This report considers the feasibility of establishing a Victim Compensation Scheme (VCS) in South Africa. It begins by providing an overview of the nature and extent of violent crime in the country. This is considered critical to understanding the foundation…
"I don't know if you've seen Yizo Yizo?" asks Morris (not his real name), a recently released ex-prisoner who has spent close to three decades in South African prisons. He is explaining to us how inmates can tell which of…
The BBC programme "Cage of Dreams" screened on Special Assignment on Tuesday 22 May 2001 illustrates the extent to which violence has become an institutional culture within prisons. The prison authorities have done little more than contain the levels of…
Following previous reports that illustrate how two of South Africa's epidemics – violence against women and HIV/AIDS – may be converging in new and lethal ways. This report documents findings and argues that, to date (2001), rape-related concerns have driven…
Last year's Christmas Day assassination of a married couple Yusuf and Fahiema Enous who were to testify as witnesses in a Pagad related bombing trial made headline news for a couple of important reasons. On top of the horrific nature…
An appreciation of human rights has failed to take proper root throughout the SAPS despite the transformation that has so far taken place. Key indicators that reflect this unfortunate reality can be found in the problems of racism, brutality and…