Communal responses to burglary at residential premises in the Cato Crest informal settlement, South Africa: Implications for community policing

Abstract

Violence and crime in countries such as South Africa are shaped by deep socio-economic inequalities; however, urban areas and housing spatial also play a role, but often in differing ways. Housebreaking is unlawfully and intentionally breaking into and entering the building or structure with the intention of commit-ting a crime. There is limited qualitative research published on communal responses to burglary in informal settlements where the hyper-permeability of housing struc-tures directly shapes residents’ crime experiences. The study adopted a qualitative approach within the interpretivism paradigm. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with a total number of (n = 15) participants, consisting of (n = 11) members of the Cato Crest informal settlement community and (n = 4) community leaders who were selected through snowball and purposive sampling strategies respectively. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. This study revealed that alarming crime incidences affect the social life of community members. Community members have resorted to changing their house locks frequently; using weapons to defend themselves, and setting up Neighbourhood Watch Programmes and/or Community Policing Forums to detect and curb crime. We recommend that law enforcement officers be proactive in their approach to dealing with crime as they are the first respondents to crime. Community leaders, community members with law enforcement officers should monitor activities to protect people/property by patrolling around the area, investigating crimes, and apprehending suspected law violators.