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Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome
This research establishes an understanding of the relationship between gangsterism, the drug commodity and inefficiencies in the state’s policing institution, as well as the consequences of this relationship, in the context of Overcome squatter area in Cape Town. Overcome is representative of oth...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Political Studies
2014
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| _version_ | 1867614019861348352 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Taheri-Keramati, Yashar |
| author2 | Reddy, Thiven |
| author_browse | Reddy, Thiven Taheri-Keramati, Yashar |
| author_facet | Reddy, Thiven Taheri-Keramati, Yashar |
| author_sort | Taheri-Keramati, Yashar |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This research establishes an understanding of the relationship between gangsterism, the drug
commodity and inefficiencies in the state’s policing institution, as well as the consequences
of this relationship, in the context of Overcome squatter area in Cape Town. Overcome is
representative of other violently impoverished Cape Town communities with its high rate of
unemployment, low quality of education, domestic abuse, stagnant housing crisis, lack of
access to intellectual and material resources or opportunities for personal growth,
gangsterism, inefficient policing, substance-dependency, and violence. This research
demonstrates that the current relationship between the gangs, drugs and the police fosters an
unpredictable, violent environment, leaving residents in a constant state of vulnerability.
The argument is developed around three key historical junctures in the development of
organized crime in South Africa, starting with the growth of the mining industry in the
Witwatersrand after 1886, followed by forced removals and prohibition like policies in Cape
Town circa 1970, and finally the upheaval created around transition away from apartheid in
1994.
Research for this paper was both quantitative and qualitative in nature, and included expert
interviews on the subjects of police criminality, narcotic sales, and gangsterism. Newspapers
articles, crime statistics, books, census figures, and a host of journals were also utilized.
Upon reviewing a host of police inefficiencies and criminal collusions, the research
concludes that public criminals related to the state, such as police, and private criminals, such
as gangsters, work together in a multitude of ways in a bid to acquire wealth, most notably
through an illicit drug market today dominated by ‘tik’. It is shown that this violent narcotics
market binds police and gangsters together at the expense of creating a state of insecurity for
those living in poor drug markets. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/3725 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:45:23.701Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | Department of Political Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Political Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/3725 Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome Taheri-Keramati, Yashar Reddy, Thiven This research establishes an understanding of the relationship between gangsterism, the drug commodity and inefficiencies in the state’s policing institution, as well as the consequences of this relationship, in the context of Overcome squatter area in Cape Town. Overcome is representative of other violently impoverished Cape Town communities with its high rate of unemployment, low quality of education, domestic abuse, stagnant housing crisis, lack of access to intellectual and material resources or opportunities for personal growth, gangsterism, inefficient policing, substance-dependency, and violence. This research demonstrates that the current relationship between the gangs, drugs and the police fosters an unpredictable, violent environment, leaving residents in a constant state of vulnerability. The argument is developed around three key historical junctures in the development of organized crime in South Africa, starting with the growth of the mining industry in the Witwatersrand after 1886, followed by forced removals and prohibition like policies in Cape Town circa 1970, and finally the upheaval created around transition away from apartheid in 1994. Research for this paper was both quantitative and qualitative in nature, and included expert interviews on the subjects of police criminality, narcotic sales, and gangsterism. Newspapers articles, crime statistics, books, census figures, and a host of journals were also utilized. Upon reviewing a host of police inefficiencies and criminal collusions, the research concludes that public criminals related to the state, such as police, and private criminals, such as gangsters, work together in a multitude of ways in a bid to acquire wealth, most notably through an illicit drug market today dominated by ‘tik’. It is shown that this violent narcotics market binds police and gangsters together at the expense of creating a state of insecurity for those living in poor drug markets. 2014-07-30T03:45:56Z 2014-07-30T03:45:56Z 2013 Master Thesis Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3725 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Taheri-Keramati, Yashar Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome |
| title_full | Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome |
| title_fullStr | Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome |
| title_short | Drugs, police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like Overcome |
| title_sort | drugs police inefficiencies and gangsterism in violently impoverished communities like overcome |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3725 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT taherikeramatiyashar drugspoliceinefficienciesandgangsterisminviolentlyimpoverishedcommunitieslikeovercome |