Praises were heaped on Captain Hazel Mqala this week for more than two decades of passionate loyalty as she was presented with her three stars.
Announcing the East London spokesperson’s promotion from warrant officer to a captain, Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga said: “I consider it a blessing for the SAPS to have elevated a person of the calibre of Captain Hazel Lindelwa Mqala to be a commissioned officer."
Born in Mdantsane in 1971, Mqala started her police career in 1995 at Mdantsane police station after six months of training at Tshwane Police Academy. After six months of fieldwork in NU1 she moved to the Kei Mouth community centre for two years. In 1998 Mqala was promoted to sergeant and sent to Cambridge police station as an internal communications officer. It was in 2005, when she moved to Port Elizabeth's Mount Road, that she was introduced to working with the media and promoted to warrant officer.
After seven years of dealing with the PE press, Mqala was transferred back home.
Ntshinga said: “She has served this organisation for a number of years and with a good track record as a communication officer. We do not doubt her loyalty, dedication and organisational discipline. The captain has demonstrated maturity and understanding of how critical it is to bring service delivery to the people through communication. We are proud to have a well-mannered and passionate communication officer of her calibre.”..