Experiences and challenges of witnesses in the witness protection programme in South Africa : guidelines for coordinated service delivery developed from a social work perspective

Abstract

Modern society is increasingly threatened by organised crime. Crime undermines democracy and causes harm to the general functioning of a country and the quality of life of its citizens. A lack of protection measures for witnesses of crime renders the criminal justice system weak and ineffective in its quest to fight crime. Witness protection programmes and the testimony of a witness play a pivotal role in the fight against organised crime, without which securing successful prosecutions becomes a daunting task. Despite the important role of witnesses in the criminal justice system, there seems to be a dearth of literature focusing on the experiences of witnesses within the South African context. The researcher was able to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences, challenges, and coping strategies of witnesses by employing an instrumental case study design within the framework of exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research from the vantage point of witnesses and staff members in the witness protection programme in South Africa. A total number of 30 participants were recruited by means of purposive sampling. Data was collected through individual, face-to-face interviews undertaken in six provinces. Analysis of the data was conducted in line with the eight steps of data analysis proposed by Tesch (in Creswell 2009:186) and Guba’s principles of trustworthiness were employed in the verification of the data. The ethical principles of informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity, beneficence, data management, and debriefing were observed. This study drew from Caplan’s (1964) crisis theory and the coping theory by Lazarus (1993). The findings of this study revealed that there is a general lack of awareness among the communities and members of the criminal justice system about the existence of the witness protection programme in South Africa. Witnesses also expressed that they found it difficult to cope and adjust in the programme, because of challenges such as social uprooting and isolation. While some witnesses were able to adjust, some resorted to exiting the programme prematurely. Suggestions by participants towards the support of witnesses paved a foundation for the development of guidelines for coordinated service delivery in the South African Witness Protection Programme.