By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

The South African Police Service (SAPS) released a statement on the number of applicants that they received this year with an influx of 185,000 applicants in just 48 hours as of 02 July 2025.

The SAPS are encouraged with this rise in applicants consisting of young people, as they have applied for the Basic Police Learning Development Training programme (BPLDTP). In regards to job applications per province, Gauteng leads with 53,000, which is followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 30,000, followed by Limpopo with 20,000, then Eastern Cape with 19,000 and finally Mpumalanga with 18,000.

The Western Cape sits at number six in ranking the provinces with the most applications with a total of 17,000 applications received which is followed by the Free State which is 14,000, then North West sitting with 14,000 applicants and then lastly Northern Cape with 4000.

Female applicants lead the way in terms of the ratio of applicants with more than 105,000 applying for the programme with male applicants sitting at 80,000. Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told Diplomatic Insider that SAPS receives an influx in applications every year with the numbers growing significantly each year.

“Every year we get an influx of applications. Last year we got a million applications and the previous year was about 600,000” said the Brigadier. Mathe mentioned that there is a need for more police officers in order to combat crime; “We need more police officers to fight crime, to enhance police visibility and to deter crime.” she further explained. This rise in applicants each year does put heavy strain on the selection process of these applicants. “We unfortunately have space for 5500, we have to select quality.” expressed Mathe.