Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Selebi warns new recruits at SAPS Legal Affairs Correspondent MORE than 3000 police recruits completed their police training programme last week as the police service continues with its drive to increase its numbers.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) aims to boost the number of personnel from 153000 in the 2005-06 financial year to 178910 in 2008-09, as it improves the management and conduct of border control and rural protection. Police are now taking over the responsibility of rural protection from the South African National Defence Force.

Provision has been made over the next three financial years to fund the police service adequately to perform border functions and to take over the role and functions of the SANDF commandos.

The service has also been allocated R260m over the next three years to increase the number of about 30000 police reservists to 80000 by 2009.

National police commissioner Jackie Selebi told the new police graduates in the Pretoria West training college at a passing-out parade at the weekend to defend themselves in any way possible against police -killers.

There are elements that want to kill members of the police force, so I urge you to defend yourselves with whatever means at your disposal, Selebi said. Other recruits graduated from the Oudtshoorn, Philippi, Chatsworth and Bisho training centres last week. Police training, which lasts for two years, is structured into three phases. The first phase involves a six-month basic training programme at centres around SA. The recruits then undergo training for six months as student constables, spending 12 weeks working in community service centres and another 12 weeks working outside the centres. In the third phase, the students complete 12 months of in-service training before they become police officers.