If we understand restorative justice as being part of the related fields of conflict transformation and peacebuilding, then it has a fundamental contribution to make to the arena of community conflict, protest and violence.
The media report about numerous incidents of conflict, violence and harm that occur on a daily basis in South African communities across the country. These range from service delivery protests, demonstrations against perceived ineffectiveness of the police, demonstrations against foreigners to political violence and student protests. Sometimes these incidents are contained, but since 2016 we have seen an increase not only in the frequency of the incidents but also in the levels of violence and destruction. Criminal charges often arise out of these situations if there has been damage to property or if interpersonal violence has occurred.