The Role of Tshwane Metro Police and the South African Police Service During Service Delivery Protests Crimes in the Tshwane Area (South Africa)

This article exploresthe role of Tshwane Metro Police (TMP) and the South African Police Service(SAPS) during service delivery protests crimes in the Tshwane area of SouthAfrica. To date, both the Metropolitan Police Departments (MPDs) and SAPS workunder immense pressure to curb the rebellion of service delivery protests andrelated crimes across the eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. Atpresent, the MPDs and SAPS are cautious when responding to spontaneous servicedelivery protests and related crimes to avoid loss of lives, human rightsviolations, and criticisms by civil society organisations, politicians, andmedia. Lack of citizen conscientisation by government, civil society organisations, and community organisationsregarding the role of the police during the protests make it further difficultfor the police to manage these protests. A qualitative research method wasfollowed by the researcher to collect data. An open-ended interview wasconducted with twenty-one (21) selected participants from TMP and SAPS PublicOrder Policing (POP). The researcher followed purposive sampling. The studyhighlights key factors which drive service delivery protests and related crimesin the Tshwane area, such as poverty, unemployment, rampant corruption bypublic servants, nepotism, lack of governance, mismanagement of state funds,political infighting and interference, public distrust of politician and officebearers and the deterioration of local government in South Africa as amongstthe contributing factors to service delivery protests and related crimes inSouth Africa. The study found that there is an urgent need for the government,security cluster, and stakeholders to conscientise the community on the role of the MPD and SAPS during the servicedelivery protests and related crimes. The study recommendsthe importance of public conscientisation concerning the role of TMP and SAPSduring service delivery protests and related crimes in the Tshwane area.