"We're Alone": SAPS Officers Singing Divides South African Women

• A TikTok video filmed at a South African police station showed uniformed SAPS officers singing in prayer
• The clip sparked a fierce debate online, with many women expressing fear amid rising gender-based violence and killings in SA
• South Africans were split between defending the officers' right to pray and questioning whether it was the best use of their time

A South African woman shared a video on 17 September 2026 that quickly divided the country. The video was filmed at a police station, showing uniformed SAPS officers gathered together, singing gospel.

In a follow-up, a woman shared her reaction to what she had witnessed, describing a sense of unease. With gender-based violence and femicide continuing to grip the country amid the Ekurhuleni killings, she questioned whether this was how the police were choosing to spend time when women were dying.

The clip by @kamogelo_makgeta spread rapidly, drawing thousands of comments from South Africans with very different views. Some felt the officers had every right to pray before starting their shift, pointing out that many public servants do the same thing each morning. Others, particularly women, were troubled by what they saw, feeling that the urgency of the crime crisis in South Africa left no room for anything that delayed officers from being on duty.

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The tension in the comments reflected a deeper frustration that many South Africans carry: a distrust of a police service that they feel is not doing enough, set against a backdrop of brutal killings that have shaken communities across the country. Watch the clip that started the conversation: See the SAPS singing video that divided Mzansi:

Mzansi divided over SAPS singing

South Africans flooded the comments with their thoughts on @kamogelo_makgeta's TikTok post:

@Ukumitha said:

"Yes, ukuzala cha! Are they wrong for singing and praying before the shift starts? I'm a public servant myself, and every morning we do this before re thoma go bereka [before we start working]. Or are they wrong because ke maphodisa [they are police officers]?"

@Emmanuel wrote:

"God is our only solution 😭"

@PABALLO MOLEFE commented:

"😭I blame religion"

@goodthingstaketime said:

"We also pray before starting a shift... Like honestly guys, it's like you're blaming the police for everything."

@Ma'Lindz K wrote:

"I hate ma 1k so much, they slowing us down."

@NjabswaNtwanie added:

"So because they are the police, they mustn't praise nor pray according to you, come on, you can't always be blaming the police."

Other Briefly News stories about SAPS controversies

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• Surveillance footage from a Johannesburg street captured several uniformed officers approaching a store just after suspects entered.
• A female police officer faced internal disciplinary proceedings and a criminal investigation after being caught on camera returning a R2,000 bribe.
• Gauteng police launched a formal corruption probe after a viral social media video depicted a uniformed SAPS officer allegedly soliciting bribes from delivery riders during a traffic stop.

Source: Briefly News