Guest: Mary De Haas, Violence monitor in KZN, an honorary Research Fellow at the University of KZN’s School of Law and a member of the Navi Pillay Research Group on justice and human rights]

The issue of the death penalty is a highly controversial one, with varying opinions on either reinstating it or upholding it across different societies and cultures. It involves various considerations, from legal frameworks and human rights perspectives to the effectiveness of the death penalty as a crime deterrent. The current argument is that the high incidences of crime in the Southern Africa region, coupled with cases of repeat offenders and a decline of trust in law enforcement justify the call for the death penalty.