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This policy brief argues that the internal reform of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable peace and nation-building in South Sudan. The author contends that the 2013 conflict was triggered by a breakdown of political order and the party's failure to transition from a militarised liberation movement to a democratic ruling party. The document recommends formally linking SPLM internal restructuring—including demilitarisation, the establishment of leadership succession processes, and the empowerment of grassroots structures—to the broader peace negotiations facilitated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies argues for the establishment of a dedicated, internal anti-corruption unit within the South African Police Service (SAPS). It examines the failure of previous anti-corruption efforts, the limitations of current external oversight, and provides specific recommendations for the structure, staffing, and operational independence of a new specialized unit to combat persistent police corruption.

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies analyzes major demographic, economic, technological, urban, and socio-political transitions in Africa through 2035. Using the International Futures forecasting system, the authors highlight a general positive trend but warn that rapid population growth, fragile democratic foundations, and infrastructure gaps may compound poverty and instability if not addressed by strategic governance and investment.

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies argues for the establishment of an IGAD Regional Maritime Council (RMC) to address underdeveloped maritime trade, high operational costs, and infrastructural deficits in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development region.

This policy brief by the Omega Research Foundation, published by the Institute for Security Studies in June 2016, examines the manufacture and trade of electric shock devices in South Africa. It argues that a lack of trade controls on these devices—including stun belts, shields, and batons—facilitates torture and ill-treatment, contradicting South Africa's constitutional and international human rights obligations. The document details the activities of South African companies exporting these devices globally and recommends a comprehensive ban on body-worn and hand-held direct contact electric shock equipment.

This policy brief examines South Africa's evolving role as a 'norm entrepreneur' in Africa, arguing that while the country initially led the continent in promoting democracy and human rights, its recent foreign policy has become more inward-looking and economically pragmatic.

This preface describes a collaborative publication by the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) focused on the environmental dimensions and causes of conflicts in Africa, specifically regarding land tenure.

The SA Army Seminar 21, held in November 2006, served as a 'reality check' for the SA Army Vision 2020. Featuring international speakers from the USA, UK, Australia, and Africa, the seminar addressed global and internal security challenges and land operations. The event confirmed requirements for personnel, technology, and doctrine, and the SA Army plans to make the seminar a biennial event to foster collective security in Africa.

This preface describes a political seminar held in Brazzaville during South African Week, organized by the South African Embassy, IDASA, and the Institute for Security Studies. The seminar aimed to share lessons from South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy (marked by the date 27 April 1994) with representatives from the Republic of Congo. The resulting electronic publication includes session papers and speeches from four key figures in the South African democratic transition.

This report analyzes the challenges of implementing crime prevention policies in South Africa, highlighting a significant gap between high-level policy and practical execution. It argues that the adoption of Western models has failed due to a lack of local accountability and the dominance of short-term policing goals over long-term social interventions. The text further examines the failure of multi-agency partnerships, which often prioritize the process of consultation over actual project delivery, and notes a critical lack of research and evaluation to determine which interventions effectively reduce crime in the South African context.

This report examines the implementation of city-level crime prevention strategies in South Africa, focusing on the transition from punitive law enforcement to problem-solving approaches. It analyzes the experiences of major cities—Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban—evaluating various models such as 'Safer Cities' and Section 21 companies, while highlighting the tension between situational prevention (like CCTV and visible policing) and long-term social interventions.

This report describes a project led by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) to develop crime reduction strategies for two South African local governments, Highveld East and Uitenhage, following the 1998 White Paper on Safety. The project utilized community safety audits to identify priority crimes and resource gaps, revealing a stark divide between townships and suburbs in terms of crime types and police presence. While the project faced challenges due to political imperatives, local government restructuring, and a lack of national support, it concluded that municipalities are better suited for incremental participation in crime prevention rather than the supervisory and coordinating roles originally envisioned by national policy.

This report describes the activities of the Network of Independent Monitors (NIM) in South Africa, focusing on its transition from monitoring political violence to addressing gang crime in the KwaMashu township. It details the development of a gang monitoring system designed to provide early warnings and facilitate community-police partnerships to prevent violence.

This report chapter argues that systematic evaluation is an indispensable but underutilized component of crime prevention in South Africa. It critiques the tendency to assume that crime prevention activities are automatically successful and advocates for a 'realistic' approach to evaluation that focuses on how specific mechanisms work within particular contexts to produce outcomes, rather than relying solely on quasi-experimental methods.

This report evaluates the Community Safety Forum (CSF) project in the Western Cape, South Africa, which was launched in October 1998 to facilitate multi-agency crime prevention initiatives. While the project succeeded in establishing networks for information sharing and improving interaction between government departments and civil society, it struggled to translate these forums into concrete crime reduction activities due to a lack of decision-making authority and overly ambitious, non-actionable safety plans.

This document is an annex detailing the structural arrangement of the I Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC), outlining a hierarchical system of committees ranging from the Ministerial level down to technical sub-sub-committees.

The Mutual Defence Pact is a formal agreement among SADC Member States to operationalise mutual cooperation in defence and security, establishing frameworks for collective defence, conflict resolution, and military preparedness.

The August 2023 issue of the Peace and Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the African Union's (AU) struggle to prevent unconstitutional changes of government (UCGs), the need to reform the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), the recruitment of child soldiers by ISWAP in the Lake Chad Basin, and the outcomes of the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit.

The October 2023 Peace and Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the systemic weaknesses of the African Union (AU), the escalating conflict in Ethiopia's Amhara region, the challenges facing the AU Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), and the broader implications of withdrawing peacekeepers from African conflicts. It also discusses the AU's new membership in the G20.

This January 2013 report from the Institute for Security Studies provides an analysis of peace and security issues across Africa, focusing on the M23 rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the performance of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the state of North African Regional Economic Communities, and the implementation of the Treaty of Pelindaba regarding nuclear-weapon-free zones.