National police chief General Bheki Cele has warned new recruits to stay fit and watch their weight if they want to remain in the force.
Addressing more than 400 trainee police officers at the Bishop Lavis training college on Tuesday, Cele said commanders across the country should implement a uniform policy that would discourage police officers from putting on extra kilos.
“Your uniform size must not change for the next seven years,” said Cele.
“If you are wearing a size 32 uniform today, it must stay that way for the next seven years - don’t come back in two years’ time and ask for a size 34.”
He told recruits to watch their weight and to remain fit, or “find a job where they required bigger people elsewhere”.
It’s not the first time Cele has weighed in on the issue of officers’ waistlines. One of his speeches, in which he ordered cops to keep their “stomach in” and “chest out”, has been remixed as a dance track and is a popular video on YouTube.
Nearly 5000 police recruits started their two-year training course at police colleges around the country on Tuesday.
Cele told recruits in Bishop Lavis that they were joining an organisation that strived for excellence.
He warned trainees that police officers were tasked with upholding the law and would “be dealt with” should they find themselves on the “wrong side of the fence”.
“It’s painful, shameful and embarrassing to see people who should be protecting the law, join the criminals,” said Cele.
“The temptation is big, but we must respect our calling. I want to ensure you that we will find you. No one will escape the net.”
Cele urged the recruits to stay fit, mean and ready for action “at all times”.
“You are joining an army of crime fighters,” he said. “You have to ensure that South Africans are safe and that they feel safe.”
The 455 recruits stood in the sun for almost an hour, at the instruction of their commander, while waiting for Cele and provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer. - Cape Argus