News24 reports that according to Minister of Police Bheki Cele, South Africa is 60,000 police officials short of achieving United Nations standards.  

The former national police commissioner revealed this during an SABC News interview on Sunday.  Presently, the country has more than 193,000 officers, but an extra 60,000 officers would help meet the basic ratio of one police officer for every 200 people, Cele pointed out.  Currently, SA has one officer for every 383 people – almost double the ratio the UN has set.  "The president (Cyril Ramaphosa) talks about 5 000 [trainees] and this is what we have in colleges at the present moment.  He continues to call us to put more.  Next year we will have 7 000 (trainees) and the following year we will have an extra 7 000.  It is a chicken and an egg because we talk about the economy that doesn't grow.  Indeed in the criminal situation, [we] can't grow.  You need to fix the crime situation for the economy to grow," Cele said in the interview.  He also indicated that it would take around five years for the police service to meet its employment target.

• Read the full original of Ntwaagae Seleka’s report on this story at News24

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