South Africa's crisis of faith: 'People have given up on the state'

The Guardian, Thembokwezi, Graaff-Reinet and Franschhoek, South Africa
One evening a week, Natasha Msweswe and Zanele Madasi leave their children at home and set out to patrol the streets of Thembokwezi. They return at midnight. This is potentially very dangerous, but they feel they have little choice.
“It can be scary, but we want to protect our community,” 31-year-old Madasi said. “We want to make a difference.”
Thembokwezi is a neighborhood of Khayelitsha, a sprawling, overcrowded township overlooked by Table Mountain that has long been infamous for high levels of gang violence, drug abuse and unemployment. South African police are stretched thin, so

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