-
Newly trained police officers at a pass out parade in SAPS Academy Mthatha, 15 Aug 2025.
Police Minister Firoz Cachalia says despite a modest increase in personnel numbers in the South African Police Service (SAPS) over the past three years, SAPS staffing remains far from achieving optimum levels.
Cachalia says in a written Parliamentary reply that a prolonged period of declining personnel numbers has negatively impacted all business units in the SAPS, including the Forensic Science Laboratory.
SAPS currently has four laboratories across the country, of which three are fully operational: one in Gauteng, one in the Western Cape, and another in the Eastern Cape.
The KwaZulu-Natal laboratory is only partially utilised.
The minister says cases registered for analysis with the Forensic Science Laboratory increased by over 118 000 from 2023 to 2025.
#sapsGP [HAPPENING NOW] The excitement is mounting as the newly trained Constables who completed their basic training of the Introductory Police Development Learning Programme (IPDLP) at SAPS Academy in Moloto, are getting ready for their passing out parade. Families are out in… pic.twitter.com/vSc48pbUGd
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) August 15, 2025
