DURBAN metro police will stick to hiring 300 applicants for an internship programme despite 5000 having applied for the limited posts.

The applicants gathered at Tongaat Town Hall to write tests to qualify for the positions.

Metro police officials said yesterday they would deal with all applications accordingly and "will only take in the stipulated number as advertised".

The programme to employ interns was postponed a month ago due to a huge turnout of applicants that pitched at Curries Fountain sports grounds for a fitness test.

Police spokesperson Joyce Khuzwayo said they changed from using a fitness test to a written test because they did not want to raise hopes for the applicants.

"Making them undergo a fitness test will automatically mean that they will be employed, which is not true.

"We have to consider our budgets and the place that they will be trained at, which can only accommodate a specific number of people.

"The successful candidates will be notified as soon as marking is over."

Though there were technical problems on the day of the tests that made other applicants end up writing at midnight, the internship seekers were patient and waited for their turn to come.

Zimase Hadebe, 24, of Durban said she was due to write her test at 3pm but only wrote at midnight.

"It was up to an individual to stay and wait for their turn to write," she said.