Shanta Balgobind Singh’s research while affiliated with University of KwaZulu-Natal and other places

Homicide remains a major cause of death globally. The global risk differentials are a persistent public health challenge. Africa’s homicide rate of 13 victims per 100,000 people is markedly higher than the European average (2.2 per 100,000 people). To understand the causes of such large differences, homicide research needs to move from country-level rates to disaggregated analyses in which homicide is broken down by victim, offender, and incident characteristics. We conducted a pilot study in which the European Homicide Monitor (EHM) coding manual is applied to a South African research location and compared to an extreme point in the Global North, Finnish urban areas. We find differential patterns in the two locations. The high-rate context of South Africa manifests a younger offender and victim age structure, a higher share of criminal and revenge motives and the use of firearms, and incidents in public places. In contrast, the comparatively low-rate Finnish context shows a higher relative share of intimate partner violence and familial incidents taking place in private places. The role of alcohol and drugs appears more salient in Finnish urban homicide, a finding calling for replication. We conclude by discussing the methodological challenges revealed by the pilot comparison.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the daily loss of lives, changing people’s mobility and relatedness, as well as bringing about disruption and transformation of health, education, economic, and cultural systems globally. The pandemic mitigation strategies, which encompassed domestic isolation, intensified household interactions and activities. Recent global studies indicate that the pandemic exposed long-standing inequities and vulnerabilities of systematically marginalized groups. It has also been argued that in academia the professional disenfranchisement and rights conflict between genders encompass differences in workload and professional support. In the South African higher education context, the pandemic created uncertainties for academic mothers who not only navigated these roles but who had diverse lived experiences of fluctuating COVID-19 infection rates and lockdown restrictions, changing household spatial arrangements, financial constraints, mental health challenges and the impact of civil unrest at the time. The disparate toll of the pandemic on academics, specifically those parenting children, performing gender-based household roles while simultaneously engaging in multiple academic duties, requires more attention in the South African context. This research article presents two autoethnographic accounts of the professional and social challenges experienced during various phases of the lockdown.

It is in the best interest of community members and policy makers to comprehend not only which crime prevention methods are most effective, but also where they are appropriate to apply. This study aimed at exploring the spatial distribution of burglary at residential premises in the Newlands East policing precinct. This was deemed necessary as residential burglary had been reported as the highest property-related crime in the study area for the five-year period (2015-2019) preceding the study. To ensure that the aim of this study was achieved, a qualitative research approach was utilised which assisted the researcher to focus on the spatial assessment of burglary at residential premises in the Newlands East policing precinct. Data collection was achieved by means of Focus Group Discussions and semi-structured interviews that involved a total of thirty-seven participants comprising of South African Police Service members, Community Policing Forum representatives, local Ward councillors, and ordinary community members. A set of pre-determined questions was used that enabled the researcher to explore themes and elicit responses that focused on achieving the objectives of the study. The findings of the study indicated that burglaries in the study area occurred spatially. This means that burglaries are highly concentrated at specific residential premises, particularly in the Newlands West area. The findings also indicated that various factors at local community level were instrumental in instigating this crime, and it is thus argued that SAPS and CPF members need to work collaboratively to develop strategies to curb the spatial distribution of burglaries in the study area. These findings suggest that a more concerted effort is required to forge collaboration among the government, the SAPS, and the community to effectively curb burglaries at residential premises. New evidence also highlights the role of construction/development companies as role-players in the fight against the scourge of residential burglaries.

It is in the best interest of the South African Police Services (SAPS) to assess the effectiveness of the current strategies which they are employing to respond to burglaries at residential premises in South Africa, this knowledge would assist in addressing burglaries more effectively in the future. This study aimed to contribute to this knowledge by evaluating the current strategies which the SAPS in the Newlands East policing precinct are utilizing to respond to burglaries in the study area. This was deemed necessary as residential burglary had been reported as the highest property-related crime in the study area for the five years (2015-2019) preceding the study. In ensuring that the aim of this study was achieved, the qualitative research design was used, which assisted the researcher to focus on exploring the views of the SAPS members on the current strategies they are employing to respond to burglaries. Data collection for this study was based on semi-structured interviews conducted on an individual basis with selected participants. It combined a set of pre-determined questions that enabled the interviewer to explore further particular themes and responses. The findings of this study revealed that the South African Police Service as well as the Community Policing Forum in the study area have implemented some viable strategies to combat burglary at residential premises. However, these strategies are not entirely effective due to limited manpower and limited vehicles allocated to the police station. These findings suggest that there is an urgent need for the government to intervene by increasing the SAPS budget so that more vehicles and manpower may be deployed to local police stations. This would assist the SAPS to effectively respond to burglaries at residential premises in the study area.

The National Development Plan (NDP) recognises that crime and violence is not just a security issue, but it is multi-faceted and has deep social and economic roots and consequences. Addressing these cannot be seen as the mandate of the criminal justice system alone, but rather requires the involvement of all government departments, particularly those within the social and economic clusters (National Development Plan, Vision 2030). This chapter wanted to analyse how the South African Police Service (SAPS) was implementing the NDP Vision 2030 in building safer communities. In addition, it examined the attitudes and perceptions of actors and implementers regarding the NDP implementation within the SAPS. It further examined the challenges the SAPS experienced and the progress it made in implementing the five priority areas for building safer communities. The study adopted a mixed methodology as both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed. Literature and document analysis and reviews were conducted. The raw data gathered from the quantitative approach were captured on the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) system and recorded. The data gathered from the qualitative approach were grouped, categorised, and themed. Eventually, they were analysed and interpreted. The findings of the study confirmed that the NDP was not without deep-rooted crises and factors influencing policy implementation in SA. These crises included failure to translate policies into long-term plans and a lack of planning systems and competencies to implement policies. There were many legislative, policy, and strategic response trajectories towards building safer communities in place, but there was a lack of institutionalisation, monitoring and evaluation of their impact on community safety.KeywordsCommunity safetyCriminal justice systemCrime preventionCommunity policingNational Development PlanPolicy implementation