Recruitment of minority race groups within the SAPS
Pretoria, Friday 9 January 2014: The South African Police Service has noted various media reports about alleged race-based recruiting which the SAPS has embarked upon.
We would like to place on record that it is not true that we are only looking to recruit minority groups (see TimesLive report).
The appeal made by the KwaZulu-Natal police was for all young South Africans who meet the requirements for recruitment to join the police. At no stage was it stated that "Zulu speaking people should not apply". Interested young South Africans were encouraged to go to any local police station where they can get application forms for recruitment.
On Thursday, 8 January 2015, some of the people hoping to apply were turned away from the hall in Pietermaritzburg because the hall was too full and they were referred to any local police station to get application forms.
"This country belongs to all its citizens, regardless of race, gender or religion and is representative of the diverse cultures which we see in the communities," said National Police Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega. "We have set a target of 3800 recruits to start the two-year training process in our training academies this year. We are committed to ensuring that we select the right quality of candidate to provide a professional service.