Cracking down on lawlessness earned a team of dedicated police officers national recognition for “reducing crime by 50%”, swooping on a drug peddling suspect in possession of a multimillion-rand stash and arresting armed robbers in Buffalo City Metro.
The Mdantsane cluster, comprising 10 police stations, was delighted and proud when they won the national Team of the Year award at the SAPS National Excellence Awards ceremony in Mpumalanga last week.
They were awarded the same accolade at provincial level in November.
The team’s successes include: The discovery of Thornycroft Lodge owner Elza Remant-Eyland’s body and arrest of three suspects within 72 hours;
Several arrests of armed robbery suspects in BCM last year;
Reducing crime by 50% in the cluster (Komga, Kei Mouth, Mooiplaas, Bluewater, Macleantown, Cambridge, Mdantsane, Vulindlela, Inyibiba and Berlin); and
Arresting a suspected drug dealer found with drugs worth R6.5m in Amalinda. The head of operations at the cluster command centre, Lieutenant-Colonel Johan van Zyl, has 31 years experience as a crime fighter.
He attributes the achievement to his entire team.
“We are the first responders to serious crimes but we also work on all other crimes, such as taxi violence and the armed robberies happening in our area.
“I have a good task team that works with me.
“We also recovered 35 unlicensed firearms in one year.
“One of the things that stood out for me was when we arrested the guys who have been behind the armed robberies in the cellphone shops,” Van Zyl said on Thursday.
“We reduced crime by 50% in our cluster. We will minimise crime as far as possible.”
Van Zyl said the award was a huge boost for staff morale.
“People are looking up to my team and it just motivates us to stay positive and keep fighting crime in our area,” he said.
Team member Captain Leonie Peters is the provincial Detective of the Year and runner-up for the national award.
She said police made many personal sacrifices in their determination to alleviate crime in the city.
She was up against four finalists for her role in the case in finding Remant-Eyland’s body and apprehending her three alleged killers in three days.
“Sometimes we miss out on spending time with our families but we are trained to work hard in this type of job.
“Wanting to help other people is my passion.
“That is why I became a policewoman in the first place.
“Assisting families that are going through trauma is a calling. Our job is to investigate and see justice done.”
She added that appreciation from a victim’s family “after we have done our job properly” was one of the best parts of the job.
The mother of two, who is also the Christian Police Association’s national chair, said her family was her source of strength.
“That trauma also affects us sometimes, but I am a born-again Christian. I draw my strength from God. I ask for wisdom, advice and His protection.
“Police work is still a male-dominated environment and we [women] feel we have to work extra hard to prove our worth, but because I am confident in my work, I am the guy for the job,” she quipped...