In the aftermath of the terrifying looting, deathly violence and arson last month, one of the first priorities for the state to restore its authority, legitimacy and credibility is to reclaim confidence in its ability to protect the lives of ordinary citizens.
This has to be done to perform the functions of the state, such as introducing new policies or imposing new taxes.
The most frightening image during the 72 hours of unrest was the state appearing to be unable to protect the lives, property and infrastructure of the country. SA resembled a failed state with no government — such as Somalia, the Congo or Afghanistan — characterised by chaos, disorder and fear, where marauding gangs mete out arbitrary violence against citizens who have no protection.
Citizens, business owners and communities were left to fend for themselves, having to set up impromptu self-defence structures, arming themselves with anything from spades and cricket bats to guns to protect their families, businesses and properties against the looters. Even taxi associations were roped in to protect private property.
The first responsibility of a recognised state is to protect the lives of people, property and infrastructure from harm from non-state actors — or from rogue elements of the state itself. The idea of a state or government has its origins in the need to protect communities from violence, and to ensure law and order. After the looting, confidence in the South African state to protect lives, property and businesses was shattered.
The impotence of the state during the looting fractured the relationship between the state and ordinary citizens so fundamentally that a business-as-usual relationship between state and citizens — as if the looting did not take place, which appears to be the approach taken by many ANC and government leaders — won’t pass muster.
The failure has shattered the credibility, authority and legitimacy of the state to impose its will in other areas, such as proposing new policies, new taxes or new projects. The state’s inability to protect citizens creates a climate of insecurity, which drives people and businesses with the means to emigrate to take their skills and investments and leave.
And it deters foreign capital, investment and skills as well. Generally, in a democracy where such cataclysmic state failures take place, either the government calls for early elections to seek a new mandate or citizens vote for new leaders and a new government with renewed legitimacy.
Whatever the case, the state has to initiate an active programme to reclaim the confidence of ordinary citizens, which starts with improving the performance of the largely ineffective police. It is deeply disturbing that President Cyril Ramaphosa did not fire police minister Bheki Cele or national police commissioner Khehla Sitole.
The police service must be made more effective. The corrupt, the incompetent and the “politicians” in the police service have to be fired. Merit has to be brought into appointments and promotions.
SA needs an all-of-society approach to policing, which brings business, civil society and communities together with the police to bring down crime
More professionals should be recruited into the service. Specialist units devoted to rural protection, women and children, crime intelligence, serious and violent crimes — which have either been dismantled or downgraded — should be beefed up. Community police assistants based in the areas where they live should be recruited, which would create jobs, cut poverty and address high-level crimes.
SA needs an all-of-society approach to policing, which brings business, civil society and communities together with the police to bring down crime. Police community protection forums, in most cases absent or not operating, should be established in every community to get ordinary citizens involved in helping the police restore law and order.
The police have to stop the typical African “failed state” policing approach of setting up roadblocks to search cars, and replace the practice with a visible presence within communities, including conducting regular foot patrols. In future, when the rule of law collapses in an area, the government must declare a state of emergency and immediately deploy the army. The army must then be brought into these areas to restore the rule of law.
• Gumede is associate professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand and author of 'Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times' (Tafelberg)
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