Violence and implications for local government...
In this second installation on the subject of workplace violence we explore the dynamic of (workplace) violence in the South African local government sphere.
In 2019 the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) published a report titled “Violence in Local Government – A study on damage to property, intimidation, threats, harm and killing of councillors and municipal officials”. Some of the recommendations in the report include:
1.???? A review and scrutiny of the current tendering system as one of the identified causes and? in order to move towards mitigating supply chain corruption.
2.???? Security on council premises and homes of councillors must be reviewed through (among others) proactive security assessments to inform increased budgets and alternative security interventions.
3.???? Compulsory (emotional and psychological) support for families affected by the violence and threats directed at employees.
4.???? Improved synergy between SALGA and the SAPS regarding the handling of cases.
The research also noted some significant patterns, including:
1.???? 69% of respondents indicated that they had been exposed to some sort of violence or threat related to their work in local government.
2.???? 11% indicated that they had experienced physical harm while 6,8% reported both a threat and physical harm (6, 8%).
3.???? 55% of Municipal Officials indicated that the violence was directed at them personally. About one in six (16%) said that the violence or threat was directed at them and their properties and more than half (57, 7%) said that they knew the perpetrators.
?
A worrying observation from the survey is that almost half (48, 9%) of respondents indicated that nothing happened after reporting the incidents. This means that either the threats or violence continued, perpetrators were not arrested; or no action took place. This invariably creates a culture of impunity and fear.
Subjects were asked to respond to the following question ‘How safe do you feel when you are doing your job as a Councillor/ Ward Committee Member/ Senior Municipal Official/Municipal Manager?’ About two- thirds (62, 4%) indicated that they feel unsafe or very unsafe when doing their job, with only 37, 6% feeling safe or very safe. Further, over 60% of the respondents were not happy with the safety mechanisms availed by the municipalities. Finally, almost three-quarters (73%) were of the view that ‘Violence and threats prevent Councillors/ Ward Committee Members/ Senior Municipal Officials/ Municipal Managers from effectively carrying out their duties.
The research concludes that
“exposure to threats and violence is a common experience among local government officials and Councillors and has increased over time, most disturbingly with a high number of assassinations of Ward Councillors… In the main, the study calls for urgent interventions against political violence and the threats to political careers.”
Although the political violence and killings are highest in KwaZulu-Natal, the phenomenon is consistent across all provinces. One of the frustrations expressed by SALGA earlier this year was the inability to deploy security while awaiting security risk assessments by the South African Police Service (SAPS) leading SALGA KZN Chairperson (Thami Ntuli) to call for special courts focusing on political killings in the province where more than 20 councillors were killed between 2022 and 2024.
The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) also published its own report (in 2022) titled: “The business of killing – assassinations in South Africa”. The study looks at assassinations including (but not limited to) political assassinations covered in the SALGA study). Their findings entail:
领英推荐
1.???? At least 141 assassinations in South African in 2022.
2.???? Taxi-related targeted killings diminished by 19%, with 80 cases recorded in 2021 and 65 cases in 2022.
GI-TOC makes interesting observations regarding what they term ‘targeted killings’. According to the initiative, targeted killings carry significant strategic and symbolic weight and are carried out by criminal groups as a form of ‘criminal governance’ allowing them to influence political processes and exert and maintain control over communities.
Although the SALGA study focused on assassinations and ‘politically motivated’ violent incidents, it is important to note that for many municipal employees, violence is common across all levels. I have seen how municipal officers were accosted by angry customers in one of the Gauteng metros – over electricity that was switched off at the residence of the customer. It took a few security officers to intervene and restrain the customer. Much can be said about the lack of training of these security guards – especially in conflict management and de-escalation techniques – but that is a subject for another day.
More recently we have read reports of municipal employees being attacked by angry communities when executing their tasks – including dealing with illegal connections. Local emergency medical services are often attacked and robbed while responding to incidents -to the extent that many dare not respond to emergencies without police escorts!
Employee on employee violence is often dealt with in hushed voices and the employees often asked to shake hands and be adults about it. It has also become common for officials who occupy sensitive positions in finance, procurement etc. to be targets of very overt intimidation and threats.
Some dictionaries describe impunity as ‘freedom from punishment or pain’. When workplace threats and violence are note dealt with in a resolute and consistent manner, the culture becomes that of ‘impunity’ and the organisation is ruled by the violent and most aggressive.
This is probably one of the most devastating impacts of violence that is allowed to fester like a cancer. It is a form of terrorism... the pedestrian definition of terrorism is 'the use of violence or threat of violence to inculcate fear with the intention to coerce or intimidate governments or societies towards certain political, religious or ideological goals' I call this a pedestrian definition as opposed to the legal definition to be found in (for instance) the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act 33 of 2024. For a more detailed, academic discussion on the intersection between corruption and terrorism, I urge you to read a very thought provoking article by Teets, Jessica C, and Erica Chenoweth titled “To Bribe or to Bomb: Do Corruption and Terrorism Go Together?” (Corruption, Global Security, and World Order, edited by Robert I. Rotberg, Brookings Institution Press, 2009, pp. 167–93. JSTOR).
Anyway, back to local government... there is an urgent need to re-think the various forms and manifestations of workplace violence and the perpetuation of impunity in the local government workspace. Although not exclusive to local government, it is extremely important for this sphere of government to look beyond the 'high profile' incidents and consider the daily trials of workplace bullying, intimidation and how this escalates to more physically violent acts. One of the most important steps to dealing with incidences of workplace violence - across the spectrum (from bullying / harassment, emotional abuse to violent physical attacks) is to create systems for safe (anonymous) reporting, the ability to follow-up and investigate each report and continuously monitor the environment.
I used to have a manager in my younger years who used to say "You cannot manager what you do not know" - he was obsessed with the importance of defining risks, measuring them and working through them (understanding and addressing the root causes). The current attitude adopted by many municipalities is one of burying their heads in the sands and/or accepting that 'this is the way things are'.