MBABANE – The dream of wearing the police uniform saw thousands of hopeful emaSwati sacrifice their sleep and spend the cold night in queues outside regional police headquarters in pursuit of a place in the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS).
A 26-year-old aspiring police officer from Bulembu in the Hhohho Region, arrived at Mbabane Police Station at 1am to submit her application, hoping to avoid the long queue.
Nomfundo Mndzebele said she travelled to Mbabane the previous night and arranged to sleep at her sister’s flat in Mangwaneni before making her way to the police station in the early hours of the morning.
“Because home is far away, I thought sleeping over at my sister’s place would be beneficial for me since the queue is already long by 8am when the police open the application process,” she said.
Mndzebele said she left her sister’s flat at 12:30am and walked to the police station, where she found herself among the early applicants.
“By the time I got here, I was already number 52, and that is how I managed to be quick in submitting,” she added.
Her efforts reflect the determination of many hopefuls seeking an opportunity to join the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), with applicants across the country arriving at recruitment centres in the early hours or spending the night nearby.
In Nhlangano, 28-year-old Sifiso Shabangu from Ngudzeni left home at 7pm the previous evening and spent the night outside the police station. He became the first applicant in the queue at 3:30am.
Meanwhile, unemployed 30-year-old Nompilo Hleta from Jabulani arrived at the Shiselweni Regional Police Headquarters at 5:45am. By the time she joined the queue at 6am, she was already around number 100. Hleta said it was her fourth attempt to secure employment with the police service.
The situation at the Shiselweni Regional Headquarters also saw dozens of hopefuls waking up as early as 3am to secure places in the queue after being turned away because of time constraints on Monday.
The recruitment exercise, which officially commenced at around 8:30am on Monday, continued until nearly 5pm.
However, numerous applicants were unable to enter the selection venue and submit their documents before operations closed for the day. They were instructed to return the following morning.
Thandolwethu Sithole, a resident of Ngololweni, was among those who were turned away after 5pm on Monday. He said he almost lost hope as time ran out.
Upon realising that he would not be served, he sought overnight accommodation with a relative at the Training Centre to ensure that he could arrive early the following morning.
He woke up at 3:30am and found people already waiting when he arrived at the queue, eventually securing the 10th position.
He successfully submitted his documents yesterday morning. Nosisa Maphalala, from Mahamba under the Maseyisini Inkhundla, arrived at approximately 5am and found herself at position 725.
She said her decision to apply for the police force was driven by the shortage of employment opportunities in the country, noting that many young people graduate from tertiary institutions only to remain unemployed.
Despite the lengthy queue, she remained hopeful as the line moved steadily throughout the day.
Vusumuzi Nkambule, from KaMfishane under the Kubuta Inkhundla, said he initially arrived on Monday at around 9am but turned back after encountering an extraordinarily long queue.
He returned the following morning at 5am and secured position 351.
He said the lack of employment opportunities motivated him to make another attempt, describing the situation as a national crisis and saying the massive turnout demonstrated the need for jobs among citizens.
Mlandvo Kunene, also from KaMfishane, similarly withdrew on Monday before returning at around 4am the following morning, securing the 200th position in the queue.
He revealed that this was his second attempt to apply for the police force. He previously passed the interview stage in 2021 but never received a follow-up call.
Kunene said the widespread unemployment crisis had motivated him to reapply, adding that he wanted to demonstrate his commitment to the recruitment panel.
