October 24, 2022
Omowunmi Isafiade, University of the Western Cape
Predictive policing has improved in leaps and bounds and become increasingly automated thanks to big data, data mining and powerful computers.
August 23, 2022
Activists and scholars must rethink their neglect of male victims if South Africa is to better understand and resist sexual violence.
July 3, 2022
Nicky Falkof, University of the Witwatersrand
In 2013 stories emerged of gangs stealing plasma TV screens to use to make street drugs. It’s a myth, but it tells us something about South Africa’s social anxieties.
March 16, 2022
A migrant’s dream is tied to the dreams of their family, the analysis found. The same is true of their actions.
March 13, 2022
Dating on apps is the new reality, but do they really make dating easier? A Cape Town study finds Tinder complicates it further.
March 1, 2022
The study revealed a link between youth, troubled behaviour and a lack of access to recreational spaces in marginalised communities.
February 11, 2022
As the July 2021 unrest and looting graphically showed, crime and lawlessness can debilitate and destroy government efforts to facilitate and support economic growth.
February 3, 2022
The study showed couch patrolling was more common than foot patrols - with social media influencing fears and suspicions.
November 17, 2021
China has been very successful at crime control while South Africa has neglected rehabilitation and failed dismally at resettling ex-offenders.
February 26, 2019
Andrew Lawrence, University of the Witwatersrand
Guaranteeing unemployed South Africans a job at the minimum wage would have a range of positive outcomes for the economy.
October 31, 2017
Poor leadership in crime intelligence and a struggling detective service are affecting the ability of South Africa - where a murder happens every 28 minutes - to bring down crime.
September 9, 2016
South Africa has stubbornly high rates of violent crime. More concerning, though, is that the latest crime stats suggest the recent increase in murders is not slowing - it may even continue.
August 28, 2016
Anine Kriegler, University of Cape Town and Mark Shaw, University of Cape Town
South Africa releases crime statistics once a year. Politicians interpret them according to their particular agendas. Here’s a guide to what to look for and how to make sense of the trends.
August 11, 2016
The ghost of ‘Khwezi’ – the woman who accused Jacob Zuma of rape in 2006 – continues to haunt him, just as the spectre of rape continues to haunt South Africa.
February 19, 2016
Dee Smythe, University of Cape Town
Rape complainants who are perceived to have precipitated their own victimisation, whether through their conduct or their relationship to the perpetrator, are at a particular disadvantage.
September 12, 2014
South African paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found not guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The presiding judge, Thokozile Masipa, found him guilty, though, of culpable…
September 12, 2014
Oscar Pistorius has been cleared of premeditated murder charges, but found guilty of culpable homicide – a crime for which he could face a possible 15 years behind bars. He has also been found guilty of…
September 9, 2014
Bill Dixon, University of Nottingham
After six months of courtroom drama relayed around the world, Judge Thokozile Masipa has reached her verdict on Oscar Pistorius: not guilty of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, but guilty of her “culpable…
May 14, 2014
Lisa Vetten, University of the Witwatersrand
Who is responsible for violence towards women? This question runs like a thread through some of the public discourses swirling around the trial of athlete Oscar Pistorius. In some ways he represents an…
April 17, 2014
Anton Harber, University of the Witwatersrand
The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius is changing South Africa’s media ecology. It is the country’s first criminal trial to be covered fully on social media and live television, and both journalists and…
