National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola says the men and women in blue remain hard at work to create a crime-free South Africa.
“Through various takedowns and arrests, we have been able to disrupt the work of organised criminal networks across the country and for that, we are immensely grateful to our men and women in blue,” he said on Friday.
Addressing a media briefing in Pretoria on key HR priorities to enhance service delivery in the police service, Masemola applauded the police for intensifying the fight against crime, with a special focus on serious and violent crime, as well as the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide.
“Just this past week alone, 13 915 suspects were arrested for various crimes, including 190 for rape and 2 041 who were found to be in possession of drugs,” he said.
Masemola said 99 illegal firearms and 82 hijacked vehicles were seized and confiscated.
“These are some of the successes achieved through Operation Shanela on a weekly basis."
Expanding the service
Masemola said before the end of June, the South African Police Service (SAPS) will advertise the recruitment of 5 500 trainees to join the police service.
“Their training will commence between January and February 2026. We have increased the age limit to join our ranks to 35 years, in line with the National Youth Policy.”
The Commissioner said the police service is moving away from the manual way of doing things, and embracing the use of technology to tighten its control measures and enhance accountability.
“The introduction of this online electronic recruitment system aims to avoid allegations that manual applications are being lost and misplaced in the recruitment process.
"We would also like to utilise this opportunity to remind applicants that to apply to join our ranks is free and there is no fee to pay.
“No one should ask an applicant to pay any fee to secure them a place on the training programme. We warn scammers not to try their luck because we have in the past apprehended two civilians, who were found to be offering aspiring applicants jobs in the SAPS for a fee.”
Masemola said there are currently have 5 500 police trainees at various SAPS academies nationwide.
“Some will graduate in August, while the rest will graduate in December this year. All 5 500 will be deployed to various police stations and units to bolster our crime combatting efforts."
Through Project 10 000, the police have added 30 393 more boots on the ground.
“These newly trained police officers have been deployed to various police stations and units to put perpetrators behind bars,” Masemola said.
SAPS aims to add more than 4 000 new police officers to the detective environment this financial year. – SAnews.gov.za
