{"product_id":"south-africas-constitution-and-the-law-of-the-township","title":"SOUTH AFRICA'S CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW OF THE TOWNSHIP","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow are residents of South Africa’s townships responding to socio-economic inequality and a pervasive sense that the country’s democratic transition has not delivered on its constitutional promises of social justice?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on extensive fieldwork, this book challenges beliefs that the agency of township residents is limited to waiting for handouts or demanding delivery from the state, showing how they are instead assisting themselves by taking advantage of the opportunities, menyetla, available. In the kasi where almost half of the urban population lives, there is limited state-enforced order; while the lex constitutional may be the law of the land, the lex lokasi governs day-to-day life in the township.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe interconnected crises facing the country illustrate how residents have structured survival through the lex lokasi that operates: electricity theft, informal charges to access the Social Relief of Distress grant, fare evasion on the Metrorail, the illicit sale of alcohol during Covid-19 prohibition, medical aid scams and looting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExploring how this looting from below protects those looting from above, it provides a different perspective to the view that state capture is the primary cause of the country’s current entropic trajectory and that the application of the much-vaunted Constitution can bring South Africa back on track.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wits University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45471712444592,"sku":"9781997494157","price":350.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/SA_sConstitutionandtheLawcover-B_B.png?v=1784630714","url":"https:\/\/www.mzansibooks.co.za\/products\/south-africas-constitution-and-the-law-of-the-township","provider":"Mzansi Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}