Justice in a South African township

Throughout South Africa, urban blacks live in segregated residential areas generally known as 'locations' or 'townships'. The growth of large, modern towns in South Africa represents one of the major aspects of the revolutionary changes now overtaking all African society. Yet despite the need for it, there has been remarkably little research on problems of justice in African urban areas. As a field of study, it is still largely virgin territory in which much preliminary spadework has yet to be done. The present study, which was confined to Mamelodi township outside of Pretoria in the Republic of South Africa, is essentially exploratory in nature. The authors have tried to set out some of the salient ideas which have emerged from their findings which may be relevant to the general understanding of the social organisation of justice in urban African communities.