The South African Police Service hosted the first annual national careers open day at Jubilee Mall in Hammanskraal.
The purpose of the career open day is in line with the National Development Plan (NDP) that by 2030 SAPS must have enough qualified police officers. This is the first of many career exhibitions that will be held around the country.
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, the Divisional Commissioner of Human Resource Utilisation, Lieutenant General SJ Kwena, said it was important to bring the first police career exhibition to Hammanskraal because there is a high rate of youth unemployment.
He said it was important to come to Hammanskraal as the area had a good history in Gauteng for producing quality police officers who were and still are trained at the Hammanskraal Police College. This is also to show the community especially the youth and those who are about to complete matric that there are many careers in SAPS than wearing a blue uniform and chase after criminals.
“We are here to exhibit many of the careers that are within SAPS divisions. We have engineers, pilots, architectures and we want kids to take SAPS as a career of choice because we need them. Candidates will still have to go through normal police training before choosing their field of choice.
“Another reason is to make the police visible in the community over and above showcasing careers in SAPS” Said Lieutenant General Kwena.
Hundred pupils from different schools in Tshwane region 2 attended the expo on the invitation of SAPS.
Itumeleng Moekoa, a learner from Adam Masebe Secondary School, said he was surprised to know that there were so many careers in SAPS as he thought chasing after criminals was the only thing to do as a police officers.
“Today my mind has shifted that I can pursue any career within SAPS. I would like to encourage my peers to join SAPS and also thank SAPS for choosing Hammanskraal as we are not exposed to such opportunities in our area,” he said.
Representing Tshwane North Cluster, Major General Mohajane, said she was overwhelmed that out of 16 clusters Hammanskraal was chosen as the first area to exhibit careers in SAPS.
“I feel so proud to be associated with this cluster at the moment because of this big event that has been chosen to be held in our cluster. This will encourage the youth of Hammanskraal to join SAPS,”
“The youth should apply when posts are advertised because they are needed within the police force,” she said.
The expo targets all provinces and the next one will be communicated soon.
