Special Constables

Explanation
Known colloquially as ' kitskonstabels' (instant constables), 'blue lines', or 'bloupakke' , Special Constables were recruited from urban and rural areas and were usually unemployed African men with few educational qualifications. Many were illiterate and some had criminal convictions. Training was conducted in September 1986 at the SAP's Koeberg facility outside Cape Town and consisted of a six-week course, later increased to three months. The training was perfunctory and involved only one seven-hour course in riot drill. The training presented the UDF and ANC as the enemy to be suppressed. By the end of the 1980s, approximately 8 000 Special Constables had been recruited, trained and deployed in urban and rural towns across the country where unrest was the strongest. In KwaZulu/Natal they were used to bolster Inkatha in areas around Pietermaritzburg and the Natal Midlands. Special Constables rapidly became associated with numerous violations both on and off duty, and were the subject of several interdicts. They were themselves victims of attacks by both civilian internal opposition groups and the armed forces of the liberation movements.