The Ministry of Police welcomes an announcement by the police management to develop the Paarl South African Police Service (SAPS) Academy to be a University which will start offering Bachelor’s degrees in Policing with a view to taking it to higher levels such as Honours, Masters and Doctorates progressively over the years. This initiative forms part of our efforts of building a new cadre of police officers of the next generation, who will be empowered with high level skills to improve policing. Such an initiative is in line with what other police agencies are currently doing the world over. One distinguishing feature of such a University will be the professional leg that will ensure preservation of the policing culture whilst the other is focusing on academic development of members.

The Ministry welcomes this positive development as it will enhance and improve skills capacity around policing. With increasing social, economic and technological developments taking place in our country and globally, dealing with crime also poses various challenges for police, hence it becomes even more crucial to have better-trained equipped police officers. Plans are afoot in establishing partnership with a University of renowned standing, in compliance with legislation of the country and internationally. Benchmarking has been done with other security agencies within South Africa and abroad, for example, the Military Academy model in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape.

January 2014 will mark the official opening of Paarl as a University for Police with the first cohort of 120 students enrolled, selected from within the SAPS. Stringent criteria will be used to select students for enrolment, based on both the SAPS requirements as well as Tertiary Institutions requirements. Over the past three years, the Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa has publicly highlighted a need to place stringent conditions on recruitment, with the emphasis on attracting the most talented and committed South Africans into the SAPS. To illustrate this point, in the past we have promoted good intelligence operatives into managerial and office-bound positions.

We have done the same with good detectives or forensic experts. Work is now underway in earnest to change this approach to promotions or recognition of good performance. Good performers must remain in their area of expertise and be recognized and rewarded accordingly. The Minister has emphasized that to effectively deal with crime, the SAPS needs to develop training programmes are ongoing, relevant and continuous. For this reason, in 2011 the duration of police training was changed from 12 months to 24 months incorporating both theoretical and practical aspects.

The Ministry is further encouraged about some of the current measures to improve efficiency and augment skills capacity within SAPS, although more still needs to be done. These include strengthening control, oversight and accountability mechanisms at all levels including civilian oversight, improved internal assessments through the National Inspectorate and a focus on leadership skills and development.

For enquiries, please contact:

Zweli Mnisi, Spokesperson to the Minister of Police 082 045 4024
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