lawlessness

“It’s because we had a security breakdown with thefts, thuggery and lawlessness.”

Last month, as part of a "clean-up" campaign across Johannesburg, the city council said the inner city had been "targeted... for the systemic removal of pervasive lawlessness, illegal activities, hijacked properties, and critical by-law infringements".

Here’s your culture of corruption come to life: If Mr. Homan can be credibly accused of accepting an alleged bribe with impunity, where might the lawlessness stretch next?

It isn’t able to hold territory, but it is contributing to a sense of lawlessness that’s adding to the stress on the new state.

There have been a number of hopeful signs that the City by the Bay has begun to turn the page on its recent era of progressive lawlessness, but urban revival takes time.