Tipping the scales of power: Analysing hybrid security governance in Cape Town

Abstract: When police and state services fail to provide security, other actors often take on the role of making their communities safer. By exploring the different constellations of actors providing security, this thesis seeks to understand the variation of urban violence on a local level. This topic is particularly relevant as violence has been found to vary across and within cities. To deepen our knowledge of these variations, I ask: how do different forms of hybrid security governance influence levels of urban collective violence? I propose a novel theoretical framework and argue that power balances within a hybrid security arrangement should decrease levels of violence. A qualitative comparative case study is conducted to test the theory on three communities in Cape Town, South Africa. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews and was carried out over the course of three months in 2022. The main finding is that balanced forms of hybrid security governance appear to have an impact on some forms of collective violence, especially violence types occurring within communities. More research is needed to fully understand and assess these dynamics.