Introduce policing reforms to make real difference in South Africans’ lives, IRR urges GNU

31 July 2024

South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) must use its political capital to start introducing critical reforms on law and order that make a real difference in South Africans’ lives, says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).

As a contribution to how the GNU might go about doing this, the IRR has published the second in a series of nine weekly papers on the #WhatSACanBe theme, covering everything from public administration and labour to investment and education.

These papers can act as a framework and a plan for governments across the country, as well as a guide for South Africans looking for ways to improve their quality of life.

The IRR points out that the first 100 days in government is the standard measure of the effectiveness of any new administration. The GNU will face this same test, most likely after President Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address early next year.

The second paper in the IRR’s #WhatSACanBe series sets out how decentralised, province-based police services can play a key role in rebuilding both trust and competence in law enforcement. Additionally, specialisation offers a streamlined route to tackling distinct crime crises that plague our communities across the country.

IRR polling over the past decade has shown that “bread-and-butter" issues – unemployment, poverty, and security – are what South Africans care about the most, and this series of papers helps show how South Africa can address them.

 These papers, along with the IRR’s Growth Strategy series – which shows how South Africa could reach an annual economic growth rate of 7% – supply a solid foundation for putting the country on the path of rapid and sustainable inclusive economic development to everyone’s benefit.

The #WhatSACanBe series presents an opportunity for a whole-of-society approach in overcoming pro-poverty forces. 

The second paper in the series can be read here.

Issued by Michael Morris, Head of Media, IRR, 31 July 2024