White cops are a dwindling group in South Africa, but more and more women are donning the blue.
South Africa now has 45Â 000 policewomen, or 30% of the total number of police, compared to 25Â 000 in 1994, says a Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation report. The number of African policewomen is sharply up, to about 17% of the total.
Over the same period, the number of whites in the South African Police Service fell by 20Â 000 to about 30Â 000, or one-fifth of the force.
The report notes, however, that more women are working in largely administrative positions than as police officers. Women make up 16% of non-commissioned officers and 28% of commissioned officers.
White men, by contrast, are still disproportionately represented in top jobs — 12% of the overall force, they make up a quarter of commissioned officers. African men make up about 50% of the force, but 37% of commissioned officers and two-thirds of non-commissioned officers.
Patterns of recruitment have also changed. Africans, coloureds and Indians — 90% of the population — make up 94% of new recruits in the past five years. Whites constitute 6%. The report says this could lead to racial imbalances in future.