Nhleko: I am no dummy

Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko put on a brave face yesterday after a DA MP accused him of never passing matric, even joking that he had trouble using the microphone because he was "uneducated".

His budget vote in the National Assembly took a turn for the worse when DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard accused him of having only studied up to Grade 11.

She said she had studied his "slim" CV and found it lacking.

She said: "He seems to have left school somewhere in standard nine and has no further education, yet he mysteriously ended up as the director-general for labour."

She also claimed that Nhleko had served as an acting municipal manager "until they found he had no relevant qualifications".

Nhleko said he had a "masters in leadership and change management with the Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK" and "a national diploma in labour law at an honours level with the graduate institute of management and technology".

Kohler Barnard was forced to withdraw her comments.

Nhleko said Kohler Barnard had until yesterday addressed him as "advocate".

"How can you have an advocate that left school at standard nine?" asked Nhleko.

"In fact, it's interesting because that has always been on the public record, so anyone who says they discovered this person has no matric would be lying. I don't know what she is intending to do. I'm not very concerned about her. I clarified the issue," he said.

Nhleko also announced that new recruits in the police service would undergo a rigorous selection process in "grooming camps" before they could go to the police training college.

He said that police candidates would be screened, vetted and be required to complete diagnostic tests covering behaviour, patriotism and culture.

"It is part of the sifting process to ensure we restore integrity to address problems such as pending and/or previous convictions, fraudulent qualifications and to avoid nepotism in the recruitment of officers," he said.

At least 1448 serving police officers have criminal records.

Nhleko said his department would also embark on community outreach programmes to restore public confidence in the police.

He believed the initiative would also curb the killing of police officers. Last year, 77 police were killed, mostly in Western Cape.

He also said there would be efforts to demilitarise the police following a large number of complaints of police brutality.