Order and security in the city: producing race and policing neoliberal spaces in South Africa

Bouncers, Policing and the (In)visibility of Ethnicity in Nightlife Security Governance

“…As indicated above, spatial exclusion, as a form of invisibilisation of particular ethnified bodies and troublesome masculinities, plays an important role in the attempt to enhance middle-class consumers and international elites' feeling of safety, comfort and freedom. These findings correlate with other studies of urban regeneration, which describe how governmental creation of attractive and safe consumer spaces in western cities is often coupled with the spatial exclusion of certain behaviors, bodies and signs of disorder (Hadfield, 2008;Boogaats, 2008;Measham & Hadfield, 2009;Samara, 2010;Rivera, 2010;Castro, 2013). At The Blue Palm, minority men were, however, not only rendered invisible through spatial exclusion; they were also rendered less socially visible to ethnic Danish consumers by being subjected to policies of compulsive integration designed to avoid ethnic enclavisation inside the venue.…”

What Price Fairness When Security is at Stake? Police Legitimacy in South Africa

“…Studies reveal considerable public support for aggressive policing tactics that, it seems, at least convey the impression of a police presence (Newham and Faull 2011). At the same time those on the receiving end of such contacts report discontent because they feel unfairly treated (Leggett 2006;Samara 2010). SAPS activity elicits heterogeneous and even conflicting public judgments, with some welcoming aggressive policing styles at the same time as others react against them.…”

“…The first is the take-up of private security provision. Many wealthier South Africans 'opt out' of the state system of social order maintenance through the purchase of private security; their more impoverished counterparts sometimes turn to vigilante organizations (Marks & Wood 2010;Samara 2010;Shaw 2002). The provision of security in South Africa is thus no longer exclusively (or even centrally) associated with the state (Singh 2008), and private networks defined by solidarity group, residence, or economic class are important alternatives for many South Africans.…”

Everyday human (in)securities in protected urban nature – Collaborative conservation at Macassar/Wolfgat dunes nature reserves, Cape Town, South Africa

“…For wealthier residents, securitisation occurs through gated communities, road blockages, restricted neighbourhood access, and neo-liberalised public spaces, like shopping malls and retail/recreation areas. Public spaces thus become privatised, with non-consuming ''undesirable Others'' (Robins, 2002: 673), like street children, the homeless, poor, and informal traders both implicitly and forcibly excluded (Robins, 2002;Samara, 2010;Paasche et al, 2014). Such (in)security responses can actually undermine the creation of safe and secure public spaces in Cape Town (Landman, 2006;Mugler, 2005), often transferring crime to poorer (usually black) neighbouring areas (Bénit-Gbaffou et al, 2008;Lemanski, 2006).…”