Here’s how many South African police are failing gun competency assessments

Hundreds of members of the South African Police Service have failed their gun competency assessments over the last few years, performing even worse in maintenance assessments.

Responding in a written parliamentary Q&A, police minister, Bheki Cele, provided the data for the number of police officers who failed their assessments from the 2011 financial year to date.

The figures represent the number of officers who are “not yet competent” in the use and maintenance of handguns, rifles, shotguns, and the legal principles of owning and using a firearm.

The most recent data shows a significant improvement in competency levels among the SAPS members over the last decade. However, it also reveals a worrying trend of officers not being able to competently maintain their firearms.

The results of competency assessments are contingent on the number of recruits and SAPS members taking them in any given year. If there are no new recruits, the number of competency tests taken will drop.

Over the past five years, a headcount of the SAPS shows a decline of around 20,000 staff, to 172,000. Operations were also impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown regulations.

Cele has indicated that his department plans to rapidly ramp up recruitment in the coming year – which will include thousands of new officers and bringing older officers back into the fold.

The minister said the SAPS plans to add 12,000 new recruits in total. A total of 7,000 new recruits will be enlisted in the 2022/2023 financial year, with a further 5,000 recruits added in the 2023/2024 financial year.

In addition to the above, 3,000 posts were advertised during the 2021/2022 financial year, and the SAPS recruits will undergo training – therefore a total of 10,000 recruits will be trained in 2022, Cele said.

Training is scheduled to end in December 2022, after which they will be deployed across the country.

Police recruits undergo a Basic Police Development Learning Programme when they enlist in the service. Upon recruitment, a Memorandum of Agreement is entered into between the South African Police Service and the police recruit for a contract period of 24 months. During this period, the recruit will be a police trainee and will undergo the Basic Police Development Learning Programme.

When police trainees complete the training and are found competent, they are permanently enlisted in the SAPS as constables.

The table below outlines the data:

Read: Warning over declining police numbers in South Africa