The People’s Justice

What are the historical antecedents of post-apartheid vigilantism? Much literature explains contemporary South African vigilantism as a legacy of counterrevolutionary attempts to suppress youthful insurgents under apartheid. By contrast, this chapter argues that there is an important legacy from revolutionary vigilantism. Based on archival and interview data on one of the Durban area’s bloodiest conflicts—the war between the politically radical Comrades and the amaSinyora youth gang in KwaMashu—the chapter shows revolutionary vigilantism was based on contradictory social ties among young men that broke down amid competition for the future of the South African state. The chapter argues such revolutionary vigilantism has had lasting effects on the networks and practices through which vigilantism is practiced today.