By Kotie Geldenhuys
Photos courtesy of Pickpik, Pexels and Pixabay
South African communities are increasingly frustrated by inadequate service delivery, the proliferation of drugs endangering their neighbourhoods, high tertiary education fees, ongoing gender-based violence and various other concerns. While feeling hopeless, many believe that resorting to street protests and engaging in violence are the only viable solutions to make their voices heard.
Peaceful protests and social mobilisation are essential to democracies as they allow citizens to express their dissatisfaction to political leaders between elections and when traditional institutional processes have become ineffective. Ironically, most protests do not result in lasting change. While most protesters and leaders engage in peaceful demonstrations, there are always those who resort to violence. This is because protests and social movements consist of diverse communities with various expressions, political factions and leaders. Some of these groups advocate for violent direct action and act accordingly during protests. However, criminals often exploit protests as an opportunity to commit crimes, which can escalate the violence (Habib, 2020). For many community members, protests are the only way to get the government’s attention: “If you don’t protest, they never hear what you’re saying” (Brooks, 2019).
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[This is only an extract of an article that is published in Servamus: August 2024. This article is available for purchase.]