SAPS recruitment programme still on hold
In a statement, the SAPS said the training, which had been scheduled to commence in January 2021, has not begun and will be on hold until a formal announcement is made by management.
THE recruitment and training of police trainees is still on hold, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the SAPS said the training, which had been scheduled to commence in January 2021, has not begun and will be on hold until a formal announcement is made by management.
“The Service had intended to train and subsequently enlist 7 000 youth within its ranks in a bid to capacitate and bolster crime fighting initiatives at all 1 154 police stations and service points in South Africa,” said the police.
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SAPS spokesperson Athlenda Mathe in the statement said the recruitment process had already reached an advanced stage with recruits having undergone a rigorous process to determine their eligibility to serve as men and women in blue, when it was suspended.
“The current challenges experienced with the Covid-19 pandemic such as social distancing, restrictions and or limitations of large gatherings makes it impossible for training to commence,” she said.
She added that the basic training of new recruits, which involves extensive physical contact, could not proceed under the current Covid-19 restrictions in place.
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The programme was first postponed in July last year following the declaration of a National State of Disaster and nationwide lockdown by the President of South Africa. As a result, said Mathe, each applicant in the process was not personally informed of any delays.
During this period, she said SAPS received in excess of half a million applications for recruitment. This, she added, made it impossible to inform each applicant individually about the decision to suspend the process.
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