By: Ann Skelton and Mike Batley.  Restorative Justice Centre, Pretoria, South Africa:  2006 info@rjc.co.sa   ISBN 1-919913-98-x  159 pages.  Available at www.iss.co.za under publications and then books.

This book is a useful stocktaking of activities in South Africa, with some reflections on underlying principles.  The authors have themselves contributed considerably:  Ann Skelton from several vantage points, currently the Centre for Child Law, University of Pretoria, and Mike Batley as head of the Restorative Justice Centre in Pretoria, which aims to spread the idea not only in the criminal justice system but in the wider community.

They see restorative justice ‘as a philosophy and approach rather than a programme’ (Chapter 2), although their definition retains the word ‘offence’:  if restorative approaches are really going to permeate civil society, perhaps they should adopt a broader definition.  They use the concept of a ‘continuum’ of more or less restorative ‘processes’ (p. 14) with the added dimension of African indigenous systems, which share many of its values.  One of these is the wonderful concept of ubuntu, combining generosity, hospitality, sharing, caring and compassion (Tutu 1999 34-5), of which one might have expected them to say more. 

Even before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the modern history of restorative justice in South Africa began with an NGO initiative in 1992, and includes ‘non-state courts’:  community courts run by NGOs.  In 1997 came the Community Peace Programme’s Peace Committee in Zwelethemba township, Worcester, Western Cape, which combines peacemaking, resolution of specific conflicts, and peacebuilding, which addresses underlying problems such as poverty and lack of access to services.  It is such a seminal realization of the restorative concept that it is worth describing in a little detail.  Peace Committees (PC) now operate in 20 areas. They can receive self-referrals, but also cases referred by the police and courts.  They then organize a Peace Gathering within an average of 3 days, with at least two PC members present.  Of 11,000 cases since 2000, only 2 per cent have failed to reach agreement.  For each case the Programme pays a small fee to the PC members, and another sum to the PC’s funds for a community project such as job creation or recreation facilities.  It is seen not merely as restorative justice, but an exercise in development of democratic governance. 

The core of the book is a long chapter reporting on the project's studies throughout South Africa’s nine provinces.  Some were initiated by NGOs like Khulisa or the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO) (which, oddly, is described at length several times), some by the probation service;  others depend on the commitment or persuasiveness of an individual such as a social worker or tribal leader or healer.  There is also some work in prisons.  When it is carried out by a probation officer as an ‘optional extra’, it tends to be under-used because it is time-consuming.  Another disincentive applies to prosecutors, if diverting a case to restorative justice does not count as a ‘success’.

The report format doesn’t make for smooth reading, but around the country there are some interesting ideas.  One advantage of restorative justice is protecting victims from publicity; since offenders avoid a criminal record, they are less likely to dispute a criminal charge – but cases can only be diverted if the prosecutor has ample evidence to warrant a prosecution (p. 73-5).  Justice and Women (JAW) uses mediation for child maintenance payments, achieving high rates of settlement and compliance, with additional benefits such as improving men’s contact with their children.  In one programme high-risk children can do voluntary community work while awaiting trial;  in another prisoners are encouraged to make reparation not just to ‘the community’ in general but to victimized and poor communities, for example by building play parks and refurbishing schools. 

The remaining chapters contain conclusions and recommendations, including the need for safeguards and bottom-up value clarification.  A restorative justice programme can itself be a safeguard against kangaroo courts, as in Northern Ireland, another country where distrust of the police led to violent community action.  There is an interesting chapter on the respective roles of state and civil society in restorative justice, making the case that the state should enable programmes rather than run them (‘steering’ not ‘rowing’), because state-run projects tend not to involve civil society groups, nor to address the social roots of crime.  ‘Spinning off’ functions from the state to community groups is therefore desirable, not a form of vaguely sinister government control, as suggested by some writers, but they do need to remain community-owned, not state-controlled (p. 111; .Pavlich 1996, Zernova 2006).  An appendix gives restorative justice values and processes adopted by the New Zealand Restorative Justice Network, which also spells out when a process is not restorative. 

The report is not uncritical, pointing to difficulties and even inadequate understanding of restorative justice in some places.  A constant refrain is that in many programmes much more could be done if they were better funded.  Low salaries lead to high staff turnover.  Since South Africa imprisons 336 in every 100,000 of its population, it is not hard to see where the savings could be made to find the money.  Meanwhile, much funding comes from European governments, including the Royal Danish Embassy which sponsored this report.  Outside South Africa itself, the book will perhaps be of most use to other young democracies; but everyone in the field can find ideas from it, and no doubt obtain more information from the Centre which produced it.

REFERENCES

Pavlich, G. (1996)  Justice fragmented: mediating community disputes under
postmodern conditions.  London: Routledge.

Tutu, D (1999)  No future without forgiveness.  London:  Rider.

Zernova, M (2006)  ‘Working under the aegis of the criminal justice system:  implications for restorative justice.’  British Journal of Community Justice, 4(3), Winter, 67-79.


Martin Wright

July 2007