Invisible Municipal Sovereignty: Informal Policing, Night-Time Security and Political Legitimacy in South Sudanese Cities

Background: Urban governance in South Sudan operates within layered systems of formal policing, neighbourhood surveillance, chiefs’ authority, community watch groups and international support. Objective: This article asks how night-time security is organised when statutory police capacity is uneven and whether informal provision strengthens or weakens legitimate public authority. The analysis does not claim that informal patrols caused changes in crime; it specifies a replicable mixed-methods design for testing such effects. Methods: In Rejaf and Mangalla, 40% of surveyed respondents said security improved in 2021 relative to 2020 while 42% reported no clear change. Results: It integrates published national civilian-harm statistics with local human-security reporting from Juba County and institutional results from United Nations programmes. Conclusion: UNMISS documented 1,019 conflict-related violent incidents and 3,657 victims nationally in 2024; first-quarter 2025 records identified 312 incidents and 1,607 victims.