South African police officers show off their Mandarin language skills through a singing performance during the graduation ceremony held at SinosteelPlaza in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2014. (Picture: People’s Daily Online / Zhang Jiexian)

Exactlytwo years ago, David Mothapo, a member of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, generally known as the Hawks, didn’t even know how to greet in Mandarin, a Chinese language that is spoken by the majority of the population.
As a South African, he would never have imagined spending a whole year in China to study the Chinese language and culture as part of the cooperation agreement between the two countries.

He has turned out to be the top student on the basic Chinese language-training course that would help him realised his dreams, and has already been back in SA for a more advanced training course.

On being informed of the trip, Mothapo said: “I only saw Chinese people in the streets and through kung-fu movies on TV. I knew very little about them before the courses.”

He added: “We do meet some Chinese people through our work, but some of them speak very little English and we struggle to serve them. But now I can proudly say if any Chinese come to the police station, I will be able to assist them with better communication.”

Mothapo has already started putting his newly acquired skill into practice, using the lit- tle bit he knows by greeting and teasing them in Chinese, in order to make them feel more welcomed.

“They are happy that some- one is taking time to learn their language. They appreciate it very much,” he said.

“Most Chinese citizens are keen to work with the SAPS, but unfortunately the relationship often becomes hostile because of communication difficulties,” says Wang Zhigang, police counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, as he explains the motivation behind the R40,000 sponsorship.

Currently, there are more than 300,000 Chinese citizens resident in SA, and with the current crime situation at least 15 individuals were murdered in 2015. Most Chinese citizens are understandably concerned about their safety as well as their ability to communicate with local police because of the language barrier.

It is with these concerns in mind that the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Chinese Embassy, with the sup- port of China’s Ministry of Public Security, have cooperated on the Chinese language-training programme. Thanks to this initiative, 35 officers from the SAPS have picked up some Mandarin since 2014 and it is achieving good results.

The programme has been integrated into the Hawks officers’ daily duties with lessons presented every Thursday from 10am to 12pm.

“We fully understand at your age how much effort and energy you dedicated to learning Mandarin, the most difficult language in the world,” said tutor Cong Lin as she handed over the graduation certificates to her students. “We admire all your efforts on this achievement.”

Through this language course, the Hawks officers have acquired basic Chinese speaking and writing skills, and received a preliminary under- standing of Chinese culture, including some Chinese food culture, which is extremely helpful to their law enforcement effort. With better communication and interaction with the Chinese community in SA the initiative strengthens trust and understanding between them and the police.

“I love Chinese people and heir language — even though it’s difficult, it is still great fun,” says Caroline Matjila-Botlhoko, Chinese course graduate and SAPS Lieutenant, who spent the year in Beijing studying Mandarin and police techniques. She is one of the first three Africans invited on the annual project organised by Chinese government in the past 10 years. The other two were from Angola. She is planning to travel to China again.

As Major General Pharasi, SAPS Functionary from Gauteng Provincial Commissioner’s Office, says: “China is equipped with a more advanced police system that is technology based, in full control direct linking, and we aspire to be at that level.”

General Pharasi adds: “There’s no way we can expect to improve service delivery without knowing the language and culture of the people we serve. We appreciate the Chinese government offering this opportunity to us.”

He concludes by quoting the South African National Development Plan: “We will further ensure that when people walk our streets, they do so in a safe environment. Basically we want to see a South Africa free from crime. As we join hands, this is just the beginning.”

(The story was originally published on Business Day on January 29th, 2016.)