Reconfiguring State and Non-State Actors in the Provision of Safety in (South) Africa: Implications for Bottom-Up Policing Arrangements and for Donor Funding

Abstract

In this article we seek to move beyond conventional understanding of the state as the central provider of security and justice to think in a broader way about what donors might do to improve policing. We take a critical look at the nature of the state in South Africa today with an emphasis on policing being delivered through pluralized arrangements of state and non-state actors. Given that non-state actors carry out most forms of ‘everyday policing’ (Buur and Jensen 2004), we address the question of how the South African state might best position itself in this plural world. We argue for a circumscribed role for the public police that can both complement and strengthen everyday policing arrangements. We further argue that this policing system, broadly defined, be ‘anchored’ (Loader and Walker, 2007) at the local level through a municipal structure of strategic planning and regulation. We suggest some implications of this framework for international donor funding.