Minister of Police Bheki Cele has done it again! Only this time he is out to shun “inked” individuals, and prevent them from joining the police service.
“When you have a tattoo we don’t hire you because you have a tendency to be a gangster” is yet another broadside of his gone viral.
The minister uttered these choice words when addressing residents of Orlando East in response to a mass killing at a local tavern that took place recently.
In his speech he guaranteed residents his department would recruit additional candidates to serve as police officers in an attempt to combat current crime rates.
However, Cele added, people with tattoos would not be considered.
A tattoo artist shares her thoughts with Paarl Post.
As someone who has used people’s skin as a blank canvas for the past 19 years Amy Ferreira (38) regards the minister’s express sentiments as “simply uneducated”.
This co-owner of Bohemian Tattoo & Piercing in Paarl said she has inked all walks of life.
“I’ve had a lot of cops come in for tattoos, anything between 20-30 over the past few years.
“Most of them want religious designs; the last two officers wanted an angel and a phoenix rising from the ashes.”
Tattoos are an art form that has become completely normalised, and is regarded as mainstream, despite their Western origins in countercultures and subcultures.
“Living in Paarl, with its ongoing considerable culture of conservative, church attending folk, my services were even required from a female NG-kerkdominee,” Ferreira said.
“I have doctors, paediatricians, chefs, typical churchgoers and all kinds of corporate professionals coming in for tattoos.
“The majority of my clientele ranges from 30-year-olds to people who are 65.”
Another client profile that stands out for her are people who have divorced. “Most are women, but I also get a lot of recently divorced men who want tattoos as a symbol of reclaiming their identity and lust for life.”
For Ferreira this serves as a reminder not to judge a book by its cover.
“The minister sounds as if he’s someone who’s grossly ill-informed about modern society and how it functions. I mean, if cops can’t have tattoos then he may as well exclude women for wearing pants!”
