Soweto - It was a different sort of work day on Friday for the thousands of police officers who daily put their lives on the line.
Instead of tracking down criminals, for just one day the 37 000 police officers were told to dance, eat and celebrate at the National Police Day celebrations in Soweto.
It was an instruction that was hard to ignore - as it came from National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele.
Music, dancing and a festive spirit characterised the celebrations, attended by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and thousands of police officers from throughout the country.
"Today is a day of celebrating, where we come together and say thank you to the South African police. It is a day of eating, dancing and drinking," said Cele.
However, he was quick to warn the police officers to be on their best behaviour, while enjoying themselves.
Cele stressed that despite the fact that 37 000 police officers had gathered at Orlando Stadium to mark the day, they were still more than 100 000 police officers keeping South Africa safe.
Mthethwa said National Police Day provided an opportunity for police officers to reflect on their achievements, while at the same time recommitting themselves to the fight against crime.
It is also a day when government and police management showed their gratitude to the men and women in blue. "Daily, police officers leave their home with no certainty of if they will return to their families safe and sound, yet despite these unpleasant conditions they still soldier on."
The minister also noted the invaluable contribution SAPS had made in ensuring that the 2010 World Cup was a safe one.
While Mthethwa acknowledged there had been challenges in the fight against crime, he said recent successes by police were proof that progress was being made.
He cited the recent sentencing of a serial killer in KwaZulu-Natal, the success of police festive season operations and the discovery of various arms caches as examples of the in-roads the police are making.
Mthethwa said police management would focus on the training of police officers routing out corruption within the SAPS and making police stations more effective in order to build on these successes.
