History

Who is the Minister for Safety and Security? And who is the National Commissioner of the SAPS?

 The Minister for Safety and Security is Minister Nathi Mthethwa. He has been minister since 10 May 2009 and the Deputy Minister is MM Sotyu. The National Commissioner of the SAPS is  Bheki Cele. He was appointed as commissioner on 2 August 2009.

 The new motto of the SAPS is Batho pele - people first. This means the police want to give the community a service in the form of helping people in trouble, and  helping to prevent crimes from  taking place.

The vision of the South African Police Service (SAPS) is to create a safe and secure environment for all the people in South Africa.

The mission of the SAPS is to prevent anything that could come in the way of creating a safe and secure environment for the community.

The values which the SAPS uphold are:

• to protect everyone’s rights and to be impartial, respectful, open and accountable to the community;
• to use the powers given to us in a responsible way;
• to provide a responsible, effective and high quality service with honesty and integrity;
• to evaluate our service continuously and make every effort to improve it;
• to use our resources in the best way possible;
• to develop the skills of all our members through equal opportunity;
• to cooperate with the community, all levels of Government and other role-players

The era of apartheid came to an end in 1994 when President Nelson Mandela was elected as the first president of the new South Africa. South Africa became an internationally accepted democracy.

Many changes were brought by the new democratic order and substantial changes to policing.

The first Minister for Safety and Security in the new South Africa was Mr. Sydney Mufamadi.

Before 1995, South Africa was divided into TBVC states, Self-Governing Territories (also known as Homelands) and Development regions (old South Africa).

Each Homeland had its own policing agency. The agencies amounted to eleven (10 homelands + the old South African Police).

All of the policing agencies had different uniforms, rank structures and conditions of service.

After 1994 a single National Police Service was established for the new South Africa with its 9 provinces.

On 29 January 1995, General George Fivaz was appointed as the first National Commissioner of the new South African Police Service by President Nelson Mandela.

In 1999 Minister Sydney Mufamadi was succeeded by Minister Steve Tshwete as Minister for Safety and Security. He was appointed by the new President Thabo Mbeki.

In January 2000 National Commissioner George Fivaz was succeeded by Commissioner Jackie Selebi as second National Commissioner of the South African Police Service.

Minister Steve Tshwete passed away on 26 April 2002 and was succeeded by Minister Charles Nqakula during May 2002.

More about the history of the South African Police Service.

back to top