No more new jobs: SAPS suspend all available vacancies

Despite a massive recruitment drive earlier in the year, the South African Police Force (SAPS) have closed down all vacant posts for the foreseeable future. The law enforcement body shared a brief message with the public on Tuesday, revealing that there would be no new hires until further notice.

SAPS close vacancies

As early as February, the policing organisation were searching for thousands of new recruits, and people were certainly interested in taking up their offers. One report suggests 53 000 people applied to 7 000 different posts in 2020. However, all those good strides forward have come to a temporary halt.

#sapsHQ All #SAPS vacancies have been suspended until further notice. NP pic.twitter.com/vQlLaz4FfL

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) April 28, 2020

SAND intervention may have played its part

At this stage, it is unclear what has derailed the mass hirings. There is also a contingent of new workers – those who have recently passed job interviews – who are unsure if they will still be invited to undertake roles and responsibilities with SAPS following this announcement.

Law enforcement has been essentially outsourced to SANDF during this lockdown period. More than 73 000 troops have been deployed to help with police operations and shore-up the numbers on the ground. The mass activation of these soldiers has turned heads across the world and on Parliamentary benches.

Lockdown latest in South Africa

John Steenhuisen, leader of the opposition, has question the legitimacy of the deployment. Information about the plan was leaked on his Twitter account last week. But with so many state representatives now policing the lockdown, the need for new staff at SAPS has been greatly reduced.

Lockdown is set to ease from Level 5 – the strictest of all measures – to Level 4 on Friday. But our civil liberties will remain severely restricted, with only a few minor changes ready to come into effect.