Detective passionate about putting criminals behind bars

When Detective Constable Benni Matlopela was growing up, joining the police service was never an option for him because all he wanted to do was to be an engineer.

Const Matlopela was recently named Detective of the Month for obtaining four convictions and making numerous arrests in August.

He joined Sebenza SAPS in 2011 after he completed his training at the SAPS academy in Pretoria.

“I have always wanted to be in engineering but things don’t always go the way we want and I ended up joining the SAPS. When I could not get into engineering, I decided to join the SAPS because crime is a big problem in the country and I wanted to make a difference,” he said.

Const Matlopela said being in this line of work is not easy because there is too much pressure and people don’t always recognise the amount of work the police do.

“You need to have a tough skin and do what is right because people don’t always appreciate what you do.

“It is important to always do what is right and not let those negative perceptions about police get to you,” said Const Matlopela.

This father of two, who is also a Tembisa resident, urged the community to work with the police because criminals operate within communities.

“We need the community to work hand-in-hand with the police in the fight against crime because the police cannot do it alone. Sometimes you get a docket with no suspects and you need to investigate and identify the suspects. This is where the community needs to assist because when they come forward with information, we are able to do our job and put criminals in jail,” said Const Matlopela.

“We have a backlog but we try our best to satisfy everyone in the cases we work on. We ask the community members to bear with us but most importantly work with us by coming forward with any information that could help in solving the cases,”said Const Matlopela.

Also read

Sebenza SAPS praised

‘Sebenza SAPS detective unit under-resourced’ – DA