The MMC for Public Safety, Cllr Mally Mokoena has moved to assure over 1 000 JMPD cadets who had to be recalled because of inadequate training that they will graduate at the end of the year.
MMC Mokoena says the officers who were recruited in April 2018 were recalled after graduating from college last year because of regulatory flaws in their two-year training programme.
“Our decision to recall the trainees had no malicious intent. It was based wholly on our obligation to ensure that due processes are followed and that the lives of the trainees and residents are not jeopardised by placing ill-prepared officers on our streets,” says MMC Mokoena.
The officers, who are completing their training in Soweto and at the JMPD Training Academy near Booysens will serve at the frontline of the war against crime and grime, by-law and traffic infringements. It is the first time in the history of both the City and its law enforcement agency, the JMPD, that more than 600 cadets are trained at once to be officers.
Cllr Mokoena says an internal audit conducted in January found that among other systematic defects in the training process, the officers had incomplete portfolios of evidence, had written backdated exams, and some did not have verifiable proof of their training.
“These are only a few of the myriad of missteps made during the training of the recruits,” she says.
The City’s decision to recall trainees were given credence by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), which said all unit standards for their intake had not been internally verified and that the college must not issue Diplomas until this process had been completed, the MMC explains.
Cllr Mokoena says the cadets have been recently dispatched to several areas of Johannesburg, including Kliptown, Pimville and Diepkloof to conduct vehicle inspections and data capturing as part of their practical training.
“I wish to reaffirm the City’s unwavering commitment to ensure that the recruits complete their training and serve residents with the utmost distinction. The department will not compromise on the quality of officers sent out to the streets merely for public or political expediency,” she emphasises.
Cllr Mokoena says the thousands of JMPD cadets who were recruited in the full glare of publicity are getting in shape and will complete their training in December 2020. The officers are trained to enforce the law professionally and to withstand the temptation to be corrupt.
