Police increases its manpower

Several of the trainees hail from the Limpopo Province’s Vhembe District.

National police spokesperson, Selby Bokaba said the trainees have successfully completed a six-month basic-training learning programme, in which they were exposed to a series of techniques that are critical to policing. The training includes, amongst others, crime prevention, crime investigation, physical fitness and street survival.

Bokaba further said the street-survival training programme was presented to trainees to empower them to deal with life-threatening situation, which they may face in the execution of their daily duties. This programme will go a long way in curbing the number of police killed on duty and to maintain health and fitness levels of the SAPS’s operational members. “The total number of trainees who passed out on June 22 and 23, 2006, from various SAPS training institutions is 3 519. They are expected to report at various police stations within a fortnight, and will be unleashed immediately to the streets to combat crime.

“Trainees will undergo a further six months of field training at the police stations, under the watchful supervision of field training officers, who will coach, mentor and guide them on the intricacies of policing,” he said.

Bokaba said the SAPS has embarked on a process of restructuring, which is intended to strengthen police stations and to improve service delivery to the community. “In 2000, the strength of police personnel at police stations stood at about 70 000, and by 2006, police stations’ capacity had increased to more than 100 000.

The SAPS has also begun, in the 2005-2006 financial year, to recruit 11 000 new trainees annually to bring the expected capacity to 178 000 by the year 2009. Thirty percent of the 11 000 annual recruits will go to the detective service to plug the shortage of investigators at police stations, he ads

Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Ms Suzan Shabangu said policing is a calling, and if someone joins the SAPS focusing on getting money, he or she is wrong.

One of the trainees, Ms Maria Mandiwana, said she learnt a lot in the training and she was going to invest her knowledge wherever she could be stationed.

News - Date: 07 July 2006

Godfrey Mandiwana

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