“The community is my number one priority and helping them and being available to them is important. That is the reason my phone is always on 24/7,” said new Jeppe station commander, Brigadier Thembekile Kubone.
Brigadier Kubone comes to Jeppe SAPS after months of controversy have clouded the station.
“The Jeppe Police Station is a functional station. It just has its problems. The problems need to be addressed and we need to find new ways of solving them.
“I took it as a challenge because it is my job to make sure operations run smoothly. Management supports me and the men and women in blue from the station support me too,” said Brigadier Kubone.
The 49-year-old brigadier, who has served in the South African Police Service (SAPS) for 26 years, is passionate about her work and says she has worked hard to be where she is today.
She told the EXPRESS that the journey was long but she loved every part of it and also learnt a lot along the way.
Brigadier Kubone has earned her place in the SAPS.
“My career picked up when I was stationed in Kliptown, Soweto. I was part of the communication department where I proved myself. I was later moved to the provincial communications department,” she said.
“That was a challenge on its own because you work with the people and the media. You must always be informed about what is happening and travel a lot because people will want answers and the media will want comments and I needed to be available at all times.
“But my heart remained on the operational side of the SAPS and in 2009 I decided to go back,” said Brigadier Kubone.
She loves to be hands-on in her community and wants to do hands-on work at the station too.
“I again worked hard and proved myself and was given the opportunity to handle a station and the rest is history, now I’m here in Jeppe,” said Brigadier Kubone.
“I’ve been doing analysis for the past two months on the station in order to understand its challenges. I then worked at putting systems in place to ensure that all runs smoothly and that service delivery happens,” she said.
“The community is the priority and I urge community members to come to the station to see me, share information and report cases. If members of the community are not raising their concerns with me it means I am not doing my job and I need them to worry me,” said Brigadier Kubone.
Life was not easy for her while she was growing up.
“Life has not been easy. I moved around a lot because my parents separated when I was young. But I never stopped dreaming big and working hard towards achieving my goals,” said Brigadier Kubone.
She was introduced to the world of policing while she was in high school in 1984.
“KwaZulu-Natal SAPS members visited our school to recruit. We wrote a test and I passed and received a letter and was told when I finish school I can come join the force if I ever consider it,” said Brigadier Kubone.
She said that her parents wanted her to follow a career in engineering.
“In primary school I was one of the girls part of an engineering programme and I was good at it. We did electronics and maths and I also loved that, but had to leave the programme when my parents separated and I had to move to KwaZulu-Natal,” said Brigadier Kubone.
“When I finished school I had to look at my options and at the time my mother was a domestic worker and I had siblings to look after.”
“My mother could not afford to pay for my tertiary education so I decided to move back to Joburg to join the police force. When I arrived I discovered that the letter I received from the KwaZulu-Natal police did not apply anymore. I had to start afresh and apply,” said Brigadier Kubone.
She said that for two years she kept applying to the SAPS, with no luck but was eventually accepted.
“In 1991 I was recruited as a student in Joburg Central and started college in 1992 and in six months I was deployed and start working” said Brigadier Kubone.
She said working in different stations taught her a lot and made her love her job even more.
“Policing is a calling as much as members are recruited you have to love what you do and have a passion for it. I wake up in the middle of the night to attend cases, I work long abnormal hours and I don’t complain because that is my job and I love it,” she said.
Brigadier Kubone said her aim is to make Jeppe SAPS fully functional and the best station it can be.
“Effective communication with the community is important and we want to create a working relationship with the community. The people must be able to access me anytime when I’m needed especially when it involves a life. I plan to make sure there are enough resources in terms of vehicles to make sure we respond to calls, and provide enough feedback to the community on cases that affect them,” said Brigadier Kubone.
She said she has also discovered that the community members still need to be educated on social crimes and that is something the police will be embarking on.
“Educating people about social crimes is important. The information must be available to them in order to report these crimes and understand what those crimes are,” said Brigadier Kubone.
She urged the community to report crime and also to contact her if they have issues and challenges within the community.
She can be contacted on 071 675 9994.
“I’m here to serve the community as they pay my salary. I want them to contact me anytime 24/7 no appointment needed and if they don’t reach me leave a message I will call them back,” Brigadier Kubone said.
She also thanked, Jeppe CPF chairperson Mr Zola Dambula for working with her and helping her understand and be in touch with the community.
“We are very pleased to have Brigadier Kubone as a station commander. She is very committed to serving and delivering essential services to the community.
“She attends all the sector meetings because that is where you get to understand the challenges of the areas better,” said Mr Dambula.
