CQ No. 25


SA Crime Quarterly No 46 • December 2013 23

South Africa is home to more academic material
on policing than any other police service on the
continent. However, there is a glaring gap in
available literature: the failure to research
reservists, despite the reserve being operational
since the early 1960s.1 South African reservists
comprise just over 16% of the entire SAPS
workforce in Gauteng.2 However, little is known
about why these individuals choose to use their
spare time to police their communities. 

This article is a portion of findings that came out
of research done to understand the perspectives
of suburban reservists in Johannesburg. However,
the aim of the research was not only to under-
stand their perspectives but to question how such
perspectives were shaped by difference, namely

through race, gender and class. Owing to space
limitations this article focuses on one of the most
dominant discourses to emerge during the
interviews with the 23 reservists, that is, the
racialised way in which motivation for joining was
articulated. Due to most of the interviewees being
white men, this article is primarily about their
views, but it must be noted that the four white
women and three black men interviewed did tend
to corroborate the views of the white male
reservists. Interviewed reservists were of the
opinion that black people joined the police reserve
in the hope of gaining access to permanent
employment, whereas white people joined for fun
and excitement.3

Constable 24 succinctly summed up this view
when she stated, ‘Most white people do it as a
hobby. Most black people are looking for jobs.’5

These assumptions (or at the very least perceptions
of these divergent motivations) can be tied to
broader societal expectations, which are informed

Claudia Forster-Towne* 

Cforster-towne@ai.org.za

This article discusses the racialised and dichotomous way in which suburban reservists articulate their
motivations for joining the South African Police Service (SAPS); namely, that white reservists are believed
to join as a hobby whereas black reservists join for an opportunity to gain employment. Using interviews,
this article illustrates how these perspectives are tied to broader societal expectations, which are informed
in and through race and class relations. It concludes with a call for further research to build on this
largely exploratory research. 

* Claudia Forster-Towne is a researcher in the Sustainable 
Development Division at the Africa Institute for South
Africa (AISA) and a lecturer in the Development
Studies and Anthropology Department at the University
of Johannesburg.   

Perceptions and motivations
of police reservists in
Johannesburg

WHITE HOBBY/
BLACK
OPPORTUNITY



24 Institute for Security Studies

by both racial and gendered rhetoric but are also
indicative of varying class positions.6 I found the
prevalence of such a discourse both interesting
and unnerving. Why was there such a common
belief that white reservists joined for pleasure but
black reservists joined out of need? Due to the
dominance of this discourse as well as its
extremely binary construction I felt it necessary to
further deconstruct it.  

WHAT IS THE POLICE RESERVE?

In South Africa very little is known about, or has
been written on, police reservists or the reserve. In
fact, there is no academic material on the reserve
and the only written account of reservists’
experiences is a colloquial book written by
Andrew Brown about his experiences as a
reservist in Cape Town.7

With this in mind, I was unable to track down any
documentation that explicitly stated the start of
the reserve. However, I was able to infer that the
reserve began in the early 1960s, firstly because
Colonel L (white male, 73 years) stated8 that he
started working as a reservist in 1964, two years
after it was started in 1962. Secondly, I found a
speech in which Minister of Justice JP Vorster
opened up the reserve to non-whites (that is,
Indian and coloured, not black, people) in
February 1962, meaning that the official start of
the reserve may have been earlier.9 Despite the
uncertainty regarding the exact start of the
reserve, it is not surprising that it was established
in the early 1960s, because the country was in a
state of emergency following the Sharpeville
massacre, the banning of the African National
Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress
(PAC), as well as the arrest of ANC leader Nelson
Mandela.10

A reservist, simply put, is ‘a member of the
community who performs policing duties or
activities for the SAPS on a voluntary basis
without being paid for those services.’11 This article
is mainly concerned with A type reservists, as
these are the most common types of reservists and
are the ones who look and perform like regular
police officers while on duty. 

In order to become an A type reservist one has to
fulfil several criteria as set out by the SAPS. These
include being between the ages of 18 and 70,
having a matric (grade 12) certificate, and being
willing to undergo both physical and psychometric
testing.14 During the course of the interviews it
also emerged that reservists should have access to
full-time employment and that the reserve should
not be seen as a ‘fast track’ to becoming a
permanent member.15 These requirements in and
of themselves are racialised, gendered and classed,
as they are tied to broader societal processes.16 For
example, needing to have a certain level of
education and English proficiency may exclude
those (and their children) who were previously
disadvantaged by Bantu education.17 Furthermore,
it was found in my research that the term
‘reservist’ implicitly means ‘men’, as more emphasis
tends to be placed on the physical requirements of
the job (which, I am told, actually make up a small
portion of the work), than administrative skills
(which are perceived to be feminine). Although
ever present, discussing the gendered ways in
which reservists understand their work is beyond
the scope of this article. However, in many of the
quotes I have italicised the use of masculine
orientated words so as to indicate how taken for
granted the profession is as being male. 

Types of Function and allowances
reservist

A Carry out the same operational duties as 
regular members 
May wear a uniform
Undergo training about functional policing

B Carry out support duties 
May not do functional duties 
May not wear a uniform
May undergo legal training that pertains to
their tasks

C Have specific skill or expertise than can be 
utilised by the SAPS (such as divers, doctors,
or pilots)
May wear a uniform if their commander
permits it

D May carry out operational duties in specific 
sector 
May wear a uniform depending on duties
Trained in aspects of sector or functional
policing

Table 1: Types of reservists12



SA Crime Quarterly No 46 • December 2013 25

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND18

In order to analyse both subject formation and
broader social practices a mosaic of theories were
needed, not only to capture the voices of reservists
themselves but also to take into consideration
organisational constraints and processes. Below I
give a glimpse into the theoretical framework
used for my broader research,19 which considered
how reservists’ perceptions of their labour are
informed through difference, and allowed my
analysis to cut across micro, meso, and macro
levels while emphasising agency within structural
constraints. The theories used included Joan
Acker’s20 ‘inequality regime’, Anne McClintock’s21

‘situated psychoanalysis’ and Foucault’s22 concept
of ‘bio-power’. 

The theory of inequality regimes premises that
class is both racialised and gendered and that the
workplace is a site of ‘conflict’ or, rather, a place
from which inequality and difference are practised
and reinforced through various forms of control
and compliance. Differential treatment (or
inequality, as it were) is based on broader societal
processes, but the visibility and legitimacy of said
inequalities (whether based on race, gender, class
or other social structures) can vary from
organisation to organisation.23 Therefore,
inequality regimes is a very context-specific
theory and is important for understanding
reservists and how they function, as it provides a
means of accessing how work, within
organisations, is practised through difference.
Despite this intersectional24 approach (looking at
class, race, and gender), inequality regimes, as a
theory, fails to account for how these differences
are articulated in and through discourses.

McClintock25 shines here, as the psychoanalytical
terms she uses such as fetish, disavowal,
anachronistic space, and abjection are useful in
the analysis of spoken language – although she
herself uses them to analyse texts such as diaries
and books, as well as images such as adverts and
photographs. Nonetheless, her theory (situated
psychoanalysis) is sensitive to essentialism and
rather focuses on discussing how inequalities are
articulated through one another in historically

informed but also deeply personal ways. As such,
it is the ‘no-go zone’ between Marx’s material
history and Freud’s psychoanalysis as it seeks to
highlight how the individual subject is formed
through historically informed discourse and
practice. This is important here, as the racialised
ways in which motivations are expressed are
historically located and loaded with conflicting
desires and attachments. 

Central to both these theories, and any discussion
on inequality, is power. However, for the purposes
of this analysis, Foucault’s26 concept of ‘bio-power’
is particularly useful. For one, it helps to bring the
body into the picture. It is necessary to understand
how bodies are disciplined (anatomo-politics) and
chosen (bio-politics) to perform in the police, as
perceptions of race tend to be coupled with
preconceived ideas of worth and function.
Furthermore, Foucault’s concentration on dis-
course is attractive as it helps to access people’s
world views through language without losing sight
of structures and history. 

Hence, this article serves as an analysis of
discourse (as opposed to discourse analysis) in
that it focuses on the political ways in which
certain issues are given prevalence. That is, my
analysis will target taken-for-granted assumptions
of the interviewed participants, and link them to
broader social relations.27

METHOD AND METHODOLOGY

During the course of six weeks in March/April
2013 a series of interviews was conducted with
reservists operating in suburban Johannesburg.
Access was gained through a friend of the author,
who is also a reservist. He acted as my gatekeeper,
introducing me to reservists he knows. For fear of
bias I did not interview my gatekeeper, but he
served as a valuable resource during the research
process. A further two reservists were found on
the professional social media site LinkedIn by
sending them messages (after noting they had
mentioned reservists in their list of work) to ask
whether they would be interested in participating
in interviews and could introduce me to more 

 



reservists. These three reservists were all middle-
class, white South Africans, living and working in
suburban Johannesburg. This had implications for
the research as they directed me to their reservist
networks, which tended to be racially and 

geographically homogenous – a noticeable
limitation of this study but one that was,
unfortunately, unavoidable.28 The skewed
demographic of my sample is clearly evident in
tables 2 and 3. 

Name Acronym Type Age Gender Race Home Date Current
language of joining status

Constable A CA A 34 M W English 2001 Inactive 
since 2010

Constable B CB A/C 36 F W English 1999 Active

Constable I CI A 30 M B Setswana 2008 Active 

Constable M CM D 27 M B Sepedi 2008 Permanent 
from 2009

Constable P CP A 66 F W English 2001 Active

Constable Q CQ A 29 F W English 2006 Active

Constable T CT A 34 M W English 2006/7 Active

Constable W CW A 49 M B isiXhosa 2006/7 Inactive 
6 months

Sergeant R SR A 59 M W English 1993 Active

Warrant WOB A 64 M W English 1996 Active
Officer B

Captain D CD A 63 M W Afrikaans 1982 Active

Captain K CK A 40 M W English 1991 Active

Captain P CAP A 39 M W English 1994 Active

Colonel L CL A 73 M W English 1964 Retired 
2010

Ordered from lowest rank to highest, then alphabetically.29

Table 2: Individual interview – demographics

Name Acronym Type Age Gender Race Home Date Current
language of joining status

Group 1 G1

Constable R CR A 30 M W English 2009 Active

Sergeant B SB A 45 M W English 2001 Active

Sergeant C SC A 39 M W English 1996 Active

Sergeant Z SZ A 42 M W English 1996 Active

Group 2 G2

Constable E CE A 50 F W English 2007 Active

Constable S CS D 48 M W Afrikaans 2007 Active

Constable Y CY A 32 M W English 2000 Active

Warrant 
Office G WOG A 38 M W English 1995 Active

Captain X CX A 65 M W English 1982 Active

Ordered according to group, then from lowest to highest rank and alphabetically.30 These two groups of
reservists were interviewed together and at different stations. 

Table 3: Group interviews – demographics 

26 Institute for Security Studies

 



reservists. However, one must be careful to
assume that the views of white reservists are
homogenous and/or that the views of those
coming from other racial groups are not in line,
or do not overlap, with those of white reservists.
A community (such as reservists or the police
more generally) may tend to share common views
within the group, meaning that people from
different racial backgrounds do not necessarily
have different views, although their history and
class positions may differ. These views come from
within the community and are informed by the
community’s history and the relationship of
members with one another: ‘[E]ven when we talk
in our own words, these words may not be “ours”
at all … [because] … within any community there
is a finite range of things it is con-ventional or
intelligible to say about a given concern.’34 That is,
language is inter-subjective (as opposed to being
objective or subjective). It is awarded validity
when groups agree on an aspect, and is reinforced
again in discourse.

This became evident in that the views of the
white female reservists and black male reservists
interviewed tended to corroborate those given by
the white male reservists. Furthermore, I picked
up little conflict with these views during my
informal (and largely unstructured) interactions
with permanent force members (who were mainly
black men and women). The SAPS gave me
official approval to carry out observations and
talk to permanent members in two of Johannes-
burg’s police stations. These were not done in a
systematic manner, as officers tended to be
working when I was around and seemed

SA Crime Quarterly No 46 • December 2013 27

The overrepresentation of white men in the
sample is partly due to an inherent shortcoming
of the snowball method, which was used both due
to time constraints and because of the organic
way it can illustrate affiliations and networks
(which tend to be historically and racially
constituted). Furthermore, the snowball method
was useful because I was conducting interviews in
areas that remain predominantly white (that is,
northern and western Johannesburg) due to the
country’s racist past. Table 4 is an indication of
how overrepresented these areas are by white
reservists, particularly white men.

However, this is not representative of the
province. Looking closely at the demographics for
reservists currently serving in Gauteng,  it is clear
that black men make up the majority (73%) –
despite interviewees being of the opinion that
white male reservists make up the majority of
recruits. That said, white men are over-
represented in the reserve, making up 17% of
reservists, despite only being 7,5% of the total
population in Gauteng. 

I am sensitive that in trying to discuss the
motivations for joining the reserve, the voices
mainly being heard are those of white male

Station/area Black Black White White Coloured Coloured Indian Indian Total
male female male female male female male female

Randburg 2 0 14 3 1 0 1 0 21

Honeydew 7 9 21 7 3 9 0 0 56

Florida 3 3 5 3 10 2 3 0 29

Roodeport 3 11 9 2 1 0 0 0 26

Honeydew 2 0 0 21 0 1 0 0 0 30

Total 15 23 70 15 16 11 4 0 154

Honeydew cluster stats, SAPS31

Table 4: April 2013 – Reservists at five stations in northern/western Johannesburg

Gender/Race Black White Indian Coloured Total

Male 3 030 1 291 116 154 4 591

Female 2 470 394 18 55 2 937

Total 5 500 1 685 134 209 7 528

As provided by the SAPS33

Table 5: April 2013 – Demographics of reservists
in Gauteng province



28 Institute for Security Studies

uncomfortable in my presence. I rather used the
opportunity to learn about police processes as
well as to engage in informal discussions with
those who were willing, so as to gauge the
permanent officers’ perspectives of reservists and
their working environment.   

WHITE HOBBY/
BLACK OPPORTUNITY

Of the 23 reservists interviewed, 17 stated at
some point that they had joined the reserve
because it was fun, exciting, or they viewed it as a
hobby (something they did in their leisure time).
On the other hand, only one of the individual
interviewees, Constable B (white female, 36
years), did not express the opinion that black
reservists joined out of a desire for employment
and opportunity.

These were of course not the only motivations to
emerge. Many (eight of the 14 individual
interviews) said that community engagement and
wanting to make a difference informed why they
joined. However, several respondents openly
stated that, if they were to be honest, they had
joined out of a desire for adrenaline and
excitement. Take for instance my conversation
with Captain D (white male, 63 years) below: 

CFT: Why did you become a reservist to begin
with?
CD: The ulterior motive I think was, at that
stage, I’m a little ashamed to say, just the
adrenaline … To us there’s no such thing as a
police reservist, when you’re booked on duty,
you’re a policeman full stop. We wear the same
uniform, undergo the same training, same
weapons, same vehicles, same duty, and same
authority. When you booked on duty you are
simply a policeman … If somebody had asked
me in those days ‘Why do you do this?’ I would
say something noble sounding like ‘well, it’s a
community service and there’s not enough
policemen’. Somebody once commented,
‘nonsense, it’s the little boy in you still playing
cowboys and crooks’, and that was probably
closer to the truth.35

Even though reasons for joining the reserve are
complex and often involve processes of subject
formation (being seen as a police officer and
wanting others to see you that way too), reservists
tended to construct reasons for joining in a very
binary fashion. However, a comment by Warrant
Officer B (white male, 64 years) nicely illustrates
some of the other reasons for joining that inform
reservists:

WOB: … you’ve got us as people who want to
serve the community. We want to have fun, we
enjoy the camaraderie of being a group and we
are a little bit elite from the general public and
it’s something about the uniform. When we put
that uniform on there is a slightly elitist sort of
feeling that we are doing something special and
you’ve got the uniform, you’ve got the gun,
albeit the gun is sort of a badge of rank in a
matter of speaking, and you go out there to do
your bit to protect the society but it’s not
without altruistic motives in terms of ‘Okay
that is what I am here for’ but there is the
excitement and enjoyment of driving fast 
cars …36

Warrant Officer B joined not only to help the
community but also out of a desire to feel special
(‘elitist sort of feeling’), belonging (‘camaraderie’),
nationalism (‘protect society’), and excitement.37

Although I recognise just how complex the
reasons for joining the reserve can be, the fact
that the discourse of white hobby/black
opportunity was so prevalent means that it
requires further attention and should be
deconstructed. It is valuable to know, so that
changes can be made that help to shift and alter
this common perspective and hopefully create a
more inclusive working environment. 

Why is it thought, overwhelmingly, that one
group of people joins the reserve because they
think it is fun work, while the other does so for
employment? One of the overarching
justifications for this was the assumption that
white people had better access to higher paying
jobs. Take for instance Constable T (white male,
34 years) explaining to me the ‘spectrum’ of
people who join the reserve: 

 



SA Crime Quarterly No 46 • December 2013 29

CT: Well, you know, if you look at the reservists,
there’s a huge spectrum, right from guys who
are business owners, CEOs of quite big
companies, corporates, right down to guys who
live in rural areas who just want to use the
reservists as a stepping stone to become a
permanent force, and to get a job. I mean, it’s a
fact, it’s a reality …
CFT: Is that also racially divided, because you’re
speaking about rural areas?
CT: Ja well, generally there’s not that many
whites living in rural areas. I mean, there are
but I think those whites are just trying to
survive, you know, the other chaps there are
trying to survive, but they’re trying to find jobs
and things and it’s so difficult for people to find
jobs, so the police … I think through friends
and connections … word of mouth has spread
and the guys join the reservists, with the bigger
picture of becoming a policeman, and some of
them do go far, some of them do very, very well.
Others sort of fly by night.38

From the above it is clear how higher paying jobs
(‘CEOs’, ‘business owners’) and suburban areas are
articulated as being the domain of white
reservists, whereas unemployment (‘no jobs’) and
rural areas are equated with black people.39

Constable T was by no means the only interviewee
to make such deductions. These divisions are not
only articulated through employment but also
through euphemisms of education. Constable Q
(white female, 29 years), for example, answers a
question on whether she thinks reservists are
better educated than permanent force members –
and also answers along racial lines:

CQ: I do. I definitely do because these are
people … I find them to be much more well
educated. They’re directors of companies,
they’re doctors … not all of them. Okay, the
people that I associate myself with. I always
question people who are unemployed and
wanting to be reservists. I can’t understand. I
sometimes wonder, you’re living in a location,
or … maybe it’s a trust fund baby, I don’t know.
But something always just says to me why, if
you don’t have an income would you now want
to volunteer to be a reservist. It’s something

that’s always just stuck very hard in my head.
You know, is it a shortcut to becoming a
permanent force policeman …?40

Again there is a collapse of professionals
(‘directors’, ‘doctors’) with white reservists, and the
pursuit of employment and poorer areas with black
people (thought to live in locations). The idea that
black reservists are only looking for employment
was not only the opinion of white reservists, in
fact, all three black interviewees agreed, such as
Constable M (black male, 27 years) and Constable
I (black male, 30 years) below:

CM: Most … black reservists wanted to use the
reserve as a quick way to become permanent in
the police. Because going from reservists to be
permanent is easier, you are first preference. So
most of them … wanted to be reservists to be
permanent.41

CFT: And why do you think most black
members want to become permanent force
members?
CI: I don’t know why … Unemployment, like I’m
not employed … To get a job. And they are not
passionate about the police. 
CFT: They are not passionate?
CI: They are not passionate, some. Most of them
… are doing crime in the police.42

Despite the prevalence of this discourse very few
reservists were reflective as to why this division
may exist. Rather, they used this perceived
difference in motivation as an indication of ‘desire
to be there’. However, although white people say
that they want to be in the reserve, most of them
find the pay (or the perception of pay)
unsatisfactory and not something they would be
willing to accept. This is reflected in the following
two conversations: 

CFT: Do you think white reservists, the ones you
work with you here want to be permanent force
members?
CI: To my station, no.
CFT: Why not?
CI: They say [the] salary’s too small and they
already have too much responsibility. If [the]
salary were not small they would love to be. 

 



30 Institute for Security Studies

CFT: So it’s not that they don’t like the job, it’s
the money? 
CI: The money is a big problem and they’ve
already got their own responsibilities. If the
money was okay, believe me most of them
would flock … I’m sure.43

CY: … This is my passion. If the money were
better I would probably be in it but I need … 
CFT: How’s that for the rest of you?  How many
of you would be PFs [permanent force]?
CX: Most of us, I think. [CY, CS, and WOG
agree.]44

This, by default, is stating that poor pay is
something, societally speaking, that is acceptable
for black people or, at the very least, is what they
are assumed to have access to. This points to what
I would like to call a ‘racial dividend’ – borrowing
from Connell’s (2005)45 patriarchal dividend – in
that ‘white people, in general, have gained, and
continue to gain from the economic and social
subordination of black people (both historically
and institutionally)’.46 Constable Q and Constable
W (black male, 49 years) were the only two
reservists to be somewhat reflective as to their
racial dividend. In fact, Constable W provided an
astute historical account as to why there may be a
racial division in the motivations for people
joining the reserve:

CW: We come from a past where we have been
stereotyped that there are certain jobs for men,
certain jobs for women. It was legislated … ja, I
mean in terms of apartheid. There were jobs
that were assigned for women and there were
jobs that were not for men. There were jobs for
blacks and jobs for whites. If you know how the
apartheid regime is structured it’s the same.47

Constable W, in this explanation, has also picked
up on the gendered nature of policing and that it
is primarily considered the preserve of men.48 As a
result of white reservists’ racial dividend they are
thought to be better able to afford the ‘luxury’ of
policing:

CA: Also as a general rule from what I have
seen the white men are generally a lot more
affluent. You know … Not from wealthy areas

but they are doing this as a hobby … for
whatever reason. To help the community.
They’ve got a basic job, which helps paying
for it, and it’s generally a much higher paying
basic job than most of your black males
[have].
CFT: Why do you think that’s important? 
CA: I think … Effectively it’s a luxury item.
Your white male is in a much better paying
job … can afford to spend the time or buy
the time to go reserving as opposed to a
black male who’s … [a] painter or manages a
small team at a plumbing place, and
suddenly making ends meet is so much more
difficult. So they’ve got less luxury time to
spend in the reserve.49

Again we see the triangulation of race and class
(and implicitly gender as well). To summarise,
‘luxury is reserved for those with the money to
have it and here it becomes clear that the
variation in white men’s motives for joining can
also be tied to their better social standing.’50

This reasoning is abundant, despite people
needing to be employed in order to work as
reservists. However, deviation in these
motivations is not necessarily unfounded. Of
the three black reservists interviewed, one
(Constable M) was now a permanent member
and another (Constable I) was hoping to
become one soon. This cannot, of course, be
used as an indicator of the behaviour of black
reservists more broadly (further research is
required here), but the fact that none of the 20
white reservists interviewed were trying to
become permanent is telling.

In fact, Constable I (black male, 30 years)
provides an interesting example, as the SAPS
tends to use people in his position to work full
time without payment. Constable I works four
days on, four days off with permanent SAPS
members. His labour is controlled through the
hope and anticipation of possibly gaining access
to employment – despite the fact that he has
explicitly been told that reservists do not have a
fast track to becoming permanent members.51

Therefore, in a country with high levels of
unemployment, the dichotomy white



hobby/black opportunity is not unjustified (even
if it is simplistic). In fact, it highlights just how
racially divided South African classes are and
points to the divisions in value attached to the
labour of different groups of people. That said,
despite the common view that black people join
the reserve for opportunities, these opportunities
are not reflected in the hierarchical makeup of the
reserve. 

Prior to the implementation of the moratorium
reservists were able to move up the police’s steep
hierarchical structure. However, it was only in
1981 that black officers (in the SAPS more
broadly) were able to outrank white officers.52

Since 1994 there have been attempts to correct the
unfair racial distribution within the organisation,
but if we look at the upper ranks of reservists in
Johannesburg as late as 2005 we notice that they
remain dominated by white men: 

help reshape the demographic of the hierarchy
through direct controls that gave 
preference to ‘previously’ disadvantaged groups,
but these made him feel uneasy:   

CL: I’m apolitical, which the police are, but in
spite of being apolitical there’s always
something that niggles at you. And what
niggles you is that the police today, and not
only the police, in the country … Automatically
if you’re black you get pushed, if you’re white
you don’t get pushed, and the trouble is that we
have too many people who are there today not
because of what their knowledge is or what
they can do or the competency, just because
they black and they’re absolutely useless.55

This sense of injustice (black people being
‘pushed’) is probably felt more intensely by white
permanent members than reservists (such as

CO1). As
Altbeker notes:
‘In this organi-
sation, more so
than any other,
these changes
have been
experienced
almost like
betrayals of
trust, rather than
a simple,
technical matter
of adjusting
promotion

policies and prospects.’56

Despite reservists not feeling as strongly about
changes to rank as they do about possible changes
to the uniform,57 the above reinforces the rhetoric
of ‘we [white people] want to be here’ versus ‘they
[black people] are looking for a job’. But Colonel L
is taking it a step further, because not only are
black people thought to be becoming reservists
for the need of employment but are generally
thought (by white reservists) to be given pref-
erence when it comes to promotions. Looking at
Table 6 it would appear that this is not the case,
especially considering that reservist promotions
ceased in April 2009.

SA Crime Quarterly No 46 • December 2013 31

Table 6: February 2005 – Ranks and demographics of reservists in Johannesburg

Rank and Black Black White White Coloured Coloured Indian Indian Total
group male female male female male female male female

Snr Super-
intendent 2 2

Superinten-
dent 5 5

Captain 14 4 1 19

Inspector 34 3 4 1 42

Sergeant 11 1 80 13 7 3 115

Constable 220 70 225 78 34 5 22 4 658

Total 231 71 360 98 46 5 26 4 841

(South African Reserve Police Service, 2004 – Provided by interviewee).53

Although the names of the ranks have since
changed, the makeup is likely to be similar,
especially considering that the moratorium was
implemented four years after this was produced,
not allowing for enough time for those at the
bottom of the structure to move up (one has to do
a minimum of two to three years of service to
move up a rank). Only white men and women
and one coloured man are found in commission-
ed ranks (Captain and above). Even in the rank of
Sergeant, the second lowest rank, black men are
severely under-represented (under 1%). However,
Colonel L did say that before the implementation
of the moratorium there were interventions to

 



There are, therefore, numerous unobtrusive
controls, such as the hope of employment or a
sense of accomplishment, which are shaped by
broader social processes. That is, ‘compliance is
also maintained by self-interest combined with
positive feelings of accomplishment.’58

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of the belief that black reservists
join for opportunities, whereas white reservists
join 
for excitement because they have the luxury to do
so, tells us something about the society in which
these individuals live; a society that is character-
ised by gross inequalities in access to education
and employment opportunities, articulated
through racial relations and manifested in
simplistic constructions as to who belongs where
and who is valued, or not. Despite being
passionate about the work, the reluctance of white
reservists to even consider joining the police full
time because of its perceived poor pay is
indicative of a group whose labour is worth more
due to its racial dividend. This is of course tied to
the history of the country, where those dis-
advantaged by colonisation and the apartheid
government were left to grapple with Bantu
education and were earmarked for certain types of
work (generally the most marginalised and least
desired jobs). 

Considering the sociological ways in which people
come to understand their role within a state
organisation such as the SAPS, and how these are
informed both by history and personal
circumstances, further research is needed in
different spaces (townships or rural areas, for
instance) to find out how the reasons for joining
the reserve are expressed in these spaces. This
could help the SAPS in the development of its
much anticipated National Instruction (which will
speak directly to reservists), but will also have far-
reaching implications for community policing and
its ability to be successful. Only when policy
makers understand why individuals do the work
can they decide whether more people should be

encouraged to do so, and see how this resource
can be given added value. 

The exploitation of hopefuls is a trend that both
the SAPS and municipal governments should be
made aware of – possibly even reconsidering the
resistance to fast-tracking some reservists in their
desire to become permanent members. Again, this
requires further research to understand what the
possible backlashes might be. Nonetheless, having
unemployed individuals who work for a state
organisation four days on, four days off, and who
fall through the cracks, is unacceptable.

In sum, this article serves as a starting point in a
discussion that merely gives a partial perspective
into the common discourses expressed by
reservists, but also aims to highlight that these
views are socially constructed and informed
through axes of difference, such as race.

To comment on this article visit

http://www.issafrica.org/sacq.php

NOTES
1. Since April 2009 there has been a moratorium on the 

recruitment and promotion of reservists and with the
anticipation of a new National Instruction, which will
likely lift this moratorium (with conditions), now is an
exciting time to consider reservists and their roles in the
SAPS. Furthermore, looking at the ways in which these
motivations are racialised may indeed help policy makers
and other practitioners grapple with the complexities of
people’s motivations for joining. 

2. Claudia Forster-Towne, Informed in and through 
difference: the perspectives of Johannesburg’s suburban
reservists and their role in the SAPS, Appendix 1, Masters
thesis available from Lund university's thesis database,
http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/o.o.i.s?id=24965&postid=3
806208. This information was provided through email
correspondence with the SAPS. 

3. In the transcripted interviews I have endeavoured to 
exactly reflect the original tone and flow of the
conversation; however, the quotes used in this article have
been slightly edited for readability and to remain in line
with SACQ guidelines.

4. Constable 2 is a permanent member whom I spoke to 
when I was at a station doing observations in the CSC.
Permanent members were spoken to on an ad-hoc basis
(not organised interviews) during ride-alongs and when I
was doing station observations to help my own knowledge
of policing. Numbers are used to distinguish permanent
members from reservists (where I make use of letters). 

5. Station visit 1, 2.
6. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 32-35.

32 Institute for Security Studies



SA Crime Quarterly No 46 • December 2013 33

7. Andrew Brown, Street blues: the experiences of a 
reluctant policeman, Cape Town: Zebra Press, 2008.

8. See the section below titled ‘methodology’ for a detailed 
discussion of the research methods.

9. BJ Vorster, Minister of Justice, announces extensive 
security measures following the Sharpeville Massacre,
South African History Online (SAHO),
http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/bj-vorster-
minister-justice-announces-extensive-security-measures-
following-sharpeville- (accessed 8 March 2013).

10. Timeline in Andrew Faull, Behind the badge: the untold 
stories of South Africa’s police service members, Cape Town:
Zebra Press, 2010, 285. For more on the history of
reservists and the SAPS more broadly, as well as how they
functioned in and through difference, see Forster-Towne,
Informed in and through difference, 26-30.

11. How to become a reservist, SAPS, http://www.saps.  
gov.za/careers/become_a_reservist.htm (accessed 15
January 2013).

12. Ibid. 
13. This category of reservist came about prior to the 2010 

Soccer World Cup as a means of bolstering policing
presence. Many have since converted to A reservists. 

14. Who may become a reservist, SAPS, http://www.saps.gov. 
za/comm_pol/reservists/reservist_who.htm (accessed 15
January 2013).

15. The exclusion of these on the SAPS website is open to 
speculation but may be as a result of the ‘lowered
standards’ used when recruiting D reservists prior to the
2010 Soccer World Cup. 

16. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 39.
17. Bantu Education Act No 47, South African History Online 

(SAHO), http://www.sahistory.org.za/bantu-education-
act-no-47-1953.

18. For a more detailed discussion on the theories used to 
analyse these findings please consult Forster-Towne,
Informed in and through difference.

19. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference.
20. Joan Acker, Class questions: feminist answers, Maryland: 

Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2006.
21. Anne McClintock, Imperial leather: race, gender and 

sexuality in the colonial contest, London: Routledge, 1995.
22. Michel Foucault, The history of sexuality, volume 1: an 

introduction, translated from the French by R. Hurley,
New York: Random House, 1978.

23. Acker, Class questions: feminist answers, 111-129.
24. A term first coined by Kimberle Crenshaw, Mapping the 

margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence
against women of color, Stanford Law Review 43(6) (1991),
1241-1299.

25. McClintock, Imperial leather.
26. Foucault, The history of sexuality, Volume 1.
27. Carol Lee Bacchi, Discourse, discourse everywhere: 

subject “agency” in feminist discourse methodology,
Nordic Journal of Women’s Studies 13(3) (2005), 198-209.

28. During the data gathering stage of this research I only had 
six weeks (which was later extended to seven) to gain
access to this community. While in Sweden I had managed
to make contact with the three reservists mentioned but
only one interview had been set up prior to my arrival in
South Africa. This also had to do with reservists wanting
to speak to me face-to-face before committing to engaging
in such research. Once in South Africa I relied heavily on
the networks of the reservists I had already gained access

to and due to the limitations of the mini-thesis timeline
given to us at Lund University I did not have more time to
go into adjacent areas where I could better access
reservists of different demographics. Furthermore, while
in Johannesburg I found my days so packed with
interviews, visits to the police station and ride-alongs that
it was not practically possible to fit in any further
interviews. It is my hope that now back in South Africa I
will be able to further my research and fix this gaping hole
in my research. 

29. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 17.
30. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 18.
31. See Appendix 4 in Forster-Towne, Informed in and 

through difference. Note: These statistics were not found
in an official SAPS publication but were provided by a
reliable source. I have no reason to doubt the legitimacy of
these figures.

32. As provided by the SAPS in email correspondence: 
Maswangani, ‘Feedback: statistics on Gauteng reserve
police: Ms Forster-Towne’. See Appendix 3 in Forster-
Towne, Informed in and through difference.

33. Ibid. 
34. Deborah Cameron, Working with spoken discourse, 

London: Sage Publications, 2011.
35. Captain D, 5.
36. Warrant Officer B, 37.
37. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 32.
38. Constable T, 3-4.
39. It is important to note here that although this discussion 

is on racial constructions these are articulated through
gender – that is, policing is seen as the domain of men.

40. Constable Q, 24.
41. Constable M, 10.
42. Constable I, 4.
43. Ibid.
44. Group 2, 14.
45. Raewyn Connell, Masculinities, (Second Edition), 

Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005, 70. 
46. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 34.
47. Constable W, 3.
48. Although many men join for different reasons, which are 

articulated through racial and class processes, these
motivations are also implicitly articulated through gender.
This is a story about men (as could be seen from the male
orientated words used within quotes) and women are
alien or anomalies in these stories. Although this article
has focused primarily on the relationship and coming into
being in and through of race and class, other social
processes and structures further influence their
articulation – such as gender, able-bodism, sexuality, age
and ethnicity. However, these were beyond the scope of
the paper. Nonetheless, you can view a more detailed
discussion on gender in Forster-Towne, Informed in and
through difference.

49. Constable A, 19. 
50. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 35.
51. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 53-

54.
52. Julia Hornberger, Policing and human rights: the 

meaning of violence and justice in the everyday policing of
Johannesburg, London: Routledge, 2011, 32. 

53. Note: These statistics were not found in an official SAPS 
publication but were provided by a reliable source. I have
no reason to doubt the legitimacy of these figures.

 



54. Acker, Class questions: feminist answers, 122.
55. Colonel L, 5.
56. Antony Altbeker, The dirty work of democracy: a year 

on the streets with the SAPS, Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball
Publishers, 2005, 177. 

57. Forster-Towne, Informed in and through difference, 46-
55.

58. Acker, Class questions: feminist answers, 124. 

34 Institute for Security Studies