Crime and Punishment

Louis Theroux is a pretty unlikable person. The way he substitutes his Oxford educated background for a Hugh Grant-esque ignorant Englishman is annoying. That said, he does make interesting documentaries such as BBC's Law and Disorder in Johannesburg, where he meets the gentleman pictured above - Maleven.

This guy makes Louis Theroux look like Pope John Paul.

Maleven is a career criminal who spent ten years in prison after killing three police officers for the sole purpose of taking their firearms to commit robbery. He proudly admits that he feels absolutely no shame, it's his only way of earning an income: "Only money that I want."

And he's not submissive in obtaining it: "I take your wife, I put knife here. You don't give me money or you give me?"

Theroux travels out to Diepsloot, a slum town north of Johannesburg, where vigilante law enforcers are as rampant as the criminals they claim to be fighting. It's hard to decide who is more violent when you see the methods they use. A senior member of security group Bad Boys explains: "We can fight with the law, within the law, and we've got other tactics we can use."

William Mayangoni of Mapogo boasts about giving criminals "special medicine" which involves beating them with a sjambok, or heavy leather whip.

These groups are driven to unleash their brand of justice by a lack of faith in the criminal justice system. After "sjambokking" a young man suspected of stealing mobile phones, William details how he will give a "donation" to the police force to avoid being arrested over the retaliatory assault and to retain the suspect within the community to receive more "special medicine".

He says if you are arrested by the police and have connections, the next day you'll be out and will escape prosecution.

It becomes a self perpetuating cycle. The absence of a well equipped and motivated regulatory force encourages groups like Mapogo and Bad Boys to fill a necessity that should be filled by the law makers themselves. It's an issue of responsibility - he who makes the law should take responsibility for enforcing it.

Unfortunately Theroux gives no suggestions as to the cause of this crime or a potential solution.

For that, we have to turn to the murderous Maleven for some rare words of wisdom: "I never go to school, so what can I do?"

No education means no opportunity, which leaves crime as the only option. 

Maleven's future was sealed in June this year when police finally arrested him over fifty counts of armed robbery, murder, rape and carjacking across a two year period. (Cops nab hijack kingpin, Nkosana Lekotjolo, The Times 19/06/09)

But he won't be the last Maleven. 

Without systemic reform, the future for South Africa looks equally bleak.