By Akani Nkuna
Over the past three years, the SA Police Service has hired more than 30300 young people through Project 10 000, a government initiative launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022 to ensure that at least 10,000 recruits are trained every.
“Of the 30 393, the majority are serving in the community service centre (CSC) also known as charge office. This is where victims of crime report cases and this is where these cases are being registered,” SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said on Monday.
“An additional 4000 are being groomed to become detectives to enhance the conviction rate and enhance detective performance, while 5000 have been trained and are currently serving as Public Order Police unit members where they are on a daily basis policing protests and crowd gatherings.”
The main goal of the project when it was launched was to increase the number of police officers across the country, and to give young people job opportunities while strengthening safety and order in communities. The police target those aged between 18 and 35.
In addition to the police recruits, 575 young people have been trained to work at 10111 call centres to dispatch police to emergencies.
Mathe said 675 of the new recruits were gaining work experience as DNA lab analysts and crime scene experts at police stations. They would later be placed at SAPS forensic labs and local criminal record centres.
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola encouraged young people to avoid crime, drugs and teenage pregnancy.
He said they must stay in school so they could play a role in making the country safer.
“The youth within our ranks play a significant role in keeping everyone in this country safe. Some are serving in the police stations, in the search and rescue units, TRT, NIU, CAT, STF, some are pilots while some are lawyers,” Masemola added.
“The youth are encouraged to lead efforts to prevent and combat crime so that we can all realise a vision of achieving a much safer and better South Africa to live in.”
There are currently 5500 young people being trained at SAPS academies to become police officers, with some due to conclude their training in August 2025 and the rest later in December this year.
Later this month, SAPS will open applications for another 5500 police trainee positions.
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