SAPS Recruitment Drive Receives Over 1 Million Applications, Responds to Gayton McKenzie Allegations
- Out of 1,049,998 total SAPS applications, fewer than 6,000 came from Coloured, Indian, and White candidates combined
- SAPS released the figures to address social media claims that the new recruit intake excluded non-African candidates
- The police service announced targeted outreach plans to address the underrepresentation of minority applicant groups
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Briefly News as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Source: Twitter
SOUTH AFRICA — The South African Police Service has released a breakdown of applications received during its latest recruitment drive, revealing that fewer than 6,000 of the 1,049,998 total applications came from non-African candidates. This was after Patriotic Alliance president Gayton McKenzie alleged in a post that the SAPS recruits black people only.
The figures were published by police management in direct response to concerns McKenzie raised on Facebook, where he claimed that the new intake of recruits consisted exclusively of Black African applicants. According to the released data, 53,797 applications came from Coloured candidates, 3,047 from Indian candidates, and 1,079 from White candidates.
Read also
South Africa gets extra public holiday in 2026 as President Ramaphosa declares election day
How SAPS selected shortlisted candidates
SAPS clarified that the demographic composition of the applicant pool, rather than any deliberate exclusion policy, was responsible for the racial distribution seen in the selection outcomes. Candidates holding a valid driver's licence were given priority based on operational requirements. Among those prioritised applicants, 291,591 were African, 11,743 Coloured, 1,722 Indian, and 556 White.
PAY ATTENTION: You can now search for all your favourite news and topics on Briefly News.
Shortlisted candidates were then required to pass fitness and psychometric evaluations before undergoing medical screening, drug testing, fingerprint verification, criminal background checks, and formal interviews. Provincial Recruitment Boards, which include representatives from Community Policing Forums, compiled and recommended the final candidate lists.
SAPS plans targeted outreach to boost minority applications
To address the low number of applications from non-African population groups, SAPS announced plans for community-based recruitment roadshows and targeted outreach campaigns. Police management noted that the recruitment drive was designed to serve a dual purpose: building operational capacity within the service while simultaneously helping to ease the country's persistent youth unemployment crisis, all while maintaining rigorous fitness and integrity standards.
View McKenzie's post and SAPS' statement on X:
SAPS reports viewer murders
In a related article, Briefly News reported on South Africa’s latest murder statistics, including the 5.9% decline recorded by SAPS between April and June 2026. The Eastern Cape nevertheless had the country’s highest murder rate at 14.3 per 100,000 people.
PAY ATTENTION: Stay informed and follow us on Google News!
Source: Briefly News
