Predicting criminal activity is difficult, and dependent on contested theories. However, a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, multi-agency approach has been shown to work best. This Institute of Security Studies book looks at some approaches taken towards the implementation of crime prevention in South Africa, and draws lessons from them. It was written for practitioners, particularly those in government and non-governmental organisations.
The dynamics of managing different political agendas and perspectives, competition between agencies, power relations and authority within and between agencies, access to decision making processes, different working procedures and accountability are often ignored when looking at crime prevention. In South Africa, the implementation of crime prevention policy has had an inauspicious start, and has been marred by some of these problems. The White Paper on Safety and Security has not been implemented in a systematic way. The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) has been compromised by the differing political needs of new politicians as well as bureaucratic competition in the Department of Safety and Security. The NCPS focused on criminal justice and policing projects as opposed to prevention projects and few of its initiatives were implemented at the local level.
There is a wide gap between policy and practice in crime prevention in South Africa, and this can be attributed to the general failure of policy to take into account the requirements of implementation. Key findings are that:
- The NCPS did not provide a detailed implementation programme and did not allocate dedicated funding to implementation. Operational plans of the police now drive crime prevention in the country.
- Sporadic interventions have been implemented in major cities with the assistance of donors and private sponsorships. However, most have focused on the easier-to-do and politically rewarding activities.
- In smaller towns, where there is a lack of resources and capacity issues, crime prevention interventions tend to be small-scale and driven independently of the local government (often by donor agencies.
- There have been attempts to facilitate and enhance co-operation between various government departments and other agencies.
- The Community Safety Forums and Partners in Policing Programme brought together role-players as potential partners and provided a means of sharing information.
- Much crime prevention practice in South Africa would be improved by prior assessment of what is actually required to make individual projects work.
The adoption of policy models from the developed West do not work as they are based on systems that are strong in the West but weak in South Africa. An assessment of feasibility could have been undertaken first. Key recommendations are that:
- Crime prevention strategies should focus initially on strengthening basic service delivery in government departments that are central to crime prevention such as welfare, health, education, police, courts and prisons.
- A national crime prevention centre in South Africa should be established to provide leadership, develop an implementation strategy, stimulate partnerships and ensure the policies of other departments contribute to an overall strategy.
- Good prevention practice requires programmes with both long- and short-term components.
- Crime prevention policies should integrate policing, justice and developmental projects.
- The concepts of safety and crime prevention ought to be reconceptualised as social health issues.
- Crime prevention partnerships should be strategic alliances founded and developed on the value each partner brings towards meeting the overall purpose of the programme or project.
