A Game of Monopoly: is Blue the Winning Colour? An analysis of police legitimacy in the hybrid context of Cape Towns polarised coloured townships

Abstract

This thesis examines how police legitimacy is shaped in the hybrid context of the polarized coloured townships on the Cape Flats. Social boundaries are visible in every aspect of day-to-day live for the local citizens, and the maintenance of these boundaries by gangs leads to a high security threat. The police is supposed to be the provider of security on behalf of the government, but is perceived as very ineffective in doing so. By analysing the relationships in this dynamic security governance, this thesis highlights how police legitimacy is influenced by the relations between the other actors in the security provision. Due to the lack of government presence in the coloured communities, it is argued that the government allows gangs to thrive, since it is beneficial for the both of them. As a result, gangs become the biggest threat to security, but partially take over some of the security provision in the coloured areas at the same time. This causes that the police lacks legitimacy, since they are perceived to represent a government that is valued as racist and ignorant. The hybridity is shaped along racial lines, since gangs are a product of the boundaries created by the government. As a result, the government undermines both their own legitimacy, and above all, the legitimacy of the police.