Kangaroo courts and vigilantism cannot be tolerated

The scourge of vigilantism in South Africa – provocateurs spurring ordinary folk to take the law into their own hands by attacking foreigners from other parts of Africa who have migrated in search of work and a better life – is taken up by Accountability Now’s Advocate Paul Hoffman SC, who says it is a sign of a dysfunctional criminal justice administration. ‘The current surge in vigilantism would appear to be due not only to ignorance but to the perceived failure of the state to properly discharge its duty through the efficient administration of the criminal justice system to ensure that criminals are apprehended and convicted as necessary conditions precedent to their punishment.’ In his opinion piece on the Daily Maverick site, Hoffman adds the focus is on those in illegal forms of employment and those involved in the illicit drug trade. ‘Our porous borders are at the root of the influx of undocumented immigrants from other African states in which conditions on the ground are more parlous than those in SA.’ He points to the two basic duties of governments in modern nation states: to protect the country against foreign aggression; and to protect and secure inhabitants of the state and their property by the prevention, combating and investigation of crime and the maintenance of public order. However, he says the courts – staffed by relatively ever fewer judges – are inundated and inadequately resourced while correctional facilities are corrupt and overcrowded and where criminality is promoted rather than corrected. ‘Rehabilitation of offenders is the exception, not the rule.’

Hoffman says in the absence of adequate state protection, lynch mobs, self-appointed vigilante groups and ‘kangaroo courts’ gain in popularity to the great prejudice of the institutions of state. He cites former Supfeme Court of Appeal Justice Mahomed Navsa: ‘Law and order break down even further with catastrophic consequences when vigilante action is resorted to… Ignoble methods can never serve an ostensibly noble cause. Law enforcement agencies will do well to note that inaction and apathy on their part lead to this kind of behaviour.’ Hoffman argues it is the task of government to nurture respect for the rule of law in all inhabitants of the land. ‘This is best done by creating a standard of law enforcement under which people do not feel the need to resort to self-help and vigilantism.’ Hoffman says the Ministry of Justice’s ‘massive new investment of human and material resources in the criminal justice system’ is is needed to stop the anarchy and chaos that flow from unchecked vigilante action. He points to to the Rule of Law Index of the World Justice Project, noting SA scores very poorly on the ‘court access without undue procedural hurdles, judicial officers of sufficient number and competence, and crimes against persons prohibited and punished’ sub-factors of the index. He adds these aspects need attention if ‘bundu courts’ and vigilante gangs are to be effectively put out of business.

Full opinion piece on the Daily Maverick site