Cultural beliefs, witchcraft and crimes in South Africa

Abstract

Generally, crime has often been understood and explained in relation to the dynamics within societies. These dynamics may include political, economic and social dimensions. However, in some cases, acts that may be defined as criminal may also be linked to specific cultural beliefs, which lead to complexities in the clear articulation of such acts as crimes. The relationship between certain acts perceived as crimes, and the cultural beliefs that inform them, or that serve as possible motives for them, illustrates the difficulty in applying a generalised understanding of crime across all social or cultural contexts.