Policing in a failing state: An impossible mission

Abstract

The political interference and poor governance lead to a weak police service that fails to provide safety and security to communities. This exposes people to crime and criminality and makes them lose trust in the police, compelling them to take the law into their own hands. A weak state paralyses the police, and a paralysed police service reflect a weak state. This study analysed books, articles, and print and electronic media to determine whether South Africa exhibits some of the characteristics of a failing state, and what impact this has on the police and policing in the country. The failure of the state at any level – such as the inability of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to speedily disburse financial aid to students, municipalities’ incapacity to render services to communities, and the police’s powerlessness in dealing with high crime rates – leads to public discontent, anger and frustration, which tend to be expressed through violent protests. The policing of these protests is often criticised as being either indecisive or brutal, thus presenting a continuous challenge to police leadership on how to strike a sensitive balance between indecisiveness and brutality.