Despite budgeting R5.7-billion annually to recruit an additional 30 000 officers by 2026, the SA Police Service (SAPS) has cut 90% of its police reservists in the past decade.

In a recent parliamentary reply to Democratic Alliance (DA) MP and the party's spokesperson on police Andrew Whitfield, Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed that the number of South Africa's reservists declined from a high of 52 054 in the 2011/12 financial year to just 3 502 as of 31 October, when Cele replied. 

Gauteng has the highest number of reservists with 974 officers, while the Northern Cape recorded the fewest at 210. 

The police ministry, however, said the drop should not be negatively perceived because former reservists who became SAPS officers can now focus on community work full-time, instead of the monthly 16 hours they were required to fulfil while they were reservists.

"The community is also continuously encouraged to join the SAPS as reservists in order to increase the number of force multipliers and intensify the fight against crime.

"Also, over the past 10 years, the SAPS has embarked on numerous targeted recruitment drives whereby 16 122 serving reservists who are eligible for employment were recruited to be permanently employed as SAPS or civilian employees," ministerial spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said on Tuesday.

Whitfield said on Tuesday that Cele "undermines an immediate opportunity to increase boots on the ground", adding that crime continued "to ravage terrified communities". 

The latest statistics showing that 6 228 people were murdered between April and June, averaging nearly 70 killings per day, validate Whitfield's view of crime ravaging the country, with more than 10 500 rapes reported during the same period.

Themba explained that there were various reasons for the decline in reservist numbers.

"This includes natural attrition due to retirement, death and relocation, and voluntary attrition when reservists join for different reasons and their circumstances change, such as finding permanent employment."

But Whitfield said on Tuesday that the decline in numbers was a "devastating blow to the fight against crime as reservists have played a critical force multiplier role in supporting the SAPS as it has faced declining numbers of personnel".

In May, Cele said 12 000 new officers would join the SAPS during the 2023/24 reporting period, and R5.7-billion was set aside for recruitment to maintain police staff numbers at 179 502. The number of recruits will increase annually, Cele added, to get 30 000 new officers by 2026.

"We are calling on all South Africans from all walks of life to join the SAPS. The police service remains an organisation of choice for all South Africans, regardless of colour, race or creed," Cele said.

Cele, meanwhile, has been entangled in a spat with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, who charged that the minister's government days were "numbered" for failing to recognise the province's 6 000 crime wardens and granting them firearm rights, as contained in section 334 of the Criminal Procedures Act.

Lesufi apologised for his remarks, saying they were made "in haste" as someone concerned with fighting crime. 

Whitfield criticised the ministry's low intake of officers and the depletion of reservists, blaming Cele for the fall in numbers. 

"We need all hands on deck in the fight against crime, and the SAPS should be pursuing a deliberate and urgent recruitment drive to bolster its ranks with hard-working reservists who are committed to supporting and strengthening the SAPS."