The revelation that the SAPS received over a million applications in three weeks for 5,500 basic police training vacancies for youth is confirmation that SA's unemployment crisis is deepening.
Prof Kedibone Phage, governance expert at the North West University, warns about a generation marked by a feeling of hopelessness, which the country "has no way to address". He said the mass response to a few thousand posts is an indication of the depth of desperation among SA’s youth, calling it a national emergency.
"When more than a million young people scramble for basic training posts in the police, it’s not just about job-seeking, it’s a cry for help from a generation without hope," said Phage.
“It is actually a confirmation that we have an unemployment crisis and that we do not have a way of addressing it.
“It’s a ticking time bomb that needs the highest level of leadership to say: What are we going to do to prop up our economy so that we are able to cater for this challenge?” he said. “This is a call for urgent, strategic intervention ... not just in policing but in education, skills development, entrepreneurship, and long-term economic policy.”
On July 1, the SAPS officially launched its first-ever e-Recruitment drive, aiming to fill 5,500 police trainee positions across the country. The recruits would get R4,500 stipend a month during training and within 24 hours the SAPS had received 67,774 applications.
The applications closed at midnight on Friday, with a total of 1,049,998 applications received. Female applicants topped with 595,049 applications, while 454,949 males submitted.
When more than a million young people scramble for basic training posts in the police, it’s not just about job-seeking, it’s a cry for help from a generation without hope,"
— Prof Kedibone Phage, overnance expert at the North West University
According to police, over 300,000 of the applicants are graduates.
Gauteng topped the provinces list with 267,031, followed by KZN with 205,802. Limpopo submitted 115,877 applications, followed by Eastern Cape with 108,709 and Mpumalanga with 100,516.
According to Athlenda Mathe, the SAPS national spokesperson, they are used to these high volumes of applications.
“The high number of applications received is encouraging for us to know that young people are ready to play their part in the fight against crime. Young people are ready to serve and protect the people of SA," she said.
She further said the hard work of selecting the best candidates for the posts was about to start.
“Our target graduates are those with law-related degrees and diplomas, policing, criminology. We are also looking at the BSc students to capacitate our forensic labs, those that collect and analyse evidence from crime scenes to link perpetrators to the scene. [We need] IT experts to maintain our databases and information, case dockets and so on,” she explained.
However, economic analysts such as Azar Jammine, director and chief economist at Econometrix, argue that the applicants’ intentions are rooted in economic survival rather than community service.
“I doubt whether they really want to become police officers,” said Jammine. I think they're just looking for any job. And the police are offering them those jobs at the moment."
Despite the SAPS’ optimism, Jammine remain concerned about what the trend reveals about broader systemic failure. Entry-level government positions, including those within the police service, are often inundated with applications regardless of field, suggesting that people are not applying based on interest or fit, but out of necessity, he said.
The high number of applications received is encouraging for us to know that young people are ready to play their part in the fight against crime. Young people are ready to serve and protect the people of SA
— Athlenda Mathe, national police spokesperson
"So people are applying for any job they can get, and this is why, in part, we have a dysfunctional public sector, because people don't apply for government jobs because they are excited and they want to serve the public. They are applying because our economy is not catering to their needs, for their skills and their interests."
Dr Kenneth Creamer, an economist at Wits University, provided a more nuanced perspective, noting that although there is graduate unemployment, individuals with higher education are still statistically less likely to be unemployed. He suggested that if managed correctly, the SAPS could benefit from a more skilled and qualified pool of recruits.
"SA’s youth unemployment rate, one of the highest globally, continues to push even highly educated individuals toward any opportunity that promises a stable income even if misaligned with their training or aspirations," said Creamer.
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