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A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police

There are many studies in South Africa that have analysed the definition of vigilantism with a focus on the historical background of the apartheid era. However, research in the field of vigilantism in South Africa has been lacking since the advent of the internet, even though social media has spawne...

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Main Author: Kral, Svenja Julie
Other Authors: Phelps, Kelly
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Public Law 2022
Subjects:
Public Law
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access_status_str Open Access
author Kral, Svenja Julie
author2 Phelps, Kelly
author_browse Kral, Svenja Julie
Phelps, Kelly
author_facet Phelps, Kelly
Kral, Svenja Julie
author_sort Kral, Svenja Julie
collection Thesis
description There are many studies in South Africa that have analysed the definition of vigilantism with a focus on the historical background of the apartheid era. However, research in the field of vigilantism in South Africa has been lacking since the advent of the internet, even though social media has spawned a new form of vigilantism – online shaming. Considering that online public shaming has become prevalent both globally and locally, the focus of this dissertation is the public exposure of people alleged to have committed crimes. The paper shows that small changes to the method of public shaming could enable collaboration with the police. To illustrate this argument the example of Operation Wanya Tsotsi, an online vigilante group, is used. By examining their Facebook page in light of current criminal law remedies, this paper establishes the extent to which their method is problematic and illegal. In addition, it gives an example of what successful collaboration with the police could look like and underlines the advantages and disadvantages of such collaboration. Ultimately, it concludes that Operation Wanya Tsotsi should focus on legal online work to support the police in the fight against crime.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:38.153Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher Department of Public Law
publisherStr Department of Public Law
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35743 A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police Kral, Svenja Julie Phelps, Kelly Public Law There are many studies in South Africa that have analysed the definition of vigilantism with a focus on the historical background of the apartheid era. However, research in the field of vigilantism in South Africa has been lacking since the advent of the internet, even though social media has spawned a new form of vigilantism – online shaming. Considering that online public shaming has become prevalent both globally and locally, the focus of this dissertation is the public exposure of people alleged to have committed crimes. The paper shows that small changes to the method of public shaming could enable collaboration with the police. To illustrate this argument the example of Operation Wanya Tsotsi, an online vigilante group, is used. By examining their Facebook page in light of current criminal law remedies, this paper establishes the extent to which their method is problematic and illegal. In addition, it gives an example of what successful collaboration with the police could look like and underlines the advantages and disadvantages of such collaboration. Ultimately, it concludes that Operation Wanya Tsotsi should focus on legal online work to support the police in the fight against crime. 2022-02-18T08:55:22Z 2022-02-18T08:55:22Z 2021 2022-02-17T07:39:31Z Master Thesis Masters LLM http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35743 eng application/pdf Department of Public Law Faculty of Law
spellingShingle Public Law
Kral, Svenja Julie
A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police
title_full A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police
title_fullStr A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police
title_full_unstemmed A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police
title_short A new sphere of vigilantism in South Africa in the age of social media? Operation Wanya Tsotsi- an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the Police
title_sort new sphere of vigilantism in south africa in the age of social media operation wanya tsotsi an analysis of prospects for collaboration with the police
topic Public Law
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35743
work_keys_str_mv AT kralsvenjajulie anewsphereofvigilantisminsouthafricaintheageofsocialmediaoperationwanyatsotsiananalysisofprospectsforcollaborationwiththepolice
AT kralsvenjajulie newsphereofvigilantisminsouthafricaintheageofsocialmediaoperationwanyatsotsiananalysisofprospectsforcollaborationwiththepolice

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