SAPS and Polmed team up for Youth Day
As South Africa celebrates Youth Day, the South African Police Service together with Polmed, have teamed up to provide support to young officers. The National SAPS Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, said SAPS has trained and employed over 30 000 youth between the ages of 18 and 35 in the last three years.
'These young police officers are now deployed to bolster crime combatting efforts at the grassroots level of policing where police visibility and services are most needed', said General Masemola.
He said some of the officers are now in community service centres, where they interact directly with victims of crime.
General Masemola said they are grooming an additional 4000 officers to become detectives, to enhance the conviction rate.
He said a further 5000 officers have received training as Public Order Police unit members. General Masemola said they deploy the members to police protests and crowd gatherings daily.
One of the 5000 members is 29-year-old Constable Nsuku Reanoldar Mathonsi, from Burgersfort in Limpopo. She recently won a gold medal at this year's Comrades Marathon. MATHONSI MAKES HISTORY THROUGH POLMED SUPPORT
Limpopo SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba, said Mathonsi is the first female officer ever to receive the Robert Mtshali Medal. The Comrade's Marathon awards the medal to runners who complete the race under 9 hours and 10 minutes.
'Mathonsi completed this year's Comrades Marathon in a time of 08:17:33,' said Mashaba.
'As a medical scheme dedicated to the health and wellbeing of South African Police Service members, we are honoured to have been part of her incredible journey,' said Polmed Principal Officer, Neo Khauoe.
Khauoe further said that Mathonsi's achievement reflects what members can achieve when they receive holistic support. SHOULD SAPS MAINLY CONSIST OF YOUNG MEMBERS?
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