The South African Dilemma
The increasing pressure to invest in infrastructure against a juxtaposition of decreasing access to taxable income as unemployment rises. A country with one of the largest youth populations in the world and one of the highest levels of youth unemployment.
Data provided by Minister Mbalula shows a significant number of the country’s paved roads are in a poor or inferior condition. The minister has previously indicated that 80% of South Africa’s roads have reached the end of their design life. As the shift of government has had to be on social and health issues, because of the pandemic, “investment in South African infrastructure fell from an already dismal 18% in 2019/20 to just 14% in 2020/21, compared to the 30% ‘benchmark” of other emerging market countries Engineering News.
The “broken windows theory “James Q. Wilson & George L. Kelling 1982
The reason the state of the urban environment may affect crime consists of three factors; social norms and conformity, the presence or lack of routine monitoring; and social signalling, which signals crime.
In an anonymous urban environment, with few or no other people around, social norms and monitoring are not clearly known. Thus, individuals look for signals within the environment as to the social norms in the setting and the risk of getting caught violating those norms; one of the signals is the area’s general appearance.
Under the “broken windows theory”, an ordered and clean environment, one that is maintained, sends the signal that the area is monitored, and that criminal behaviour is not tolerated. Conversely, a disordered environment, one that is not supported (broken windows, graffiti, excessive litter), sends the signal that the area is not monitored and that criminal behaviour has little risk of detection.
The theory assumes that the landscape “communicates” to people. A broken window transmits to criminals the message that a community displays a lack of informal social control and so is unable or unwilling to defend itself against a criminal invasion. It is not so much the actual broken window that is important, but the message the broken window sends to people. It symbolises the community’s defencelessness and vulnerability and represents the lack of cohesiveness of the people within. Neighbourhoods with a strong sense of cohesion fix broken windows and assert social responsibility on themselves, effectively giving themselves control over their space.
Who are we?
Umsebenzi Patrol started operating (May 2021) on the basis that we are going to run and manage the Pothole Patrol initiative. We are the vehicle that manages and executes the project. To fund it, we currently have sponsorships from Dial Direct and Discovery Insure, as well as small, private donations. All the operating vehicles are rented. Our vision is to upskill and partner with new companies to elevate the scale of the initiative and to meet the ongoing demand we are receiving from various Municipalities to provide the quality and the expertise that is formally lacking in the public sector.
How you might get involved?
We would love the opportunity to include you in supporting this initiative. Our intention is to drive impact, create jobs for Youth and use Skills Development investment to ensure that we create learning pathways. Expansion of the programme allows us to fix more roads, and train more Youth who will either be absorbed into the project, absorbed into the greater construction industry, and/or established as entrepreneurs. Whilst the programme would not be delivered as Pothole Patrol, it would be delivered as a large-scale investment in Youth skills development to support long-term access to opportunities for Youth to participate meaningfully in South Africa’s infrastructure development.