Vigilantism (even in its digital form) is often described as “taking the law and justice into your own hands”. Objectively, we can all argue that vigilantism in any form should not be welcomed or applauded, because the wellbeing of society is aided by the rule of law and the ability for justice to run its course. Individuals should never be burdened or responsible for enacting the rules and laws that govern society.

This ideal, however, is harder to uphold and ascribe to in a world where the systems of justice are neither functioning, effective nor accountable. Unfortunately, in South Africa today when it comes to policing and gender-based violence (GBV) this is simply not the case. Responses to the #AmINext movement are testament to this.

Women and children across South Africa mourned this past week. We mourned the brutal murders of young Uyinene Mrwetyana, Jesse Hess and the many others made invisible by class, sexual orientation, race and by how common murder of young women in this country is.

As protests continued across the country, a thread on Twitter outed alleged rapists and assaulters. In a country where sexual assault happens so frequently, affecting so many, many were grateful that the list allowed individuals to identify those who had violated them and that even socially, if not criminally, these perpetrators could be held accountable. It also served as a way to make women aware of who the potential predators might be in their immediate circles.

Many, however, were outraged, citing that the creators of the @helpsurvivors account were taking the law into their own hands. They argued that the creators were essentially partaking in digital vigilantism by not affording those accused due process and the assumption that one is innocent until proven guilty. These criticisms, however valid, overlook the failing of systems that give rise to vigilantism in the first place.

Vigilantism arises when governance systems fail and for all intents and purposes, policing and state responses to gender-based violence have repeatedly failed in South Africa and will continue to do so until those with the power to change systemic failures act.

According to crime statistics, between 2017 and 2018 there were 40,035 reported rape cases in South Africa. These are only the reported crime statistics and one can project that the actual number of rapes in any given year is far greater. Still, the 40,035 reported rape cases should instil alarm in those who have the power to change policing in this country. The number 40,035 of reported rapes means that on average there are 109 cases of rape reported to police stations every day in South Africa.

Police are often the first point of call for many victims, but violent patriarchy is prevalent even among the rank and file of police officers. Leighandre Jegels, a champion kickboxer, was shot dead by her boyfriend who was also a police officer. According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (Ipid) 2017/2018 annual report, between April 2017 and March 2018 there were 105 reported rape cases against South African Police Service (SAPS) officials.

The police fall short when they do not believe individuals, and as a result turn them away when they come to report domestic violence, sexual assault and other gendered crimes. They fail by violating and brutalising women peacefully protesting against gender-based violence instead of being stationed at precincts with high levels of gendered crimes.

There are limited Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units across the country. Theoretically there should be one FCS unit per cluster. This standard itself is wholly ineffective, as it simply does not meet demand, but even this inefficiency is not applied. According to the 2017/2018 crime statistics, Nyanga has the highest number of reported rape cases in the Western Cape. Nyanga’s FCS Unit, due to a lack of space, is housed at the Mitchells Plain police station. Women and children who require the services of an FCS unit would have to travel all the way to Mitchells Plain, or worse, wait for a member of the FCS unit to travel to Nyanga police station. It should be noted that Mitchells Plain does not form part of the Nyanga Police Cluster.

The police serve as the first point of justice for many victims of gendered, sexual and domestic violence, but the entire criminal justice system is complicit in evading justice.

Violent patriarchy has seeped into every crevice of the criminal justice system. A recent opinion piece in Daily Maverick by Professor Omphemetse S Sibanda quotes High Court Judge Ashley Binns-Ward in a dissenting judgment as saying, “The rape involved in the current matter does not in my opinion fall into the category of the worst instances of the crime.” The rape involved in the “current matter” was that of a 13-year-old girl.

Prosecutors and judges (especially in lower courts) are expected to champion gender justice, but gender, race and class sensitisation are not prerequisites in making a finding. Some intentionally obstruct women’s access to justice and others are complicit in systems of power that benefit men, white men and those who are financially privileged.

Seven years ago in Khayelitsha, the 78 vigilante attacks that took place between April 2011 and April 2012 told a similar story of a desperate people taking the law into their own hands, trying to find justice for themselves in the absence of the state. These acts of vigilantism, along with campaigning from the Social Justice Coalition, forced the Western Cape government to initiate the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into Policing. Five years after the release of the recommendations, no clear steps have been taken at a provincial or national level to ensure policing is responsive to the needs of survivors, victims and their families.

Our president has now made promises to address gender-based violence, but none of these promises really address the systemic crisis the criminal justice system is confronting. Denying suspects bail is an action step after the sexual assault, rape or murder of someone – it has no effect as a deterrent because the act has already been committed.

Given the failures and given the absence of any sense of urgency around the intolerable levels of violence that women, and specifically poor black women, are confronted with and the want and impulse to seek justice and provide shelter for others, the sharing of stories of violence at the hands of men and the identity of those men should not come as a surprise.

We can and should problematise the sharing of these stories and identities, but when doing so we need to simultaneously problematise the law and its agents, who continue, day in and day out, to fail women in South Africa. DM

Khadija Bawa is a researcher for the Social Justice Coalition.