When all the balance sheets are tallied and the sums done, it is still the nature and quality of the everyday lived experiences and interpersonal relationships, in particular of the most vulnerab le, that speak to the character of a society. This section presents a glimpse into the fractured and fragile nature of a society trying to grapple with the entrenched divisions and inequalities left by apartheid in a context in which first-world, consumerist aspirations, values and standards are becoming the norm. The character of the South African transition and post-apartheid society has been shaped both by the ways in which apartheid influenced (and continues to influence) the nature of social relations and experiences of the everyday, as well as by the demands (made on people and institutions) of re-entry into a global economy and society in which neoliberal principles and values have gained dominance. This is reflected in various ways in this section, from a sobering account of the continuing occurrence of violent crime (Bruce), to the deplorable conditions of awaiting trial prisoners and the broader problems of the South African criminal justice system (Gordin), to the largely uncharted terrain of child trafficking across the Zimbabwe-South Africa border (Kropiwnicki), and an exploration of the ways in which young men and women in an urban South African township relate to each other in the form of ‘transactions’ (Selikow and Gibbon).

Beginning with an overview of violent crime, David Bruce provides us with evidence that a culture of violence continues to define everyday life in South Africa. Bruce cites official statistics of over 328 000 murders (homicides), over 750 000 incidents of rape, close to 1.6 million incidents of aggravated robbery, and 3.6 million incidents of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm as having occurred since 1994. Disaggregating national crime statistics from various sources according to race, gender and age, Bruce shows several continuities in racialised trends consistent with apartheid, and points to other significant differences with regard to gender and age.