Crowd justice is a procedure in which a mob seizes control of the law in order to hurt or murder a person accused of wrongdoing. The Forensic Pathology Service is responsible for all unnatural deaths in South Africa, as stipulated by the Inquests Act (Act 58 of 1959)
Mob justice has been observed in a wide range of cultural and historical contexts. It takes hold when citizens believe local government and law enforcement are incompetent and untrustworthy. Many modern post-conflict governments, including the post-Civil War United States, post-World War II Eastern Europe, and Northern Ireland, have experienced this tendency (Pfeifer, 2010).
South Africa achieved democracy in 1994, bringing an end to the harsh, lengthy apartheid regime. Over many decades, institutionalized racial segregation and state-sanctioned violence destroyed trust between communities and law enforcement, resulting in an antagonistic relationship. Despite efforts to more inclusively police society, high levels of inequality, crime, and interpersonal violence (IPV) persist.
For community members, mob violence is a quick fix that disregards the criminality of their actions in an attempt to address a problem. However, heinous killings and the casual use of violence to solve problems call into question the concepts of Ubuntu and equality, as well as the Bill of Rights, which guarantees everyone the constitutional right to life. Law-abiding citizens are becoming criminals by taking the law into their own hands, rendering them accountable to the legal system. According to the law, “the core of justice is that everyone in society is equally subject to the law,” implying that no event or person should be elevated above the law. Mob justice perpetrators feel that by eliminating the criminal, they are fixing the problem. Vigilantism, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired in terms of community harmony and safety.
What is the law’s position on mob justice?
According to the law, “the core of justice is that everyone in society is equally subject to the law,” implying that no event or person should be elevated above the law. Mob justice perpetrators feel that by eliminating the criminal, they are fixing the problem.
What are the motivations behind mob justice?
According to statistical analysis, a lack of trust in the police is related to a readiness to engage in mob justice, but perceived corruption reduces trust and thus indirectly adds to a willingness to join others in mob actions.
How can the government lessen the impact of mob justice?
As a result, the only way to resist mob justice is to address corruption in the legal system, address teenage unemployment, and examine the betting issue, which is breeding lazy, quick-money-minded youth who are often obliged to commit crimes in order to acquire quick money.
