Police Minister Bheki Cele says they have a shortage of 14,000 new recruits that they could not hire since last year because of Covid-19.
POLICE Minister Bheki Cele says there is a shortage of 14,000 new recruits that could not be hired since last year because of Covid-19.
Cele told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Wednesday, during a debate on the recent violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, that while they would like to hire more officers they could not do so because of the pandemic.
He said they were supposed to take in 7,000 new recruits last year and another 7,000 this year, but have not been able to do so.
“The SAPS is losing members through natural attrition and the Covid-19 virus has resulted in the inability for the police service to take new police recruits in 2020. I must explain chairperson that last year we were supposed to have 7,000 new recruits, which did not happen because of Covid and this year it is not happening, which means we have a deficit of 14,000 members that did not enter the service,” said Cele.
Cele said the police have been working hard following the outbreak of civil unrest and violence in the two provinces last month.
In Phoenix they had to work with communities to ensure there was stability, said Cele.
Celle noted that the police are cleaning up the Crime Intelligence unit to be able to respond to the challenges facing the country.
– Political Bureau
