LETTER: From Fairview to Marikana
Police must be trained to control mobs
Last Thursday’s horse attack at the stables of Port Elizabeth’s Fairview racecourse didn’t result from a community production of Peter Shaffer’s 1973 play Equus, which revolutionised Western theatre. This butchery was perpetrated by an “aggressive” mob of 150-200, including previously employed staff from a neighbouring informal settlement.
A mob occurs when a group transfers individual moral responsibility for their actions to a ringleader who has an emotionally commanding personality. Though easier to form among those with little schooling, Adolf Hitler achieved much the same effect with one of Europe's most educated populations. Elements of differing types of mob behaviour can be seen at raves, football matches and emotionally charged religious services...
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