Kamogelo Olaitan
While addressing the community of Orlando East in Soweto on Monday following the massacre of 16 people at a tavern, Police Minister Bheki Cele went on an unexpected tirade about tattoos.
Cele said that people with tattoos were often criminals, saying that SAPS should not hire those with tattoos because they have a “tendency of being gangsters”.
The South African Policing Union (SAPU) has hit back at the minister, saying his comments are unfounded and factually incorrect.
Sapu spokesperson Lesiba Thobakgale said a tattoo has nothing to do with whether or not someone is a criminal.
“One can be a gangster without a tattoo. We are challenging the police service regulations on tattoos because it is discriminating against those who have them,” he said in an interview with 702.
Thobakgale went on to say that Cele’s comments were another example of SAPS leaders distracting focus from some of the real issues in the force including a lack of leadership and mismanagement.
The SAPS requirements of appointment state that members should not have any tattoos which are visible while the officer is wearing their summer uniform.
The rule was introduced in 2012 and is currently being challenged by the union, which argues that tattoos have no bearing on the service provided.
