SAPS on recruitment drive
Police force aims to attract an additional 6 252 members to the police force during this 2015/2016 financial year.
In order to bolster service delivery where it matters the most, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has embarked on a recruitment drive which aims to attract an additional 6 252 members to the police force during this 2015/2016 financial year.
National Police Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, who has approved the allocations last month, hoped that thousands of people apply for these posts.
She emphasised that stringent measures will be implemented to ensure that people with criminal records, pending cases and those that do not meet the criteria do not find a way into the SAPS.
“Therefore, we must take every precaution possible to ensure that we select the best as the overall plan going forward is to have the SAPS fighting crime with clean hands,” she said on Monday.
Of the 6 252 additional personnel, 5 000 will be appointed in terms of the South African Police Act in areas where the SAPS is in need of additional capacity, SAPS said on Monday.
These areas include detective services, visible policing, crime intelligence, forensic services, and protection and security services environments.
Divisions, which report directly to the national office, will be allocated 1 507 new members, while forensic services will have 500 new forensic analysts.
The plan will also ensure that 400 graduates are allocated to crime intelligence and the other graduates will join other divisions to bolster capacity at these divisions.
The remaining 393 entry-level Police Act recruits will be allocated to provinces while the remaining 1 252 will then be employed in terms of the Public Service Act.
This recruitment campaign follows hot on the heels of an invitation two months ago to former police members to re-enlist.
So far the SAPS has received a total of 2 800 applications from former police officers, a thousand of whom are former detectives, who have expressed interest to re-join the SAPS. The plan is to have these posts filled by the end of the current financial year.
All of these interventions are part of a broader plan by the top echelons of the SAPS to bring the services of the police to the people. – SAnews.gov.za
