Master's Thesis award 2004: Witchcraft and Policing

Ms Riekje Pelgrim.

The Jury of the ASC Master’s Thesis Award has decided to present the 2003 ASC Master’s Thesis Award to Ms Riekje Pelgrim for her thesis Witchcraft and Policing: Attitudes of the South African Police Forces Towards the Belief in Witchcraft and Towards Witchcraft Related Crime in the Northern Province.

Summary
In the last decade and a half, the Northern Province of South Africa has been increasingly confronted with so-called witch-attacks: violent assaults that have been launched on individuals and groups of people, because they are believed to be practicing witchcraft. Media reports, academic research and police statistics all show that the number of witchcraft related problems in the Northern Province has been on the increase.

This report examines at this increasingly problematic phenomenon. More specifically, it attempts to address these problems from the perspective of the SAPS (South African Police Service). Based on research conducted in the area of Tshilwavhusiku in the former homeland of Venda, this report tries to answer the following question: what issues has the SAPS in the Northern Province been faced with when trying to deal with witchcraft related problems?

The framework for these questions is formed by the dynamics between three interrelated perspectives: views and beliefs of the local community with its witchcraft discourse; stipulations of the national witchcraft legislation; and the position of the SAPS with regard to the local views and the national legislation. The theoretical background is formed by en exploration of changing perspectives, ranging from the belief in witchcraft regarded as functional in the intricate system of maintaining social balance, to the belief in witchcraft being functional in that it may bring about social change. Within this change of theoretical perspective, the notions of rationalisation (the belief in witchcraft is predominantly focussed on explaining the inexplicable) and intimacy (alleged witches are believed to share an intimate relationship with their victims) have remained the same.

The report shows that the SAPS is confronted with problems regarding witchcraft related problems on several levels. In the first place, there is ambivalence with regard to witchcraft legislation: the so-called Witchcraft Suppression Act is surrounded by much controversy. Secondly, there is the problem of the belief in witchcraft within the SAPS itself: police officers generally believe in witchcraft, which puts them in an awkward position with regard to the implementation of the law. Thirdly, there is general discontent within the SAPS with regard to the way things are run: although the old SAP (South African Police) is a thing of the past, it is still troubled by its apartheid legacy. There are thus many reasons why witchcraft related problems in the Northern Province of South Africa are not been curbed in a most efficient manner.