A frustrated University Estate man says his dream to join the South African Police Service and help fight crime in his community is unattainable because he has a tattoo.
Joshua Obaray says he applied for the police trainee programme earlier this year and indicated in the form that has a tattoo on his forearm.
“On the application form, they did ask about tattoos, and where the tattoo is located. I filled in all that information. And the only thing they said regarding tattoos in the application was that the tattoo you possess shouldn’t be irreconcilable with the South African Police Service. Meaning that it can’t be one of the numbers of the gangs, or a middle finger etc.”
He adds: “I have a tattoo on my forearm of a forest and a city in the shape of a guitar. I stipulated this on the application as they asked.”
Obaray says he received an SMS inviting him to write a psychometric assessment on Wednesday 12 August at Custom House in the City Bowl. He explains that his hopes to join the service were quickly dashed.
“Before even writing the test, they asked who had tattoos and about 12 of whom indicated that we have tattoos were put in a room and a Colonel came into the room and the first thing he asked us is, ‘What did police minister Bheki Cele say?’
All the applicants replied that if you have tattoos you’re a gangster.
And then the Colonel told us ‘You see, he said it, not me’ and then he explained that for the summer uniform your tattoo should not be visible.”
Earlier this year, police minister Bheki Cele publicly stated that the police do not hire candidates who have tattoos because “they have a tendency of being gangsters”.
A disappointed Obaray says applicants were upset and frustrated.
“A lot of people were gutted, because they travelled from far just to be told that news. What was irritating is the fact that in the application they did ask, and we mentioned where the tattoos were located, and we also mentioned what the tattoos were. I don’t understand why they even called us up to write the test. One girl only had a tattoo of a bracelet around her wrist, and she was sent home as well.”
Obaray explains that he is actively involved in fighting crime in his community. He serves as a Woodstock Community Policing Forum (CPF) member and is currently a member of the neighbourhood watch.
“This is something that I want to do and really like doing. I feel disappointed that I am not able to go into that and fulfil that dream just because of a tattoo that I have on my arm. I do understand that they have certain rules, but a tattoo of a guitar and a forest in a city cannot be irreconcilable with the police, in my opinion. I feel like they are being a bit too strict.”
The police’s recruitment policy states that members should “not have a tattoo which will be visible if the person wears a uniform”.
This is a policy that Obaray criticised because he says some people who have a “passion for crime fighting” are excluded from the recruitment process simply because they have a tattoo.
“I don’t feel like it’s fair to us who have tattoos, because I don’t feel like it’s going to affect our ability to be professional. I understand where they come from in being presentable, but there are always ways of working around things like that. I am part of the CPF in Woodstock as well. And I used to do vehicle check points with the police and they never had a problem with it because some of them have tattoos as well.”
Obaray says with crime spiking not only in Woodstock but across the country, turning new recruits away does not address the issue.
“I feel like this is something that people should know about. They are creating unemployment unnecessarily because I might be one less person that can be deployed at Woodstock Police Station and they are already understaffed.”
According to Obaray, he previously applied for the reservist post with the City law enforcement as well.
“This was before the minister’s announcement. I wrote a test; I was asked there too if I have a tattoo and they just made a note of it. I wrote the test, and they called me for a fitness test, unfortunately I wasn’t fit at that time. I feel like the minister’s statement is giving people with tattoos a bad stigma.”
Gary Adams, Public Relations Officer for Woodstock CPF, says Obaray is a committed and conscientious U Watch neighbourhood watch patroller with “impeccable sobriety”.
“His reason for joining the neighbourhood watch was his passion for the safety of our community which naturally evolved to him signing up as police reservist. Why should a tattoo symbolising the birth of his daughter, five years ago, cancel his opportunity of volunteering to serve his community as a police reservist?”
He says the Woodstock precinct is challenged in having less feet on the ground and is in short supply of police reservists.
Lesiba Thobakgale, South African Policing Union (Sapu) Spokesperson, describes the minister’s remarks as “reckless, malicious and uninformed about tattoos”.
Thobakgale says it is common for young people to have tattoos and adds that if the South African Police Service continues to “discriminate and misinterpret” the regulations there will not be any young people to recruit into the service.
He says this is something they cannot afford as there is a shortage of police officers.
“Any applicants affected and refused writing psychometric tests or excluded from any processes are encouraged to contact Sapu as we are busy engaging police management on the issue of exclusion of applicants due to tattoos.”
In response to enquiries Col Andrè Traut, Provincial Commander for media communication, says: “To search all the applicants who declared that they have tattoos is just not possible. He is however encouraged to approach the police Recruitment Centre where he can make his enquiry. Persons with tattoos that are visible when wearing police summer uniform will not be recruited.”
- To contact Sapu send an email to salaryincrease2022@sapu.co.za
