Vosloorus SAPS appoints first female station commander

Brig Ntombizini Lenah Thethe has been appointed to head the Vosloorus SAPS as the station commander following the official retirement of Brig Themba Denge on December 31.

The new station commander brings 13 years of experience to the position. She officially occupied the office on March 1.

Thethe was part of the first intake at Pretoria College in 1994 as a student constable.

“After spending six months at the college, I was deployed at Tsakani SAPS as a constable. During that period, I was an assistant at a client service centre, doing client service and crime-prevention duties,” she said.

“I became a sergeant in 1996. Four years later, I was promoted to the warrant officer rank while stationed in Tsakani.

“I moved to the Springs SAPS in 2005 when I was promoted as a captain, heading the social crime-prevention unit,” she said.

Her career as a station commander began at Devon SAPS in 2009 while she was still a captain.

“I have served for 13 years as a station commander. I started as a captain in 2009 at Devon and stayed there for five years,” Thethe explained.

“I was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and deployed at Nigel SAPS in 2014,” she continued.

“Two years later, I was promoted and moved to the Elsburg SAPS. I spent six years there before moving here,” she said.

Thethe has moved up the ranks since the start of her career in the police service 28 years ago.

She intends to follow in Denge’s footsteps by applying her experience and knowledge to fight crime and lead from the ground level.

She noted although there are categories of crimes, Vosloorus is experiencing a spike in contact crime, which also includes trio crimes.

“Contact crime also entails gender-based violence crimes, which include common assault and domestic violence. Those are the problematic crimes that we are experiencing in our policing areas.

The new station commander said Vosloorus has five sectors and they will keep a close eye on sector one.

“I’ve already been briefed that sector one is the one contributing a lot in crime. When we analyse crime stats, we can see with the volume that it is coming from sector one, specifically Extension One,” she said.

When asked how the station will tackle crime in sector one, Thethe mentioned they are reviving forum structures in all five sectors.

“As the management and team of Vosloorus SAPS, we are already implementing strategies to fight crime.
“The national development plan 2030 states it wants children and women to talk the streets without the fear of being mugged or raped.

“The strategies are already in place. It is up to us to partner with communities to realise what is in the development plan.

“Here in Vosloorus, we are working hand in hand with the community. They are our pillar of strength, without them, we cannot do anything about crime. They know who is committing the crimes, where and how they are doing it.”

She said the police are partnering with the community to make sure that communities in Vosloorus live in a safe and secured environment.

“We are prioritising making stakeholder partnerships stronger because we can then make sure that we close in on criminals.”

The police station prioritises partnerships with various stakeholders and departments to stabilise problematic crimes.

“We partnered with the Department of Community Safety, Department of Social Development and the Gauteng Department of Education for our school because when we talk of violence, we talk about what children are exposed to in their homes.”

What are your plans for dealing with corrupt police officials?

Thethe said the station has an anti-corruption strategy.

“That is why I am engaging with the community as the station commander.

“We have to make sure we cut the hands of corruption off.

“If corruption is internal, the community should come to the police station to give statements. I have an open-door policy. With smartphones, you can record, take photos and videos. You can bring evidence that can be investigated to root out the rotten apple in the station,” said Thethe.

She discouraged community members from bribing officials and advised them to report any suspected social ills committed by police members.

As the first female station commander at this station, what do you want to achieve?

“The legacy I want to leave here is ensuring the empowerment of women who can also lead the station in the right direction.

“I also want to ensure we teach children in our communities that crime does not pay,” said Thethe.