Reducing violence in South Africa

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies examines the challenges and opportunities for funding primary violence prevention programmes in South Africa. It details the government's budgeting and costing processes, highlighting the difficulties of securing funds in a constrained economic climate where resources are often reprioritised from non-core areas.

• South Africa's current economic climate and shrinking national budget create significant challenges for funding primary violence prevention programmes, as budgets at all levels of government are under pressure.
• The government distinguishes between costing, which estimates resource requirements without fiscal constraints, and budgeting, which allocates limited resources based on political contestation and priorities.
• Funding for violence prevention is complicated by the fact that responsibility is split across different government departments, which are grouped into separate 'function groups' during the budget process.
• Because the National Treasury has moved away from allocating additional funds and instead focuses on cost pressures and reprioritisation, violence prevention must be framed as a 'core' priority to secure funds from non-core areas.
• A successful budget bid for violence prevention requires credible implementation plans, a clear theory of change, and evidence of measurable results, though the long-term nature of prevention outcomes often clashes with the three-year Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) cycle.
• While the national government can use conditional grants to force provinces to prioritise violence prevention, the authors argue that advocacy and the regulation of uniform norms and standards are more effective and constitutionally appropriate methods.

APA

Abdoll, C., & Mayet, Y. (2017). Reducing violence in South Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policy-brief107-v2.pdf

Chicago

Abdoll, Carmen, and Yusuf Mayet. Reducing violence in South Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2017. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policy-brief107-v2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Abdoll |first1=Carmen |last2=Mayet |first2=Yusuf |title=Reducing violence in South Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2017 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policy-brief107-v2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{abdoll2017reducing, author = {Abdoll, Carmen and Mayet, Yusuf}, title = {{Reducing violence in South Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2017}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policy-brief107-v2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }