Durban - Ten thousand police recruits will be deployed to various police stations in December as part of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster's plan to bolster SAPS capacity.
JCPS Ministers on Friday provided an update on the interventions of the last year's unrest.
"To further capacitate the SAPS, the Basic Police Training and Development Programme for 10 000 trainees commenced in April 2022, after two years of no training due to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic," the ministers said in a joint statement.
They said these recruits would be deployed to various police stations to bolster the existing SAPS capacity.
"In responding effectively to public unrest, the capacitation of Public Order Policing has been prioritised. As a result, Public Order Police will receive an additional 4 000 members during this financial year. Public Order Police members and frontline officers, as first responders, are continuously undergoing refresher training courses in crowd control management.
“Extra funds have also been allocated in this operational environment for the modernisation of the unit, including procurement of armoured vehicles and aircraft, and further funding has been set aside for the procurement of protective gear for Public Order Police members," the ministers said.
The cluster said they are aware of emerging crime trends like cybercrime and are subsequently looking at equipping police members with specialised knowledge and skills to police and investigate.
Minister of Police Bheki Cele said the police and Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) had arrested at least 5000 people.
"Over 8000 incidents were reported to police. Cases under investigation include; incitement to commit public violence, murder, attempted murder, arson, malicious damage to property, possession of suspected stolen property, damage to infrastructure and culpable homicide," the Cluster said.
Cele said more than 3 300 cases had thus far been finalised through non-prosecution, with some being withdrawn in or before court. Over 2 900 cases were closed as undetected or unfounded.
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