The 'Far Side' of Policing

South African Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula on Wednesday announced details of a community programme which, if its name is taken literally, aims to send criminals running for the nearest toilet.

"In the coming months, we will launch 'Operation Wanya Tsotsi' mobilising communities against crime in all its manifestations," He said the operation's name was a "radical African expression and display of strength and zealousness against one's enemy".

But according to an isiXhosa language specialist, who asked not to be named, an exact translation of the term is: "You will shit, criminal!" The expert told Sapa that a less literal, though more polite interpretation might be: "You are in deep trouble, criminal!"

Mbalula said Operation Wanya Tsotsi would be community-led, and based on the "strategic isolation of criminals" and those who harboured them.

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