MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, has defended the use of “racist” terms in a public announcement for the Chrysalis Academy intake.
In its call for applicants for January 2024, the department said it sought to admit 230 men into the “23 CHARLIE males course’’, while women for the “23 BRAVO female course” would be selected from the 2022 waiting list.
Previously, some neighbourhood watches received backlash for profiling black people as “Bravo”, coloureds as “Charlie” and whites as “Whiskeys”.
However, Allen believes that racism shouldn’t be seen in everything, reports the Cape Times.
“Seeking to equate the valuable work at the academy with racism is mind-boggling and quite frankly disingenuous. In fact, it makes a mockery of our aim to remove racism from our society. It is regrettable that these terms now have racial connotations,” Allen says.
The course consists of various phases, and amongst others, the students will receive training in first aid, basic cookery, security training, peace officer, welding, office administration and electrical circuitry.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) confirmed that the use of Bravo Charlie Whiskey was discriminatory.
But Allen says: “The Nato phonetic alphabet as well as the financial year have been used as course descriptors, with Alpha being the first one for the financial year, Bravo, being the second, and Charlie being the third, etc.”
SAHRC commissioner Chris Nissen says the names were an insult.
“They are coming to train as officers who should be treated with dignity, and not racially profiled. As a department that works with neighbourhood watches, they should be aware of this. We thank the MEC but the department should be more sensitive to the use of the words because they are discriminatory,” Nissen adds.
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