Residents given a chance to comment on selected police trainees

HIGHVELD – Newly recruited candidates of the South African Police Services were introduced to the community by Lt Gen Christine Mbekela, deputy national commissioner of South African Police Service, as part of the revised recruitment strategy on Thursday, 28 August.

The strategy stipulates that recruitment in the police force is now community based which requires the community to be involved in the selection and recruitment of police trainees.

According to the strategy, after the candidates have passed the grooming camps, a board must be established that comprises the Community Policing Forum (CPF), school principals and tribal authorities.

Lt Gen Mbekela said: “We are going to clean up the police service in this country bit by bit.

“We are going to take out those who are not supposed to be police officers and those who are a problem.

“We will take them out and then deal with them as the police service.

“Policing is a noble profession and we want to restore the dignity of this service.

“Gone are the days when people think policing is a profession for people who are hopeless and who do not have options in life.

“We now produce smart and educated policemen and our recruitment strategy proofs this.

“We are considering good grades such a As and Bs when recruiting police trainees.”

A total of 189 astute candidates in Mpumalanga have successfully passed the grooming camp and need to be introduced in their communities.

Out of the 189, the Secunda Cluster has 21 candidates.