Introduction

There is a terrifying epidemic of all types of violence in democratic South Africa, whether in homes, on the road or in parliament. Everyday disputes between strangers frequently turn deadly. Domestic violence has spiraled (South African Police Service [SAPS], 2018a; Statistics South Africa [StatsSA], 2018b). Violence against women and children has reached alarming levels (SAPS, 2018a; StatsSA, 2018b). Gang violence has risen to new heights (SAPS, 2018). Race-related violence has spiked (Bohler-Muller et al., 2017; South African Human Rights Commission [SAHRC], 2018; Savides, 2016). Xenophobic violence regularly flares up in townships (Gauteng City Region Observatory, 2014; Human Sciences Research Council [HSRC], 2018). Incidents of mob violence— where community members take the law into their own hands and violently “punish” alleged criminals—are all too frequent (SAPS, 2018).

The incidence of violence within supposedly “safe” institutions such as schools, churches and care institutions has risen dramatically (SAPS, 2018). Violence in places established to care for the vulnerable, ill and weak, has reached shocking levels. Violence in workplaces has become the norm. Suicide rates have jumped to new heights (Naidoo, 2018; World Health Organisation [WHO], 2014). There has been a rise in self-harm also, with South Africa now having one of the highest levels of suicide (WHO, 2014). Violence is “deeply rooted” in the social, cultural, economic and political fabric of South Africa (WHO, 2002, p. 3). High levels of inequality, unemployment, social exclusion and marginalisation have contributed to high levels of violence (Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation [CSVR], 2010; Institute for Justice and Reconciliation [IJR], 2013).

Widespread social acceptance of violence as a means of solving disputes has contributed to a culture of violence. South Africa is a country beset by exclusion, marginalisation and division (CSVR, 2002; National Planning Commission [NPC], 2010; Wale, 2013). These are fault lines which divide people between insiders and outsiders, those who have power and those who are powerless, and those who have weapons and those who do not. Such fault lines engender violence (CSVR, 2002, p. 8).

This chapter argues that, in many parts of South Africa, “the established social order has broken down”, democratic norms of acceptable individual behaviour are not widely shared and alternative norms of behaviour such as gangsterism, which encourages violence, hold powerful sway (CSVR, 2010; WHO, 2002, p. 60).