Dullah Omar Institute statement on behalf of the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status in response to the activity report of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa. This submission focuses on the challenges related to the criminalisation of minor or petty offences at sub-national level. The submission notes that in several African countries, local law enforcement agencies often enforce subnational laws in an arbitrary, discriminatory and violent way which infringes on fundamental human rights. It was further noted that there is a lack of strong and effective internal and external oversight and monitoring mechanisms to regulate the enforcement practices of subnational law enforcement agencies to protect people against human rights abuses. The submission also highlights the existence in several African states of quasi-state and private security agencies or vigilante groups with delegated powers to prevent crime, maintain public order, police the use of public spaces, and in some cases, effect an arrest. The challenge, however, is that the majority of these security agencies are populated by informally trained personnel and enforcement is conducted in a brutal manner and is often characterized by a lack of due process. In general, the submission recommends that the African Commission and the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa should urgently prioritise the role of subnational governments in their work to promote the decriminalisation of petty offences.
South Africa has two fully privatised prisons, each housing some 3,000 prisoners. Their history has been mired in controversy from the start, and this has not improved over a period of nearly 25 years. Recent events affecting the security and integrity of the two facilities provide a useful opportunity to reflect on these private prisons as well as wider issues regarding private sector involvement in the prison system. The intersection of politics, organised labour, private sector interests, and corruption have in all likelihood rung the death knell for private prisons in South Africa. Muntingh L, The End of Public/Private Partnership Prisons in the Department of Correctional Services of South Africa, The Prison Journal, 1–17 (2024)
This submission was made by Africa Criminal Justice Reform (ACJR) to the NCOP Select Committee on Security and Justice on the Independent Police Investigative Directorate Bill (B21B – 23) on 1 February 2024
The socio-economic and political landscape in many African countries is characterised with inequality, poverty and high unemployment rates, forcing populations to turn to the informal economy for survival. The informal economy has since become the main economic driver in many countries, and is described as all economic activities conducted in public spaces by workers and economic units that are (in law or in practice) not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements. The reality in several African countries is that those working in public spaces are generally vulnerable people, including women traders, migrants, reclaimers, as well as poor and homeless persons. Some of the challenges faced by these groups include onerous bureaucratic requirements for operation, restrictive municipal by-laws and regulations, harsh treatment by law enforcement officials, minimal sanitary services offered by local authorities and climate and environmental changes. The plight of these vulnerable groups is often overlooked by decision makers in policy-making processes. Yet, their activities significantly contribute to socio-economic development by alleviating poverty, creating informal employment, providing food security and offering recycling and sanitation services for municipalities and cities.
This book will be of value to scholars working in the areas of legal pluralism and postcolonialism and others with interest in criminal justice.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s Crime Prevention Wardens still have no policing powers, and if such powers were to be conferred by the minister of justice and commissioner, this would probably be unconstitutional.
A process has finally commenced within SAPS, which, it is hoped, will see places like Nyanga get at least an average share of policing — rather than a lower share.
This presentation was made at a webinar on Sub-national governance and the plight of people working in public spaces on 14 November 2023
This oral submission was made at the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services held public hearings on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Amendment Bill on 25 October 2023
Opinion-editorial by Lukas Muntingh in News24, 23 October 2023 Available HERE
Sub-national law enforcement (when properly organised) supplements the work of national police at a local level by strengthening community-police relations and allowing for the swift response to emergency situations. However, this is only possible if each local law enforcement agency has, amongst others, formal standardised training, independent budgets, and existing effective mechanisms for public complaints, oversight and monitoring. This Fact Sheet provides a situational analysis of sub-national law enforcement in two west African countries, one east African and one southern African country; namely, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia and highlights some of the challenges present in each context, particularly with regards to enforcement targeted at those working within public spaces.
Public space forms the setting for a number of activities, including the setting for community life and livelihoods of the urban poor, such as street vendors or waste-pickers. There is growing evidence pointing to the problematic way in which public space is governed. In many developing countries, laws and policies, particularly at a local government level, tend to restrict the ability of people to earn a livelihood or perform life-sustaining activities in public spaces. Contravention of local ordinances or by-laws is frequently treated as a criminal offence, compromising informal dwellers and workers’ livelihoods, denying due process protections and often violating their human rights. In this factsheet, we contextualise how laws and policies result in the criminalisation of the poor and consider principles that are fundamental to good policy-making.
After signing the Optional Protocol to UNCAT (OPCAT) in 2006 and ratifying it in March 2019, South Africa designated a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) being the coordinating structure. Since ratification in March 2019, it appears that to date, the NPM has not been fully functional and institutional arrangements for visiting places of detention under the banner of the NPM remain unclear. There is also uncertainty as to how the constituent parts of the NPM will fulfil the responsibilities under OPCAT. In view of the above, the members of the Detention Justice Forum (DJF) agreed to assess the operational functionality of the NPM in the respective sectors of the DJF member organisations. This also provided an opportunity to identify issues for clarification on the NPM’s mandate and its relations with other components as well as government departments responsible for places where people are or may be deprived of their liberty. This report provides the findings of the assessment performed amongst members of the Detention Justice Forum (DJF) based off a questionnaire that was developed. This report was prepared by K Petersen & J Mangwanda, December 2022
This presentation was made at a webinar on Sub-national Government and the Criminalisation of Poverty & Status: Defining the problem, 4 April 2023
This presentation was made at a webinar on Sub-national Government and the Criminalisation of Poverty & Status: Defining the problem, 4 April 2023
Statement in response to the activity report of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa: 79th Ordinary Public Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 14 May to 3 June 2024
![[Report] An assessment of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) in South Africa](https://admin.dullahomarinstitute.org.za/acjr/acjr-publications/original-npm-report-2022.pdf/@@images/b268f992-baad-48f1-b946-4c399f9eec83.png "[Report] An assessment of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) in South Africa")
