Policing the Transformation: New Issues in South Africa`s Crime Debate

This monograph by the Institute for Security Studies examines the complexities of crime in South Africa, highlighting the limitations of official statistics and the regional variations in criminality. It argues that crime is a multifaceted problem requiring localized strategies and announces a comprehensive research project by the Institute for Defence Policy to address critical gaps in policy data and emerging security concerns.

• Official crime statistics in South Africa are limited because they rely on a two-stage process of reporting and recording, and victimisation surveys indicate that levels of unrecorded crime are substantial.
• While there is a perception that crime only rose after 1990, serious crimes such as murder, robbery, and housebreaking actually began increasing in the mid-1980s, with a further marked increase between 1990 and 1994.
• South Africa experiences extreme levels of violent crime, with approximately 21,000 crime-related deaths in 1995. The rate of 57 violent deaths per 100,000 people is nearly six times higher than that of the United States.
• Crime patterns vary significantly by region in South Africa: the Northern Transvaal has high property crime but low violence; KwaZulu-Natal has high levels of both; the Northern and Western Cape have high assault rates; the Free State has the lowest reported rates; and vehicle hijacking is concentrated almost entirely in Gauteng.
• The Institute for Defence Policy, supported by the Ministry of Safety and Security, has launched a research project to address policy gaps. Key areas of focus include private policing, crime prevention strategies, victim support, metropolitan policing, white collar crime, and organised crime.

APA

Shaw, M., & Camerer, L. (n.d.). Policing the Transformation: New Issues in South Africa`s Crime Debate. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-no-3-policing-the-transformation-new-issues-in-south-africas-crime-debate-mark-shaw-and-lala-camerer

Chicago

Shaw, Mark, and Lala Camerer. Policing the Transformation: New Issues in South Africa`s Crime Debate. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-no-3-policing-the-transformation-new-issues-in-south-africas-crime-debate-mark-shaw-and-lala-camerer.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shaw |first1=Mark |last2=Camerer |first2=Lala |title=Policing the Transformation: New Issues in South Africa`s Crime Debate |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-no-3-policing-the-transformation-new-issues-in-south-africas-crime-debate-mark-shaw-and-lala-camerer |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shawndpolicing, author = {Shaw, Mark and Camerer, Lala}, title = {{Policing the Transformation: New Issues in South Africa`s Crime Debate}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-no-3-policing-the-transformation-new-issues-in-south-africas-crime-debate-mark-shaw-and-lala-camerer}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }