Parliament - Over 28 000 South African police officers who are overdue for promotions will move one step up the ladder between now and March 31 next year, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced on Thursday.
Briefing journalists on Thursday, Cele and national police commissioner Khehla Sitole said in addition to the overdue promotions, another 3 000 officers - mostly in the police's specialised units - will have their posts regraded.
The arrangement comes after months of negotiations with unions who have been complaining that some of their members had not been promoted for over a decade, creating massive backlogs.
"We have designed an implementation plan for both the regrading as well as the promotion and this particular implementation plan shall also include some reviews in certain of the categories as we continue to implement," said Sitole.
"Presently there is a current action plan...this immediate plan is a funded plan."
Cele said the SA Police Service would not be getting new money from the fiscus for the promotions but will have to find the money in the current budget by delaying and scaling down on other programmes.