As South Africa navigates persistent insecurity alongside democratic contestation, the reliance on crowdsourced law enforcement raises uncomfortable questions. Political science scholarship on state capacity emphasises the state’s ability to enforce laws consistently and proactively across its territory. This includes maintaining a monopoly on the legitimate use of force and providing public safety regardless of publicity.
In South Africa, the growing reliance on citizen documentation suggests a partial outsourcing of these responsibilities to the public. Crowdsourced accountability produces uneven outcomes. Crimes that occur off-camera, often in marginalised communities, informal settlements, rural areas, or private spaces, rarely generate the same urgency as crimes that are recorded and the images circulated.
Victims without access to recording devices or digital platforms remain dependent on institutions that are frequently overstretched. Visibility becomes a condition for justice, introducing a quiet inequality into law enforcement. This dynamic also risks normalising institutional weakness.
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Swift responses to viral incidents can create the appearance of effective governance without addressing structural deficiencies in policing capacity, investigative effectiveness, or deterrence. Over time, public outrage substitutes for institutional reform, and episodic enforcement replaces sustained prevention As South Africa navigates persistent insecurity alongside democratic contestation, the reliance on crowdsourced law enforcement raises uncomfortable questions. Can a democratic state maintain legitimacy if citizens increasingly act as its eyes and triggers?
What happens to crimes that never trend, never circulate, and never provoke outrage? Ultimately, effective governance requires more than reactive responses to visible incidents. It requires institutions capable of anticipating harm, preventing violence and protecting citizens. Crowdsourced accountability may pressure the state to act, but it cannot replace the foundational work of rebuilding proactive state capacity.DM Lungisani Mngadi is an independent policy researcher focusing on governance, state capacity and democratic accountability in Africa.
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