A Decade of Crime Prevention in South Africa: From a national strategy to a local challenge

Abstract

Launched in May of 1996, the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) was billed as a holistic national strategy for reducing crime in South Africa. It emerged from the deliberations and research of a multi-disciplinary team of experts from the state and civil society who were tasked with forging a long term strategy to focus the state's attention on addressing the root causes of crime in the country. This was premised on the understanding that to effectively reduce crime, an approach that included, but went beyond, the criminal justice system was required. Drawing on international experience the NCPS propagated a strategy that advocated a 'developmental' approach to the prevention of crime. This required that crime be seen as a broader 'social' challenge rather than purely a security one. Consequently, 'crime prevention' in its true sense meant addressing the socio-economic and environmental factors that gave rise to crime rather than only enforcing the law after it had occurred. However, by the year 2000 the overall vision of the NCPS had dissipated as the state responded to the pressure from a crime embattled populace by declaring 'war on crime'. This resulted in governments' primary focus and resources being directed to the institutions of the criminal justice system and the term 'crime prevention; has become synonymous with policing.

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