Police put brakes on training new recruits as it warns of job hoaxes

About 7,000 police recruits will have to wait a little longer to start their training.

This comes after the SA Police Service (SAPS) announced it has put on hold the recruitment and training of police trainees due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has warned the public against several hoax messages containing job listing adverts.

Police said training the 7,000 new recruits, which had been scheduled to commence in January 2021, has not started and would be on hold until a formal announcement was made.

The service also urged registered and prospective applicants for the basic police learning development programme (BPLDP) to exercise patience during these challenging times.

In a statement, the SAPS said the challenges experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, including social distancing and limitations on large gatherings, made it impossible for training to commence.

“The basic training of new recruits involves extensive physical contact. With the Covid-19 restrictions in place, it will not be possible to subject new recruits to a basic training curriculum without increasing the risk of exposing them to being infected with the coronavirus.” the police said on Tuesday. 

The recruitment process had already reached an advanced stage, with recruits having undergone a rigorous process to determine their eligibility to serve in blue when it was suspended.

“While the service is exploring and relooking at a number of ways of ensuring service delivery and the capacitation of staffing levels continue at all service points, members of the public are warned against several hoax messages containing job listing adverts.

“Members of the public and employment seekers are urged to be extra vigilant and not to fall prey to any scam of this nature. It should be noted employment in the police service is not for sale.”

Members of the public were urged to contact their nearest police station or service point for clarity and information when in doubt. Alternatively, members of the public are advised to visit the SAPS website to check available vacancies under the “careers” section.

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