Deputy National Commissioners of the SAPS
Divisional and Provincial Commissioners
SAPS members of all ranks
Honoured guests
Members on parade
Families and friends
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning to each and every one present here today, especially to the brave and dedicated men and women on parade. I am very honoured to have been invited to share in this important occasion with you.
Colleagues in blue, it is never easy to be away from home and apart from your loved ones. These trainees on parade today have stood the test of time. They have demonstrated their mental and physical prowess, as well as their tenacity and commitment. They have also shown resilience and an impeccable work ethic by undergoing such a competitive, gruelling regimen of training and studying.
I am proud to note that a total of 1 183 police trainees will be passing out at five Basic Police Development Academies countrywide, namely Bhisho, Chatsworth, Mthatha, Philippi and Tshwane. The Basic Police Development Programme is presented over two years and is a NQF level 5 qualification. It indeed plays an important role in capacitating every learner to go out there and serve with integrity, respect and pride.
Graduates, remember everything you have learnt, but the following in particular:
- Law – uphold the law at all times. The arm of the law is long and always catches up with those who undermine it.
- Crime investigation and crime prevention – prevent, investigate and combat crime using the knowledge passed on to you.
- Community service – you are the servants of the people. Serve them with respect, integrity and courtesy, and love what you do.
- Street survival – survive on those streets, work as a team protecting and defending yourselves and each other against criminals who do not think twice to shoot and kill police officials.
On behalf of the South African Police Service, we are proud to welcome you as members of our organisation. In the SAPS, we are all family. We endure hardships and triumphs together. We work together and protect one another. We feel each other’s pain, we celebrate our colleague’s achievements and successes. I am confident that you are the finest, the top-of-the-crop recruits, who will always remember what you have been taught and will set a good example to all other police members you will be working with.
The SAPS, as an organisation, works in solidarity with our African counterparts, particularly in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Our SADC member states have shown great belief in the SAPS by enabling us to play a meaningful role in fighting crime across the borders.
The emphasis we are putting on professionalism through training programmes in our academies and at our Paarl University, add to the image of professionalism that we are aiming to champion. The SAPS today, chairs the SADC region’s member states and spearheads the battle against crime across our borders.
Ladies and gentlemen on parade, we fight crime domestically and across our borders. We are held in high regard and we expect you to uphold our good name as you join our ranks. As you leave here today, going out to serve the communities across this country, never forget that you are the custodians of the law. We police a democratic State with the best Constitution in the world, which puts great emphasis on human rights. It is imperative that the public must trust us. That trust should be based on mutual respect founded on professionalism, integrity and impartiality.
Being behind the badge should never give you the right to walk over the rights of the citizens you serve. If we start forgetting what we have been taught and stop living our Code of Conduct, we become derailed. If we derail, we become corrupt, eliciting bribes, carrying out unlawful arrests and committing criminal acts which result in millions of rand being lost in lawsuits against the SAPS. This also causes untold damage to our reputation which prevents us from successfully serving and protecting.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is encouraging to see more women in our ranks, being an integral part of fighting crime. We still have a road to travel to see women in every sphere of policing, holding their own among their male counterparts but we are gaining ground. The training and empowerment of modern police officials is one of the important pillars of fighting crime.
Today in times of emergency, police officials are called upon to perform as first-aiders, to counsel people in disputes or even act as negotiators, as the situation may demand. You will be expected to be versatile, open-minded and completely unbiased, and that will make those we serve, see us as being a legitimate, professional organisation. As you go into your communities, wherever you will be serving, brace yourselves, you will have to deal with all types of emergencies that arise, whether you are on or off duty.
Graduates, today is your day. Be proud and walk tall. Bring pride and dignity to that blue uniform. Let every member of society who come across you, be humbled by the way in which you carry out your duties. As you walk left and turn right in those crisp and dignified drill movements, do recall the supreme law of our country and do everything within its ambits.
Passing-out cadets, you deserve special congratulations today. Celebrate this important phase of your lives. Endeavour to serve this nation professionally. On this memorable day, I urge you to draw a personal map. As you grow into the organisation, navigate with caution while you follow that map, following the directions of hard work, discipline, morals and values. On that note, be a police official that our nation will salute with pride. "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" as Eleanor Roosevelt said.
Ladies and gentlemen, serve with selflessness and you will successfully conquer the challenges that lie ahead. We, as the SAPS, have faith in you, and we salute you!
Thank you.
