Never a coup, but citizens’ distrust of police and military justified

After days of private citizens clashing with looters and taking up arms, there are concerns that the insurrection may have been instigated with the sole intention to destabilise the current government.

Violent riots, which began last week in protest of former President Jacob Zuma’s incarceration, quickly spiraled into one of the biggest looting sprees in the country’s history. At least 117 people have since died from the violence, and preliminary assessments of the damage and looting stand at an estimated R16-billion.

Disappointing Police and Army Response

Residents on the frontlines of several community patrol groups in KwaZulu-Natal have expressed their distrust in the country’s security forces, complaining about the lack of visible policing and the police’s seemingly lacklustre response to distress calls.

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Some videos shared on various social media and instant messaging platforms show police and SANDF members allowing looters to escape with stolen goods. In some instances, there have been accusations of corrupt officials taking part in the brazen thefts.

Private patrollers are concerned that attacks on businesses and state infrastructure are politically motivated and they’re reluctant to hand over control of their safety to the army and police. Patrollers have also expressed fears that the attacks are part of well planned plots aimed at draining communities of their resources, such as food and ammunition

Several pleas for front line patrollers in badly affected areas to conserve ammunition could be heard over live radio feeds used by community guards to respond to distress calls over the past few days.

Fears Justified

Several voice notes and messages widely distributed on community WhatsApp and Telegram Groups point to fears that the country’s security cluster is tainted by Zuma loyalists.

Their worries, according to one analyst, are not entirely far-fetched.

“I don’t think we should patronize ordinary people who we claim don’t have an understanding of politics to reach this conclusion,” said Ebrahim Fakir, Director of Programmes at the Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute.

Also Read: Mass SANDF deployment unrealistic and a little too late

“The levels of trust in security forces is low in general; it’s not necessarily about the alignment to Zuma,” said Fakir.

A 2017 survey by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation showed that only 10-percent of people had a great degree of trust in the legal system. There is also a greater reliance and trust in private security companies than the police, who have garnered somewhat of a reputation of being inept at carrying out their mandate over the years.

Fakir said that fears about the security forces still being politicized are also justified. “Pre-Polokwane, it started happening, and that legacy remains. You can’t expect people to have trust in them when they are incompetent, despite their professed non-politicization.”

Chandre Gould, senior researcher in the Crime and Justice Programme of the Institute for Security Studies, concurs. She said it is important to “acknowledge the high levels of mistrust and the failure of police over many years to build trust with citizens.”

She believes it is also important to acknowledge the failures of the police minister to develop trust with South Africans, and implement recommendations in both the national development plan and from the panel of experts who deliberated the investigation into the Marikana Massacre.

The ministry has failed to implement recommendations from both on how to build trust in police leadership, as well as improve public order policing.

To overcome the current distrust, she says, it is important for “regular, honest, clear communication from police and government right now”.

Ramaphosa Government Threatened

There are also fears that the ANC will recall President Cyril Ramaphosa because criminal factions within the ANC would do anything to avoid facing the music for crimes associated with state capture under the Zuma administration. Fakir said this assumption is also justified.

Also Read: Zuma ‘spook’ Thulani Dlomo hands himself over to police

“They (ANC factions) needed this to happen. Society is destabilised, and now the institutions are distracted from doing the work they were supposed to do.”

Fakir spoke out against the random racial profiling of black people taking place during community patrols. “We understand their fears, uncertainty and frustrations, but that behaviour is inflaming an already volatile situation. They are on the moral high ground at the moment, and they need to keep it.”

Gould said though citizens the right to patrol their communities and defend themselves. They do not, however, have the right to engage in vigilatism.

“The moment that a citizen group uses any force, whether that is physical force, sjamboking, beating suspects, or anything like that, they’ve crossed the line.”

She suggests groups consult lawyers on what is allowed within the bounds of the law, in order to avoid opening themselves up to prosecution.

State of Emergency

There’s been a growing number of calls to declare a state of emergency from citizens and business associations. The South African Canegrowers Association are among those calling for increased military presence.

“KwaZulu-Natal is not only ground zero for the unrest but also the heart of South Africa’s sugar industry,” said the association.

The running total of the damage to South African cane growers currently stands at 353,000 tons of sugarcane lost to arson and a revenue loss of more than R211 million. All sugar mills in the province were forced to cease operations after workers were threatened and the disruption caused by blockages to transport routes. 

“The damage already sustained will cripple the industry long after the unrest has been quelled, resulting in job losses in rural areas where unemployment is rife,” it added.

But Fakir said a state of emergency is not the way to go. “We are already under a state of disaster, and a curfew and they have sufficient powers to do what is necessary.”