Vigilantism in South Africa

The public murder of Rashaad Staggie - a notorious gang leader in Cape Town - by members of PAGAD (people Against Gangsterism and Drugs), and the stoning to death of a driver who had accidentally run over a two-year-old boy by an angry crowd in a township, are but two recent examples of vigilantism in South Africa. These examples do not, however, signal the emergence of a new or recent phenomenon. Rather, vigilantism, the taking of the law into one's own hands can be seen to have existed in a variety of forms throughout the twentieth century. This article examines the changing nature of vigilante activity in South Africa and suggests possible explanations for the continued existence of the phenomenon.