ABSTRACT
In the negotiations for a peaceful transition of power prior to the April 1994 elections (which installed the first-ever black majority democratic government in South Africa), the drafters of the interim Constitution (1993) were well aware of the need to transform the South African Police (SAP). The emphasis in this transformation was firstly on changing the way that the South African public was policed (away from the previous apartheid* repressive and authoritarian policing style). Secondly, that previously underpoliced (in pure policing terms) communities were better policed with regard to service delivery and the allocation of resources. Thirdly, this policing strove to follow a more democratic and human rights oriented form of policing. To fulfill this new “vision for policing” in South Africa, the policy makers decided to make so-called Community Policing the core of this transformed policing approach in South Africa.
