New Police Minister Sends Strong Warning on Corruption as Nearly 2,000 Recruits Graduate

In Bhisho on Friday, South Africa’s newest batch of police recruits were reminded that the badge they wear is not just a symbol of authority but a promise of integrity. Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, newly appointed and stepping into one of the most politically charged roles in government, stood before 849 graduates in the Eastern Cape, part of a nationwide intake of 1,919 and made his message clear: corruption will not be tolerated.

“Everyone Is Doing It” Is Not a Defence

With the kind of frankness that has been missing from public podiums in recent years, Cachalia told the recruits that peer pressure is no excuse for misconduct.

“Corruption, abuse of power, negligence, these things erode public trust and endanger lives,” he said, warning them not to follow colleagues into wrongdoing simply because it’s common practice.

The remarks landed in a climate where the SAPS’s own leadership has been under fire. Just last month, KwaZulu-Natal’s police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, accused former police minister Senzo Mchunu of trying to dismantle the province’s political killings task team. He went further, alleging that a Gauteng-based drug cartel has influence stretching into the police service, the judiciary and other state structures.

The fallout has been swift: Mchunu is on special leave, a judicial commission led by former Constitutional Court judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga is under way, and Parliament’s ad hoc committee has just 90 days to dig into the claims.

Walking Into a Storm

Cachalia did not sugar-coat the reality facing the graduates. “You enter into service at a time when our country faces immense challenges,” he said, citing high violent crime rates, entrenched gender-based violence, and organised criminal networks that are becoming more daring and sophisticated.

For many South Africans, trust in the police has been worn thin by years of scandals and inefficiency. Social media users reacting to the ceremony echoed the sentiment that new recruits must be “different from the old guard” if they are to restore public confidence.

Not Just a Job, But a Choice

The recruits, many of whom hold qualifications in criminology, forensic investigation, law and policing, were reminded that they chose this path. “You are here because you chose to serve. You chose to be counted among those who step forward, not back – even when the danger is great and the path uncertain,” Cachalia said.

He stressed that their new tools, weapons, training, and authority must be used for protection and justice, not fear or personal gain. “Do right, not when it is easy, but especially when it is hard,” he urged.

A Moment of High Stakes

The timing of this graduation is no accident. With investigations into alleged political interference in policing expected to yield preliminary findings within three months, these officers will begin their careers under intense scrutiny.

For Cachalia, this is more than a ceremonial speech. It’s an attempt to draw a moral line in the sand for a police service that has too often found itself on the wrong side of public trust.

The question now is whether these 1,919 fresh faces can rise above the noise, resist the pull of corruption, and live up to the weighty promise made on their first day in uniform.

{Source: The Citizen}

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