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A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town
The Neighbourhood Watch (NW) is a pervasive phenomenon that has gained footholds in many countries around the world. South Africa is no exception and, in the case of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province, they have proven to be a popular choice among the members of civil society as a method of deal...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Public Law
2025
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| _version_ | 1867614474761928704 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Davis, Brandon |
| author2 | Kinnes, Irvin |
| author_browse | Davis, Brandon Kinnes, Irvin |
| author_facet | Kinnes, Irvin Davis, Brandon |
| author_sort | Davis, Brandon |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The Neighbourhood Watch (NW) is a pervasive phenomenon that has gained footholds in many countries around the world. South Africa is no exception and, in the case of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province, they have proven to be a popular choice among the members of civil society as a method of dealing with crime. In the Cape Flats region of Cape Town, conventional state policing agencies (namely SAPS) have failed to deal with the high rates of crime – one of the reasons for the popularity of NWs. Civil policing structures are by no means a new phenomenon in South Africa, and the concept of the NW has been in existence for decades, yet not much academic research has focused on their evolution over the years – particularly those that exist in the Cape Flats region. Using a nodal governance framework, specifically that of nodal policing, this dissertation explores the evolution of their roles, and the relationships or networks they formed (or lack thereof) over time in the battle to reduce crime and to create safe and secure communities. Indeed, numerous studies have been conducted on policing in South Africa for many decades, and some have focused on non-state policing structures in the country. In doing so, they have briefly discussed NWs, however there are few comprehensive studies that have focused solely on the NW and discussed how they have evolved over time. This study addresses that particular gap in the literature. A qualitative study was conducted and members of three different NWs on the Cape Flats located in different areas (two from the Athlone precinct and one from the Manenberg precinct) were interviewed in three separate focus group interviews. The NWs selected for this study were the Bridgetown and Silvertown NWs (Athlone precinct) and the Surrey Estate NW (Manenberg precinct). Importantly, a precinct is a defined district or region of a city which consists of multiple areas (South African National Treasury, 2014:np). |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40863 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:52:37.529Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of Public Law |
| publisherStr | Department of Public Law |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40863 A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town Davis, Brandon Kinnes, Irvin Mguzulwa, Sisanda Neighbourhood Watch policing nodal governance roles networks evolution The Neighbourhood Watch (NW) is a pervasive phenomenon that has gained footholds in many countries around the world. South Africa is no exception and, in the case of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province, they have proven to be a popular choice among the members of civil society as a method of dealing with crime. In the Cape Flats region of Cape Town, conventional state policing agencies (namely SAPS) have failed to deal with the high rates of crime – one of the reasons for the popularity of NWs. Civil policing structures are by no means a new phenomenon in South Africa, and the concept of the NW has been in existence for decades, yet not much academic research has focused on their evolution over the years – particularly those that exist in the Cape Flats region. Using a nodal governance framework, specifically that of nodal policing, this dissertation explores the evolution of their roles, and the relationships or networks they formed (or lack thereof) over time in the battle to reduce crime and to create safe and secure communities. Indeed, numerous studies have been conducted on policing in South Africa for many decades, and some have focused on non-state policing structures in the country. In doing so, they have briefly discussed NWs, however there are few comprehensive studies that have focused solely on the NW and discussed how they have evolved over time. This study addresses that particular gap in the literature. A qualitative study was conducted and members of three different NWs on the Cape Flats located in different areas (two from the Athlone precinct and one from the Manenberg precinct) were interviewed in three separate focus group interviews. The NWs selected for this study were the Bridgetown and Silvertown NWs (Athlone precinct) and the Surrey Estate NW (Manenberg precinct). Importantly, a precinct is a defined district or region of a city which consists of multiple areas (South African National Treasury, 2014:np). 2025-01-31T12:36:30Z 2025-01-31T12:36:30Z 2024 2025-01-31T11:51:40Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40863 eng application/pdf Department of Public Law Faculty of Law University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Neighbourhood Watch policing nodal governance roles networks evolution Davis, Brandon A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town |
| title_full | A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town |
| title_fullStr | A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town |
| title_full_unstemmed | A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town |
| title_short | A reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches: an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the Athlone and Annenberg areas in Cape Town |
| title_sort | reappraisal of the roles and relationships of neighbourhood watches an investigation of selected neighbourhood watches in the athlone and annenberg areas in cape town |
| topic | Neighbourhood Watch policing nodal governance roles networks evolution |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40863 |
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