Cape Town - Young people are showing interest in joining the SA Police Service, the police ministry said on Wednesday.
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa visited Lentegeur in Cape Town on a recruitment drive on Wednesday morning, his spokesman Zweli Mnisi said.
Mnisi said the meeting with residents went well and that there were a number of young people in the audience keen to join the police.
“The main purpose was to interact with the community from the viewpoint of recruitment,” Mnisi said.
“We have a variety of professions within the service (such as) psychologists, pilots, forensics etc. which we, in the past, have not marketed well,” he said.
He said there had been a misconception that the police was just about having a firearm and wearing a blue uniform.
Mnisi said the department was trying a new recruitment strategy and hoping to attract 1070 people.
Any member of the public could apply for a job they qualified for. They would then be subject to a verification process which would serve to reduce the amount of corrupt officials joining the service.
“We are confident that through this (process) we won't have a case of (corruption),” Mnisi said.
He said the shortlisted names would be made public in the various communities and residents would be allowed to give feedback on these names.
Police could not claim to be partners with communities, but then not engage with them when they tried to recruit new staff, he said.
Sapa