The violence in Durban and Soweto earlier this month, which saw 24 vehicles torched, foreign-owned shops looted and police forced to use rubber bullets, was another reminder of how quickly public unrest can spiral out of control in South Africa.
It is welcome that, 30 suspects hae been arrested. The challenge now is ensuring that those responsible are successfully prosecuted.
For many South Africans, the scenes brought back memories of July 2021, when large-scale public unrest claimed approximately over 353 lives and caused an estimated R50 billion in economic damage. Five years later, the South African Human Rights Commission reports that only 12 of its 28 actionable recommendations arising from that unrest have been fully implemented.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) faces an enormous task. Officers must confront violent crime, organised criminal networks, illegal mining, public unrest and increasingly sophisticated criminal activity, often with limited resources.
During the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year alone, SAPS recorded 142,112 contact crimes, including 5,427 murders. That is an extraordinary policing burden, even before accounting for the thousands of protests and public gatherings officers must manage.
We expect police to protect communities, restore order and make arrests, often in dangerous and unpredictable circumstances. In return we as a country should do all that we can to help ensure they have right the tools of trade to do so.
Public order policing is particularly challenging. Officers must distinguish between peaceful protesters exercising their constitutional rights and individuals’ intent on criminal violence and destruction. Decisions must be made in seconds, with lasting consequences for both the public and the police themselves.
Modern public safety technology can make those decisions more effective, better informed and more accountable.
Consider what might have been different during the latest violence if public order officers had been equipped with body-worn cameras, supported by drone surveillance, appropriate non-lethal equipment like tasers and an integrated command and control system.
Body-worn cameras provide a reliable visual record of encounters, helping protect officers against false accusations while holding those who abuse their authority accountable. Their presence can also encourage restraint, potentially reducing confrontations and the need to use force. The absence of that record is already costing the state dearly.
According to the SAPS 2025/26 annual report, SAPS paid out R896.3 million across 7,007 settlements and court orders on civil claims, with unlawful arrest and detention the costliest category at R635.5 million. A further 16,522 new claims worth R24.3 billion were registered during the year, and by 31 March 2026 another 45,412 claims, valued at R69.1 billion, were still pending. Not every claim will succeed, yet every rand paid out is a rand that cannot be spent elsewhere. In that same year, the report confirms that no body-worn cameras were procured or deployed. Combined with properly regulated less-lethal technologies, like a TASER, officers would have more options for responding to individual threats while reducing the risk of serious injury to themselves and members of the public.
Drones and surveillance technology can provide officers with a clearer picture of developing threats, allowing them to identify violent individuals, anticipate crowd movements and deploy resources more effectively.
The real value comes when these technologies operate as an integrated technology public safety ecosystem.
Information captured by body cameras, drones and other surveillance systems should form part of a single operational and evidentiary record, providing police with better situational awareness and investigators with reliable evidence.
At the centre of this capability is a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS).
In 2024/25, police recorded 938 cases of public violence, with a detection rate of just 44.29%. The conviction rate among public-violence cases finalised in court was 62.32%.
These figures measure different stages of the criminal justice process, but they demonstrate the challenge of moving from a criminal incident on the street to a successful prosecution.
When a vehicle is set alight, a business looted or a police officer attacked, investigators need evidence that identifies the perpetrators and links them to specific offences.
A DEMS allows footage and other digital evidence to be securely stored, time-stamped, tracked and shared with authorised investigators and prosecutors. It creates a verifiable chain of custody, helping ensure that evidence has not been altered, lost or compromised across a single justice platform ensuring that all justice stakeholders are engaged. The outcome is accelerated justice.
This can mean stronger investigations, better-prepared dockets and more successful prosecutions. Greater certainty that perpetrators will face consequences can also help deter future violence.
There is also an important financial argument. SAPS has been allocated approximately R127 billion for 2026/27. With policing budgets under pressure and competing demands on resources, government must maximise the operational value of every rand.
Integrated public safety technology can help officers respond more effectively, improve investigations and reduce the enormous economic costs associated with public disorder. The reality is that reducing crime will have the single largest impact in improved economic outcomes, creating jobs and improving the lives of South Africans, and particularly impacting the most vulnerable.
Technology should also be supported by sound intelligence, effective leadership and properly trained personnel. Immersive scenario-based training can also help officers practise de-escalation and use-of-force decisions before confronting a volatile crowd.
The July 2021 unrest exposed serious weaknesses in South Africa’s public order policing capability. The latest violence reinforces the urgency of addressing them.
Our police and the many brave men and woman in their ranks are being asked to do more under increasingly difficult circumstances. Equipping them with modern, integrated technology would help protect officers and communities, strengthen accountability and ensure that more of those responsible for violence are brought to justice.
The next time unrest erupts, our public order officers should have the equipment to protect themselves and the public, and the evidence systems needed to ensure that that responsible for criminal acts face the full consequences of the law. This will protect the legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association, but at the same ensure that these rights are exercised in a lawful manner in the interests of all citizens.
[Image: by salajean]
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
If you like what you have just read, support the Daily Friend