provide, more accessible and 'transparent' policing on one hand, and perceived threats to police coming from certain sectors of the black community (such as militant political groups and heavily armed criminals) on the other. Again, this is a cyclical problem - if the community felt that the police were truly serving their interests, they would not tolerate attacks on the police. But the police need to take the initiative in improving their service in order to win the trust of the community, but they are currently unwilling to do so, for fear of attack or because of perceptions of antagonism towards them.

Public Attitudes

There was a strong perception among police respondents that the onus is now on the community to "change" and to become more involved in policing. This is premised on an assumption that the police have changed as much as is possible under current circumstances.

The public attitudes are what must change - not us.

Leaders in the community must do more to change attitudes.

The biggest problem is that we, the police, are really trying our very best to reach out to the community, but we are not getting the response that we should be getting.

However, these beliefs do not take into account the history of oppressive policing within the community. This means that the onus should be on the police to further extend themselves and to do whatever is necessary to secure community confidence and co-operation. In the foreseeable future, even with substantial political transformation, the police will need to make the necessary concessions to break the impasse in their relationship with the community.

Communication with the Community

Many of the police respondents felt that their main problem is how to communicate with people in the communities which they police. This was expressed most clearly by white police officers as a problem over language - that they do not speak or understand the vernacular language. But the problem is larger than simply one of language, it has to do with forms and styles of communication with which the police are unfamiliar. They also expressed the frustration that their positions and their jobs, prevent them from interacting and communicating with many members of the Grahamstown community, as a consequence of a political history in which they had little or no choice.

Crisis-driven Cooperation

Police respondents assessed their existing community relations strategy as largely crisis-based. When there is an issue of community conflict, then community members are concerned to negotiate with the police. The relationship is therefore ad-hoc, rather than being a continuous open channel for communication and problem-solving. Although the police expressed their frustrations with this situation, we believe that this is a positive indicator that the community are prepared to engage with the police over problems, and that they have a vision of the role that the police can play in reducing social conflicts and ensuring security.

Need for Public Education

The public don't know what policing is about. They don't understand the law.

The police respondents highlighted the need for public education about the policing and the law. There is a need for more education about the criminal justice process, because many members of the community will blame the police for, or expect the police to solve, problems that they experience with other institutions in the criminal justice system. The police are overstretched and not equipped to answer for decisions that are made by other agencies such as the courts and the prosecutors.

Politicisation of Crime

Police respondents feel that the political reform process over the last three years has politicised crime in a new and different way. Expectations created at time of Mandela's release in 1990 have unshackled criminal activity because

… people suddenly thought that they wouldn't go to jail or that they would easily get out of jail if they did.

The combined issues of prisoner release programmes and political indemnity led, in some respondents' views, to a weakening of the deterrent effect of the police and the criminal justice system as a whole. A variety of criminal acts could be claimed as political, thus, in some senses, "justifying" crime. The police found this trend threatening not only because they sense a major increase in crime as a result, but also because it undermines their authority to censure and deter.

No Representative Structures

The police felt that one of the major limitations on any police-community negotiation process is the current lack of truly representative structures in Grahamstown.

The organisations we meet with don't really represent everyone; there are lots of ordinary people who aren't involved in politics.

They suggested that this process may be easier in the future when there is one, democratically elected local administration.

Internal Factors Identified by Police Respondents

Relations with Pretoria

One of the key features of any model of community policing is local flexibility. The local police need to be able to adjust their operations to suit the requirements of the local community. This is very difficult, given the highly centralised and military nature of the SAP. Traditionally, orders have been given from the police head office in Pretoria, and transmitted down the organisation to local stations. Not only is this a slow and cumbersome process, but it also results in miscommunication and poor levels of implementation.

The local SAP often feel constrained by directives from Pretoria, which are inappropriate for their circumstances, but unable to do anything about them. Some respondents indicated that using personal contacts in the upper echelons of the organisation is the only way to get around this problem. However, this generates further problems of accountability when informal networks and relationships are being mobilised. It also means that certain key individuals build power bases which are not necessarily constructive.

The task of decentralising police decision-making is being attempted by the SAP, but so far little has changed for police officers in local stations. The planning and advice that is issued from SAP Head Office is often not applicable to all stations, and police respondents felt that this was a potential danger:

Pretoria think they know everything, but they sit in isolation. It's like the MD of any company. He doesn't see the nuts and bolts down on ground level, the little problems that you experience. And if it is not addressed in the overall plan and catered for, you are going to come a cropper over something very small.

Police Bureaucracy

The SAP is a highly centralised, top-heavy, military-style bureaucracy. The fact that internal communication is slow and inefficient has begun to be recognised both in Grahamstown and at a national level, where a specific department has been established to address the problem.

The red tape in the police force - there is no way, with the best will in the world, there is no way you are going to hurry the process.

The bureaucratic nature of the police organisation has consequences for community relations because complainants become frustrated about how long things take to happen. It is a major contributing factor to the community's perception that the police force is inefficient. This is problematic for the local police in their relationship with the community, because much of the bureaucratic slowness is rooted in the upper levels of the organisation.

But internal communication problems also have consequences within the local police organisation in Grahamstown. The District Commissioner stressed to us that this is a major area of concern, and that certain strategies have already been adopted to improve information flow in the Grahamstown police district.

Some of the junior ranking members interviewed felt that there is a continuing problem of internal communication, that they still do not know what other sectors of the organisation are involved in. This appears to be a particular problem in relation to the community relations work. Some of the junior members had had no information or discussions about the public relations office or the community liaison forum. Some had not even heard of the forum, despite attempts by the senior officers to address all members on the subject at a series of lectures. In fact, the monthly briefing lectures which are organised by the senior managers reflect the problem in microcosm - the lectures are given in Afrikaans, a language which is not well understood by many of the African members of the force.

Transfer Policy

The SAP has traditionally had a policy of transferring staff to different stations or branches after a few years on each job. This was one of the major grievances of the police in terms of conditions of service, and led to many members leaving the force. As a result, this policy has been amended, but vestiges of the system remain. It is not only problematic for the social and personal lives of the police officers concerned, but it also inhibits the development of local knowledge by police personnel. This local knowledge is one of the key characteristics of a good community police officer. Respondents told us that transfers can also adversely affect relationships which have built up between commanding officers and subordinates in particular places or units. The system of transferring police personnel therefore needs to be addressed as one of the organisational prerequisites for community policing.

Racial Tension

Interviews revealed a considerable amount of racial tension within the police organisation in Grahamstown. The friction is felt by both black and white members.

Although they acknowledge that their situation has improved somewhat since the political reforms of 1990, black members still feel disadvantaged within the organisation, and that they are not accorded the same status as white members:

We blacks don't participate in management.

We have no decision-making powers. We just do what we are told.

The senior officers don't understand the black policemen.

Junior white policemen also expressed some awareness of the problem, although this was largely experienced at a social level. In some instances the language which these junior officers used was quite instructive of the implicit history of racial tensions within the organisation.

Nowadays they [the black policemen] are allowed to come to our ball or to join our tea club … but they still don't do it.

The reality is that black policemen are clustered in the lowest ranks of the police force, and in lower-status occupations such as the Municipal police unit and the Police Assistants. This is partly a consequence of previous regulations which prevented black members from being promoted above a certain rank; and partly a product of the historically racist nature of the police's informal culture.

This is a serious problem, not only for the individuals concerned, who experience racism and a lack of opportunities, but also for the public image of the police. Representivity¹ of the police organisation is one of the issues addressed by community policing programmes elsewhere. This is because a more representative police force is more likely to win the confidence of the community. It also means that the police force can utilise all the potential available to it, rather than being constrained by outdated systems of classification and exclusion.

Inadequate Resources

It appears that people's complaints about the poor standard of police service in the townships have some basis in the under-resourcing of township policing.

One police van for the township is simply not adequate for policing between 80 000 and 120 000 people. The new Rini satellite police station had no telephone when we visited. Police radios are reportedly often out of order.

In terms of human resources, some branches operate with extremely heavy workloads, and staff do 100-200 hours of overtime per month to cope with the backlog.

If we accept the District Commissioner's statement that his District is fairly well-staffed, and having discovered severe disparities in resource allocation in the area, we must conclude that the problem lies with the management and distribution of resources. The uneven distribution of policing resources between the white and black communities is a visible source of resentment to the black community, and must therefore be addressed as part of the broad community relations strategy.

Tensions Between Different Units

Police respondents from a range of units and ranks spoke about tensions which exist between the different divisions of the force. The ISU, for example, receives additional reimbursement - a form of "danger pay" - and this generates feelings of dissatisfaction among other units. They also operate under a separate command structure, and, because they are an "out of town" unit, tend not to socialise with the local police. This reinforces the isolation and special status of the ISU.

The former Security Branch - many of whom now work on community relations - still carry the aura of the old days - they are seen as dealing with important confidential matters, and maintain a secretive style. Other members of the force complained that there is no communication about what the community relations work involves.

The municipal police are extremely marginalised. Because they operate under their own commander, and are confined to policing the township, they are isolated from the day-to-day life of the police organisation in Grahamstown. This has resulted in some resentment.

Former Municipal Police

There is no doubt that the municipal police themselves are in a disadvantaged position within the police organisation. The reality is that they generally have lower standards of education and of police training than their SAP counterparts. They are undertrained, mostly limited to policing in the township, given few resources, and have few opportunities for promotion. They operate under a slightly separate command structure and are removed from the general organisational dynamics of the SAP.

Many of the senior officers in the SAP feel that the municipal police are a burden, a legacy of the past for which there is no solution. The fact that senior officers are aware of the low levels of service delivered by the police in the township, suggests that there is some reluctance to take on responsibility for dealing with the problem of the former municipal police at a local level. Instead, there is a belief that the problem will be tackled through national initiatives.

We battled with them [the municipal police] … . We discovered that some of those complaints (in the township) are never attended to. They don't even go out there. They will report back and say that they couldn't find it. Or, when they got there, the complainant was satisfied - you know, that kind of thing. So now I am using the Stability Unit to do exactly the same function. We have brought down our reaction time from about half an hour to about five minutes. Because those guys never know now, who is going to check on them. With the result that we are getting productivity out of them now and we are getting service out of them. Because those guys, let's face it, they were originally there to guard the councillors and the municipality offices. They didn't really have a policing function. They were actually nightwatchmen.

Internal Stability Unit

The community's problems with the ISU have been covered in previous sections above. SAP respondents had some different problems with the unit. Some of the problems revolve around competition between different units within the force; and some around the community reaction to the ISU, which has, in some cases, generated more problems for the local SAP.

There was a marked difference in the perceptions of senior white officers and black policemen who live in the township about the introduction of the ISU. A senior white officer stated categorically that:

… the ISU has been introduced without problems. There hasn't been a single complaint. The ISU have just been doing visible policing.

This flies in the face of the report by LDRC mediators which dealt with problems raised by the community at the introduction of the ISU. Furthermore, a black member of the SAP commented that:

… the riot unit is not a good thing. Most of the community is afraid of them. People think they are SADF killers.

Political Education

Some officers stressed to us the need for political education within the force.

Many policemen are not aware of how important the political changes are. The problem is the police culture, we need to change attitudes.

The police have been denied, like all other South Africans, an opportunity to learn about and practice democracy. This is vital in view of the key role which the police themselves are going to play in managing forthcoming elections and the in the process of transition. No attention has been paid by the SAP in Grahamstown to questions about how they are going to police the elections and protect people's rights to freedom of political expression - and this will require urgent attention within the local SAP.

Sentencing Policy

Police morale is dented by low sentences handed down to criminals whom they have worked hard to arrest. There is a high rate of recidivism (repeat offending). Many offenders get out of prison and back to the local streets soon after they were initially arrested. This process is highly visible to the police in a small town, and has inevitable discouraging effects for the police.

Ill-Disciplined Junior Members

There appears to be real problem with young policemen who "behave like cowboys" and therefore negate all the efforts by senior officers to improve the police's image in the community and to build confidence in the police.

This problem is recognised by both the police and the community. One senior officer explained why so many young policemen were sitting in at the police-community liaison forums:

We get these youngsters (young policemen). We get them to sit in the back. They don't need to say anything, but they must sit in and listen to what we discuss and in which direction we are moving, because it's no use if we are carrying on with a big project and down in the streets they are breaking down everything.

Members of the community complained about the way young officers conduct themselves, and recognised that this must be a problem for the police leadership:

There are senior policemen needing to project a good public image; and junior policemen actually not demonstrating any concern about what kind of image the police are projecting.

New Management Style

Many of the more senior police officers commented on the management style that has been introduced by the current District Commissioner. It was felt that the new approach had improved the organisation and had reduced tensions. However, many of the lowest-ranking policemen expressed the feeling that very little had changed, or that the changes had not impacted on them in any significant manner.

Community Profile

The Grahamstown Community?

In the course of our survey it rapidly became apparent that it was unrealistic to talk of a single Grahamstown community. This despite the perspectives of many of the stakeholder interviewed, that this community, unlike many others in the country, was relatively free of conflict and was significantly cohesive. People described "the community" in very different terms - especially in relation to policing - and it is therefore more realistic to talk about Grahamstown as a range of sub-communities. This reflects the extent to which the wider community is divided and actually quite fractured.

The source of these division was explained in different terms by different people. Some focused on obvious racial divisions, others on political differences or on different socio-economic circumstances. For some of the Rini Town Councillors, these divisions within the wider community were reflected in an imbalance within policing priorities which favoured the white areas over and above the township community. It was proposed that the best solution to this problem was racial integration.

Members of the Grahamstown Town Council claimed that despite the unshackling of the political process and the abolition of racial discrimination on the statute books, there has been little change in the racial profile of the Grahamstown community. There has been virtually no substantial integration of the population outside the University residences, despite the fact that any permits which were sought by blacks seeking to live in white Grahamstown were always granted by the Town Council. Councillors from Rini went further in suggesting that there is still considerable racial tension in Grahamstown as a whole, but that there is growing "goodwill" rooted in the mutual economic dependence of the various sectors of the community. Nonetheless, one informant from Rini noted that:

There is a feeling that Grahamstown is superior, Rini is inferior … in the provision of services. That is where all the crux lies.

Development and Local Government Issues

It is clear that the legacy of apartheid has left many of these racially oriented cleavages within the society. It is equally clear that, to a large extent, racial differences coincide with disparities in lifestyle and, at a collective level, in dramatic disparities in the development or lack of development which different sub-communities are able to enjoy. The social problems which result, impact directly on crime levels, levels of conflict and, most significantly in this context, the climate and context within which policing takes place. For this reason, it is necessary here to briefly canvass these issues so as to properly reflect some of the circumstances within which police community-relations operate.

The overview of local government and developmental issues which follows, is not exhaustive. Indeed, the dearth of updated research on Grahamstown which was available to the researchers, renders a thorough study impossible. Instead, this perspective is, like much of the report thus far, rooted in the perceptions of the stakeholder that have been interviewed. As such, it considers the specific points at which the concerns of local government, development and policing intersect in the various Grahamstown sub-communities.

Nor does this overview ignore the obvious fact that developmental solutions are, by there very nature, long-term solutions which only peripherally involve the SAP. They are nonetheless one of the main sources of conflict within the wider Grahamstown community and, as such, impact on the policing context in the town. Development, job creation and integration appear to be some of the vital pre-requisites for building sound police-community relations in the long term.

Local Government Issues

It is quite clear that many of the problems of policing in the Grahamstown area (and indeed, the differential policing needs within different sub-communities), are related directly to the imbalances in the delivery of services, infrastructural development and the resourcing of these different sub-communities - the delivery of policing services and facilities being one central concern. It was frequently claimed by those interviewed, that the obvious solution was the rationalisation of infrastructural development and the provision of resources - possibly including policing - through the unification of the different local governments and administrations. Equally often there were claims and counter-claims that particular players were stalling or preventing this process from occurring. Some informants claimed that local government bureaucrats were standing in the way of such a "one city" initiative, whilst others claimed that the local government representatives were in favour of the idea, but that it was being stalled by the political parties.

Informants from the Grahamstown Town Council expressed their opinions on this subject. One administrator suggested that although unity in local government and administration was "hoped for", the reality in terms of physical town planning rendered this a less obtainable prospect than was sometimes assumed. Nonetheless, there was a recognition that "there must be co-operation if there is to be any real development." This was regarded as essential in industrial development and job creation, where it was claimed there has already been some co-operation. It was claimed that another area of growing co-operation has been in the delivery of services, despite it being a sphere of high conflict involving boycotts, non-payment of dues as well as water and electricity cut-offs.

Another Grahamstown administrator went on to note that there was sometimes a contradiction between local initiatives (such as the Grahamstown One City Initiative), which were often in advance of national constitutional developments or financial arrangements, and these national processes. Emphasising that they were working outside of the provisions of the Interim Measures Act, members of the Grahamstown Town Council went on to point out that Grahamstown had established its own negotiating forum on local government and had moved towards establishing a single administration. It was claimed that there was some resistance from the Rini Town Council, but that this had largely been sorted out through a bi-lateral negotiation process. The challenge was seen now to be to extend the process and to engage other groups in it.

By contrast, members of the Rini Town Council and administration implied that it was the Grahamstown Town Council that was "dragging its feet" on the issue of negotiating a joint administration. Although it was agreed that there were no obstacles in principle, the nuts and bolts of the practical agreements were taking a considerable period of time.

On the related issue of whether the police should be locally or nationally accountable, that is, whether the police should fall under the control of a new unified local government administration, the white Grahamstown municipal officials expressed positive sentiments about the prospect of a locally controlled police force. However, their main concern was a developmental one in that the town could not afford to pay for such a force.

You can't control such a police force unless you have total control over the purse strings and a small town like Grahamstown could never afford all the policing which this town needs.

A Rini administrator suggested that local level control of the police and decentralised organisation was a positive idea in principle, because this would ensure that local level policing was more responsive to community needs and less hamstrung by bureaucratic and political considerations. Rini Town Councillors, however, expressed a similar concern to that expressed by their white counterparts in the Grahamstown Council. They warned that under-resourced councils such as their own, already suffering a terminal cash-flow crisis, could ill afford an additional financial burden in the form of the obligation to fund local police.

Nonetheless, there was considerable preference expressed by them for the old municipal police who were specifically deployed in the 1980s to protect the councillors. They claimed that since the municipal police had been incorporated into the SAP, the service which they received had deteriorated.

They must start by taking down statements. They must at some stage consult with a certain person who is holding a senior position, they cannot do as they please, they must get orders from that person to say okay you can go … . Now they haven't got a free hand. That is the main cry of the community. Because they are used to quick response that they used to get from the Municipal Police. In fact that has been the order of the day with the SAP, they never respond very quickly … . They wait until something has happened … . The police now are not so effective as they used to be in the past.

From this it appears that these informants were in favour of a locally accountable police force, but that this may have been coloured by the fact that the municipal police of old were specifically deployed for their own protection.

An administrative official in the "coloured" Management Committee suggested that local level control of policing and the definition of policing priorities would be well serviced by the SAP being subject to the control of the local authorities. He suggested that this was an approach adopted in the US which could profitably be transported to the Eastern Cape. However, this informant did sound an important word of warning. He firstly noted that the problem of local financing for such a municipally accountable force (in the context of underdeveloped communities incapable of generating the necessary resources for their local authorities), could only be overcome by the unification of the local government and the rationalisation of the delivery of resources. Secondly, he pointed to the failure of "black on black policing" experiments during the 1980s which had left a legacy of mistrust of the municipal police and the so-called "kitskonstabels". If decentralised policing was to be implemented, he argued, it would have to be clearly distinct in form and orientation from its municipal policing predecessors. The third qualification raised by this informant was the vital need for the professionalisation of the police. In this context he emphasised that local level control should not serve to inhibit the adequate resourcing of the training programmes necessary to this end.

In this context it was suggested by the latter informant that the solution may be regional rather than local control over the police force. This may overcome the problems of financial resourcing through regional rather than local-level rationalisation.

An insightful comment made was that many of the tensions and much of the conflict generated in small towns in the region and even in Grahamstown, was the product of a lack of local and even regional government initiative. One informant claimed that these government structures simply don't have new mechanisms and ways of thinking appropriate to coping with problems connected with communities and with local government problems. The result is that often the police get caught in the middle, having to resolve these disputes and conflict which have been aggravated by bureaucratic conservatism in the structures of local and regional government.

In terms of this, this interviewee expressed some concern at the prospect of local level control over the police if this was via local or regional government structures - unless these structures and their traditional methods were to change quite dramatically. In short, even if it were possible in terms of the SAP, the local government structures don't have the necessary capacity to either fund or regulate policing. At very least, it was mooted, this would take considerable time.

The experience of this policing dilemma - rooted in the dearth of credible or authoritative political structures - relates to a broader problem of the "deregulation of social control" during the era of negotiations which have followed February 1990. The new political style and the priority of negotiating a political settlement, rendered old "hard" policing methods redundant and socially unacceptable. The result was that the methods and structures of policing of the past were being dismantled. The problems arose, however, when a stalled national negotiation process, failed to generate or deliver alternative forms of consensus-based social controls. In other words, the old forms of authority and policing were being discredited and discarded, but no new authority or policing relationships were being framed through the national negotiation process. For many people, it thus appeared as if the society was left with no credible sources of authority, no means by which people could be effectively policed. In this climate, crime was on the increase and the society increasingly appeared to be ruled by lawlessness.

Stated somewhat differently, the unshackling of the political process in the wake of February 1990, demanded that the hard policing of criminalised politics had to stop. Yet, an ironic consequence of the repressive style of policing under apartheid was that it appeared to keep criminal activity partially under control. The result was that the unshackling of the political process referred to above, had the unintended consequence of providing greater space within which not only politicians, but also criminals, could operate. On the ground, the experience of this was sometimes that policing had become less effective and more inefficient than in previous years.

Although it is increasingly likely that there will be some momentum generated in the national negotiation process and that this will touch directly on the status and nature of policing in the country, the creation of new sources of control and accountability will take a long time to be effective at the grassroots level. For this reason, the need to build community-police trust at the local-level and to forge organisational liaison and structures of accountability, is all the more urgent. In the Grahamstown context, this seems to imply a need for some momentum in the plans to develop a single city administration and local authority.

Organisational Development

A central point that was made repeatedly by many of the informants was the urgent need to rebuild local-level and particularly civic organisation. In part, this need was directly bred of the repressive legacy of apartheid policing in the 1980s, during which time local civic organisation and street committees in the African township were perceived as a threat to state security and systematically smashed. In the current climate, the urgent need for - and dearth of - representative and accountable organisation at grassroots level, was widely perceived as a serious problem in developing and building policing institutions which serviced police-community trust. This urgent need for organisational development and capacity building, although not a "hard" developmental issue, is nonetheless a human development aspect which is critical to founding accountable policing structures. In this context, one informant complained that the political organisations could simply no longer control their membership adequately.

More than one informant referred to the lack of accountability of local civic organisation leadership, compounded in some cases by rumours of mismanagement and even corruption. Furthermore, it was claimed that the Ethiopian Church dispute had served to undermine the unifying influence of the church in the black community. As a result there is no authoritative representative structure within the township community that can be referred to with confidence.

Any rooted or accountable developmental programme, which will necessarily entail the investment and allocation of resources, demands the resolution of this organisational problem if it is to avoid the real danger of servicing greater division and conflict within the impoverished communities of Grahamstown. This has already been demonstrated in at least one instance where a substantial IDT subsidised housing programme was stalled due to allegations of mismanagement within the civic.

An even greater problem confronts the black local authority which is plagued by the legacy of popular opposition to them as vehicles of 'reform' in the course of the 1980s and which, even in the view of some of the present councillors, was also the site of much corruption. All of the Rini Town Councillors related how they had been under attack during that period, and how much of the residual resentment remained within the township community.

One informant also pointed out the equally urgent need for organisational development within the SAP as well. Arguing for organisational capacity building, he identified two central problems which he suggested could plague any community policing initiative at the local level in Grahamstown if they were not redressed within the SAP. Firstly he argued that a central problem was the establishment of a Police-community Relations Division as a separate and distinct division within the SAP. He noted that the effect of establishing a separate "Community Development Department" simply meant that this work and this perspective was not in fact integrated into the other major activities of the organisation. He suggested that this problem within the SAP could undermine the central importance of community liaison and accountability within the work of the police. Secondly, he argued that the nature of the national and regional structure of the SAP, its hierarchical and bureaucratic character, meant that priorities and principles established at a national level may well clash fundamentally with the principle of local sensitivity and accountability. This also contributed to an inevitable lack of flexibility of local managers to change the ways in which they operate.

Any lack of trust in the SAP further compounds the lack of credible social authority within the black community and translates easily into a growing disrespect for the law as a whole. This is of great relevance here because of the pervasive perceptions that under- or uneven development, massive unemployment and the inadequate delivery of services etc., all impact directly on both the levels of crime and social conflict within the community, as well as on the framework within which accountable policing is being sought.

Socio-Economic and Infrastructural Development

It was argued by some informants, that the police should be more directly involved in developmental concerns. The point was made by one person interviewed that if the police were called in to deal with natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes, there was no reason why they shouldn't be performing a similar service in the context of developmental issues such as housing and reconstruction. This, it was claimed, would assist in transforming the image of the SAP as a "force" to one of policing as a "community service". It was acknowledged, however, that this would necessitate specific education and training programmes within the SAP to ensure that police were appropriately sensitised to the needs in this arena. (On this issue, see the recommendation below on Multi-Agency Approach.)

There was, however, a strong contrary view expressed which argued that in the current context, and considering the current levels of suspicion of the policing agencies, direct involvement of the police in development and the delivery of services or resources, could well detrimentally pollute developmental initiatives in the context of community mistrust of the police. It was argued by one informant that this was especially dangerous to the prospective establishment of an inter-organisational and politically non-aligned development forum. In any event, the reality is that a key point of contact between the police and affected communities has been via the policing and mediation of conflict over basic developmental issues such as the delivery of water to Rini township, the boycott of services and refusal to pay rates and rentals.

From a developmental perspective, one of the key limits confronted by the Grahamstown community is the fact that the town's main "industry" is education. This clearly places immediate limits on the tax base, resources and the consequent capacity for job creation within a climate of massive unemployment. For the Grahamstown Town Council representatives, as well as for the Rini Town Council members interviewed, this fact was central to the escalating levels of crime and they placed a priority on the generation of industrial growth and job creation in the town. It was noted by one of the informants that not only was there a priority on creating new jobs, but simply on sustaining the number of jobs currently available. He referred, as a case in point, to the closure approximately one year earlier of a substantial employer such as Corobrik.

The assumption that unemployment levels were directly responsible for the levels of crime was a common theme throughout the interviews. The Rini Town Clerk estimated that unemployment in Rini was running at between 80 and 85 percent. A similar figure was given by the Rini Town Councillors, one of whom expressed some mystification as to how people actually survive.

They need to eat. They need to dress up. Some of them need to take their children to school. I don't know how they make it, but somehow …

Another source estimated that there were 12 000 to 15 000 unemployed people in Grahamstown at any time. Unemployment was also reported as being prohibitively high in Grahamstown's "coloured" community.

At a more general level, Grahamstown's white town councillors acknowledged that developmental problems, particularly the delivery of services, actually directly underpinned conflict between and within the Grahamstown sub-communities. They specifically referred here to the dispute over water. It was noted that conflicts such as the water dispute also rapidly translated into racial tensions and became the focal point of "mass action" and public demonstrations, which in turn required the intervention of the police.

This point was reinforced by the Rini councillors who complained that they were confronted by the legacy of apartheid's racially-based uneven development and that their credibility was undermined when the responsibility for self-financing the upgrading and developmental process was imposed on black local authorities in the 1980s. They noted that this had served to politicise a wide range of related civic issues and rendered them open to high levels of conflict. There was considerable resentment of central white government over these and related issues.

The central developmental issue which was raised was the problem of "uncontrolled urbanisation" - compounded by the pervasive effect of the drought and the effective retrenchment of large numbers of farm labourers - in the absence of appropriate facilities to accommodate people and which resulted in the growth of high density squatting communities. At its most simple level, Grahamstown's white town councillors argued that this led to much acquisitive crime including petty stock theft, and demanded a comprehensive programme of upgrading as no other appropriate housing is available. For the Rini Town Council, the problems of uncontrolled squatting were considerably more manifest. In particular there was a history of direct conflict between squatters and the Council over where squatters were allowed to settle. The Council, after a lengthy battle, managed to secure a piece of land for this purpose, but many squatters refused to leave the sites on which they had already established their dwellings. According to one administrator at the Rini Council offices, this was due to political influences and the bad faith of the Grahamstown Civic Association (GRACA). In the end, attempts to forcibly remove the squatters in the course of 1990 failed and several people were killed in the ensuing conflict.

On this issue the Rini Town Councillors once again blamed the short-sightedness of central government:

… the government did away with influx controls. Well and good, we didn't like it ourselves. We were under the impression that if anyone could find a home they must be free like the whites to live there. But the government never thought of adding more houses in the urban areas, to take the new influx - because people perceive the urban areas as those places where life is better … . You will find people in the middle of the night building in the squatter areas. That was the failure of the government. Now it is the baby of the Council to make provision for those people who are squatting. There is no infrastructure provided. No water is provided.

More generally, it was noted by the Rini Town Clerk, as well as by members or the Grahamstown Town Council, that the tensions over facilities and access to resources which arose in relation to the squatting communities posed other serious problems. The hygiene related problems led to greater social tensions within the township and beyond. In the course of attempts to upgrade, competing claims were also perceived as a potential problem which may necessitate policing interventions. A peripherally related problem was that of stock-owners keeping cattle in the urban centre. The requirement that cattle had to be fenced generated much conflict and this was not effectively resolved through negotiations. Of central concern was the fact that there remains a great deal of suspicion over local authority initiatives in this regard - and this is understandable considering the history alluded to above.

Crime

Having thus examined the socio-economic context which most informants claim lie at the root of the crime rate in Grahamstown, it is now appropriate to begin to examine the nature and extent of crime in the town. The police gave the following figures for reported serious crime in the Grahamstown district (not only the city) in 1992:

OFFENCE	NO OF CASES IN 1992	% CHANGE OVER 1991 FIGURES	CLEAR UP RATE
Murder	103	+ 16%	95%
Assault GBH			95%
Rape	250	+ 45%	88%
Housebreaking	2 461	- 10%	30%
Stocktheft	785	+ 160%	23%
Theft	4 102	- 31%	50%
Robbery	211	- 77%	69%
TOTAL CASES	2 108	+ 288%

 

In the context of the developmental concerns expressed earlier, it was claimed by one informant that the social dislocation caused by rapid urbanisation, when combined with high levels of unemployment, generated intense domestic conflict within recently urbanised family units. This interviewee indicated that the traditional kinship networks of the extended family, could simply not endure the degree of pressure exerted by lifestyles and unemployment in the Grahamstown context indefinitely. The stresses and strains of urban life were already seen to be taking their toll in the form of increased domestic conflict, battery of women, child abuse etc. This view is supported by the observations of at least one of the Rini town councillors who saw familial and generational conflict as relating in part to the abolition of influx control. He stated:

… we have been brought up in the streets of the city for years now. But we have never experienced what is happening nowadays. What I can say is that the devil has been turned loose. We've got families who breed juvenile delinquents. Our standard of living has changed due to no influx control. I believe influx control kept the balance of the population of the cities … but everyone is flocking to town now and the problem is that there are those families who are not bringing up their children well in the towns.

It is striking that this dimension of domestic crime, described by a very wide range of stakeholder as the most prolific form of violent crime in the Grahamstown area, does not even feature amongst the police statistics. To some extent this is explicable by the simple fact that much of this domestic crime remains hidden or goes unreported, yet most of the social welfare agencies consulted were more critical of the police in their explanations of this fact. Referring to child abuse, domestic violence and the pervasive influence of alcohol abuse in these crimes, workers at the social welfare agencies complained of a high degree of police incompetence in dealing - or not dealing with this dimension of crime in Grahamstown. This is reflected in the quotes below:

I think there is an unspoken policy that domestic affairs or family matters do not constitute police work. There is an enormous amount of confusion within the police about what their role is. It is often open to interpretation. They should clarify their policy.

The crux of the matter is the difficulty to distinguish between social welfare and criminal matters. Most of our cases seem criminal and so we refer them back to the police and vice-versa. That causes much frustration and social workers also see the police as not willing to co-operate with them.

They should know that the public demands assistance from them, and they should not shrug cases off lightly. Violence in a marital situation is their concern.

The police are sitting at the frontline of a whole system which does not function at all. The domestic matters are particularly disastrous. There's just no action taken or sympathy given.

This is not the exclusive preserve of the police, however. One particularly necessary area for public education is on the whole area of domestic violence. Respondents from the welfare community and the police identified alcohol abuse, unemployment and domestic violence as the major contributing factors to high levels of interpersonal violence. Although it is recognised that policing of the domestic area is difficult, it was felt that the police should play a constructive role in public education around these issues.

Gangs

Another problem related to unemployment and underdevelopment which was raised by many of the informants in the township context, was the problem of youth gangs. A representative of the Rini administration suggested that the problem was a generational one - a breakdown in parental discipline.

That … has changed completely now, they just go as they want to go. The parents don't have authority of the children anymore and in fact they are scared of their children.

Although the explanation of this social disintegration has been related to massive stress placed on extended family and kinship networks by uncontrolled urbanisation, drought and joblessness, it must be noted that at least one interviewee suggested that the breakdown of parental control was also related to the influence of "radicals" within the schools. It was argued that one of the consequences of this was the serious problem of gang formation and criminal youth gang activity. Members of the Rini Town Council claimed that the gang problem is considerably worse than in the past.

The problem of youth gangs was also highlighted by the representative of the Coloured Management Committee, who related the problem of gang formation and activity to the socio-economic problems being experienced within the coloured community - in particular the problem of unemployment coupled with the failure of the education system. He added that not only do kids not have the prospect of employment, but they don't even have adequate sources of entertainment due to the lack of facilities in these underdeveloped black areas. This meant that the problems of unemployment lay not only at the root of gang activity, but at the heart of the problem of drug and alcohol abuse within this sub-community. He went on to suggest that the primary solution must be the creation of jobs, especially through the development of small businesses and possibly with the assistance of the Small Business Development Corporation.

Another informant also referred to the serious gang problem in the coloured areas, arguing that the Bowker Street or "Ghost Town" gang problem was aggravated by rumours and allegations that the police were aligned with one of the gangs involved. However, it should be noted that when the police did intervene and actually shot someone in the dispute, some members of the community were arguing that the SAP did not act firmly enough.

It is interesting to note one community representative's response when asked why the community has allowed the gang problem to continue. She noted that, although the gangs have been around for about three years …

… the community hasn't acted violently against them because we are fearing the situation of Natal, Johannesburg, Transvaal - because if the community acts against them, it means there will be faction fights all over Grahamstown. Grahamstown would be in the same state as Natal and we are fearing that. We want the police to do their part but they seem to have failed.

In dealing with the problem, the police would do well to take seriously the fears thus expressed by community members.

Police-Community Relations: The history of repression

One of the major obstacles facing the SAP is its history. The police were the "professional force in the suppression of resistance to apartheid".² The military and counter-insurgency role of the police was expanded in the 1970s and 1980s and the States of Emergency³ gave them virtually limitless powers. The SAP was notorious for its brutal treatment of suspects and for the racist attitudes of its members.

The States of Emergency, which were still in place when President FW De Klerk announced the sweeping political reforms of 1990, still loom large in people's memories. Emergency regulations were implemented with particular vigour by the police and the military in the Eastern Cape. One respondent in the survey estimated that half the adult male African population of Grahamstown had been detained by the police during the States of Emergency.

The Security Branch of the SAP were at the forefront of the political repression carried out by the police. They were responsible for collecting information on political activity in the area, and for interrogating detainees. Although the old Security Branch has now been renamed the Crime Intelligence Service (CIS/MID), the legacy of suspicion and antagonism towards this section of the police force is still fairly strong. However, the researchers found that a significant proportion of the respondents surveyed in Grahamstown were, in fact, prepared to work with those same policemen who had detained and interrogated them a few years previously.

The more public face of policing in the townships during the Emergency was the ubiquitous Casspir of the riot squad. The police and the SADF controlled the township community using military tactics such as curfews and house-to-house searches. There was no "ordinary" policing of the township, and much of the criminal activity in Rini was dealt by the informal street committee structures of the UDF/Civic.