Selected Issues Pertaining to Democratic Constitutionalism in South Africa: The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Paradox

• NCJ Number: 219072
• Journal: Acta Criminologica Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 99-114
• Author(s): J. van der Westhuizen
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: South Africa
• Note: Downloaded July 3, 2007. To access the full text PDF: 1) select the provided PDF link; 2) from the Acta Criminologica Web site, select "Table of Contents"; 3) select the corresponding Volume and Issue (see the NCJRS abstract record for the exact Volume and Issue); 4) scroll the Table of Contents to the exact article; 5) click on the "full text" icon.

Annotation

This article lays the foundation for democratic public service delivery in South Africa by explaining the tensions between the South African public service and democratic constitutionalism, with a focus on the delivery of justice, crime prevention, and security services.

Abstract

The conception of democracy embedded in South Africa's political culture is mainly in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 108 of 1996 ("New Constitution"). The New Constitution emphasizes constitutional accountability, political responsibility, managerial responsiveness, and related democratic concepts. In the early years of the emerging democratic South African Nation, a number of factors compromised efficient and effective democratic public service delivery. In the departments associated with justice, crime prevention, and security services (JCPS departments), some of the notable problems were a lack of representativeness of all the citizens of South Africa in terms of race, gender, and disability; a lack of integrity and legitimacy; vague mandates and functions; and a lack of oversight and control mechanisms. Further, under apartheid, JCPS departments were accustomed to violating most human and civil rights while defending apartheid. Service delivery was therefore discriminatory and exclusionary based on race. JCPS departments were also conditioned to have centralized control and top-down management without accountability or transparency. In order to transform the cultural conditioning of JCPS departments under apartheid to reflect the values of public service delivery under the New Constitution, various core values and accountability mechanisms must be installed in the departments. Core values must be based in respect for human rights, and formal statutory democratic mechanisms must be installed to condition personnel performance. Other steps designed to transform public service delivery are the establishment of a tripartite division of government authority and the development of democratic organizational and delivery structures. A 35-item bibliography