Police march against xenophobia from Hillbrow to Joubert Park where they exercised

South African Police Service members from the Johannesburg East Cluster took part in keep fit activities and a march against xenophobia from the Hillbrow Police Station to Joubert Park.

The exercises were facilitated by the Johannesburg East cluster’s Major General Dimakatso Ndaba, who took the officers through their paces with various forms of exercises.

“Today we had many dignitaries here to help us spread the message to South Africans to unite as one and say no to xenophobia. We are one and we should try to include everyone,” said Ndaba

Major General Anna Portia Mateisi, cluster commander for the West Rand and also from the Johannesburg East cluster Women’s League explained that due to the recent incidents of xenophobia, it was important for the police to remind community members of humanity and that we are all equal. “Please help us stop xenophobia. Yes, we as the police are against crime and we will deal with those who are committing a crime, but to those who are here legally, let’s leave them.”

It was all sweat and fun with onlookers joining in from the sidelines to give motivation to the men and women in blue.

According to the National Department of Police, one of the elementary requirements of being an effective police officer is physical fitness.

During the fitness training session, police officers were handed an exercise and diet manual, which will guide them on how to live a healthy lifestyle. The manual educates members about training and dietary changes they will need to undergo in order to rectify their body mass index (BMI) and training programmes, which will assist them in improving their fitness levels to the standards set by the police.

Ndaba led the officers in different forms of workouts to help them release sweat and some of the unwanted calories. The session lasted for about an hour and many said they had fun and believe it was a worthwhile exercise to help them keep fit.

As the exercise session came to an end, the voice of the police officers in attendance highlighted the main message of making sure we remember humanity and remember to respect each other.

Captain Richard Munyayi from the Men For Change police group said that people need to stand up and say no to violence against humanity. “Please don’t divide people by their nationality. Let us see each other as people rather than the countries we come from; let us unite and forget the stereotypes,” he concluded.