Durban - Failure to reward competency and limited upward mobility are suspected to be holding back young people of minority groups (white, Indian and coloured) from joining the police force.
The provincial police hosted a recruitment drive in Pietermaritzburg last week where they addressed matriculants on careers in the police force.
“We extended the closing date from December to accommodate those who recently got their (matric) certificates and also try to get more people from minority groups to apply,” said provincial police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane.
He said they wanted to promote fair representation of other races through the filling of any available positions.
KwaZulu-Natal violence monitor Mary de Haas said the perception that non-blacks had limited promotion opportunities in the police first needed to be dispelled to attract other people to the force.
“I have seen a lot of people of other races occupying senior positions in the police, but we cannot run away from the perception that the SAPS doesn’t award competency, especially when it comes to minority groups,” she said.
De Haas said South Africans needed to stop focusing on race politics but concentrate on competency, as that was what made a good police officer. Colonel Santha Moodley, who has been with the SAPS for 30 years, said most young people believed that career prospects within the force were limited.
“If you are looking to make a lot of money or be promoted within a short space of time, then you are likely to shy away from joining,” she said.
The head of the Tongaat SAPS turned down an opportunity to study towards a teaching qualification to pursue her dream of being a policewoman.
“It would make me sad to find that someone had joined the force because there was a job opening or they were of a required race rather than their passion and commitment for serving the citizens of this country,” said Moodley.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union’s spokesman, Kwenza Nxele, denied that there was a poor representation of minority groups in the police.
“There are enough police of other races; it’s just the manner in which they’re managed that makes it seem like there’s a shortage,” he said.
“Obviously there will always be more blacks in the force because there are more of them in this country than other races.”
He said fair representation would be evident only when the police started deploying policemen of minority races to rural areas as well. “Equity management is critical. Members of minority groups mustn’t think that they will only go to rural areas for senior positions.”
The Mercury