South African Police Not Offering Training to '5,500 Police Trainees' - Jobseekers Should Look for Opportunities On Verified Platforms

30 April 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Taryn Khourie

South African police not offering training to '5,500 police trainees' - jobseekers should look for opportunities on verified platforms

IN SHORT: Claims on social media that South Africa's police force is offering training to "5,500 police trainees" are a scam. SAPS warns jobseekers to visit official, verified social media platforms and the SAPS website's career page instead.

"SAPS TRAINING 2026 - NOW OPEN," starts a Facebook post doing the rounds in South Africa.

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The South African Police Service, or SAPS, is the country's national police force.

The post claims that applications are open for "5,500 Police Trainees" with "no application fees required".

The post includes a link that social media users can supposedly use to apply.

"Don't miss this opportunity to serve and protect your community!" it adds.

The post includes a graphic with the same information. The graphic also lists minimum requirements - such as matric certification, South African citizenship, a clear criminal record, and being aged 18 to 35 - and provides a website and WhatsApp number where jobseekers can apply.

The same claim has been doing the rounds elsewhere on social media, some with different graphics, here, here and here.

Africa Check has debunked several job scams circulating in the name of the South African police, but is this claim different?

We checked.

Signs of a scam

There are a few signs that the posts and graphics are a scam.

First, the requirements for the supposed training are quite low, something we have previously noted as a red flag.

Scammers will often target unemployed or financially vulnerable individuals with promises of easy work, or low requirements for employment or training, to get as many people as possible to click on their link or message them on an unverified number.

Second, there's the unverified website. The link in the posts takes users to an unofficial website where users have to click on multiple pages to finally get to the supposed job opportunity. This is a tactic used by scammers to drive traffic to their website and earn revenue per click.

Some of the graphics also list a WhatsApp number, where users can send a message to apply for the supposed job. Social media users must be wary of such methods - scammers can phish information for fraudulent purposes, like identity and bank account numbers.

'ALWAYS refer to our official, verified social media platforms and the SAPS Website's Career page'

Africa Check could find no evidence that SAPS had officially opened applications for training for "5,500 Police Trainees" in 2026, when the Facebook posts were uploaded.

While debunking other similar scams, SAPS posted on Facebook that they had noted fake adverts being posted on different social media platforms and websites advertising positions for police trainees.

"Follow the official social media platforms of the SAPS to receive all announcements and information," they said.

In another post, SAPS warned social media users to "ALWAYS refer to our official, verified social media platforms and the SAPS website's career page".

Debunking scams during high unemployment

With South Africa's high unemployment rate, especially among young people, social media scams can cause real harm, potentially leading to identity fraud or loss of money. Here are tips for what to watch for to avoid being conned:

  • Badly written posts: Look for posts with poor spelling, grammar or punctuation. This is often the first red flag.
  • Posts with unverified graphics: Be wary of job ads that include official-looking graphics, often made to make the post look legit. The clues are in the details: an unofficial link, email address or phone number is a red flag.
  • Posts that link to an unrelated website: Don't trust posts that don't link to the mentioned company or institution's official website. If they direct you to an unrelated, unverified website, ignore the claim and keep scrolling.
  • Posts that tell you to like, share, comment and "inbox": These are often forms of engagement bait, used to gain reach. They could also be an attempt at phishing, a tactic used to steal your personal information for fraudulent purposes.

Pause before you share. If you come across a post that you think is a scam, debunk the claim yourself or send it to us on WhatsApp, and we'll help you sort fact from fiction.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. X @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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