Keynote address by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the South African Police Service passing out parade, SAPS Tshwane Academy, Pretoria

Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson,
Deputy Minister of Police, Mr Cassel Mathale,
National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola,
Instructors, commanders and personnel of the Tshwane Police Training Academy,
Representatives of Community Policing National and Provincial Boards,
All stakeholders and guests,
The newly trained constables on parade, their families and friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today is a special day for our new police recruits, who now undergo the passing out parade after the completion of their training. 

This is a culmination of a long and demanding training programme.

Your success attests to your grit, determination and sacrifice to ultimately reach the finishing line.

Congratulations to you and to your other colleagues who will be holding the passing out parade at different training centres across the country this week. 

This is a job that demands commitment beyond the call of duty.

It is a role that will test your resolve in fighting crime, upholding the law and making South Africa a safe and peaceful country. 

Safety and security affects so many other areas of life.

Safety and security is necessary for economic growth and social development, for better education and health outcomes, and for social cohesion. 

When crime is high, small businesses cannot thrive because they have to spend more resources on security, and it is difficult to persuade companies to invest here. 

Crime affects the safety, well-being and cohesion of our communities.

It affects the delivery of services and the functioning of public institutions.

If we do not tackle crime, we will not be able to build the better society that we seek. 

It is for this reason that during the State of the Nation Address in February this year, we made a commitment to recruit and train an additional 12,000 new police personnel. 

Today is a great milestone in the implementation of that commitment, as the SAPS’s ‘Project Ten Thousand’ comes to fruition. 

As Minister Cele indicated, we have a 9,252 new police constables who have successfully completed the required nine months of intensive training at the various police training academies across the country and at the SANDF facilities in the Northern Cape. 

This is in addition to the 495 constables who successfully completed the shorter six months programme in September. 

We applaud the SAPS for its recruitment strategy, which saw qualified forensic scientists, criminologists and policing science experts joining the service.

During the State of the Nation Address, I also said that the staffing of the SAPS Public Order Policing Unit will be brought to required levels, with appropriate training courses in place. 

This was in direct reference to the findings and recommendations from the report of the Expert Panel into the July 2021 Civil Unrest. 

In this regard, 4,000 recruits will be deployed to the Public Order Policing Unit. 

Some of the newly-qualified constables will be deployed to other specialised units within the SAPS.

These include the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unites to bolster our capacity to fight the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide. 

Other constables will be deployed at frontline service delivery points at crime-heavy police stations. 

All of the new constables will be joining the Safer Festive Season Operations that are already underway. 

These operations will be important to combat violence against women and children and aggravated crime like robberies and carjacking.

These operations will include enhanced border security, enforcement of legislation and municipal by-laws and road safety enforcement. 

To the new constables gathered here today, this parade affirms that you are ready to join the SAPS to help eradicate crime, to serve and protect the people of South Africa and make them safe and secure. 

Wear this blue uniform with pride and dignity, abiding by the SAPS Code of Conduct and committed to the service of the people.

As you commence with your workplace duties after today, it is important that you remain vigilant, agile and alert at all times.

Take a firm stance against corruption or unethical conduct, and against any actions that could erode the faith of the nation in our police service. 

Work with communities to address their problems.

You are as strong as the communities you are deployed to serve. 

Finally, I congratulate the trainees who have been recognised by the respective Academy Commanders as having performed best in the areas of Street Survival, Law, Physical Training and Drill. 

We believe that you will continue to distinguish yourselves in the service as you did in your training. 

I wish you all well in your careers in the police service. 

Serve your country with pride and commitment. 

I thank you.