Mbuzini sergeant wins prestigious SAPS award

Sergeant Johane Ngomane of the Mbuzini Police Station was awarded as the best administrator at the SAPS’s District Awards hosted at the Mbombela Stadium on November 13.

Walking away with the administration employee of the year award for levels 5 to 7, Ngomane said he was happy to be recognised for his work in the province.

“I could attribute a number of things that led up to here, but my passion for the work I do is the main one. I am currently doing several components in the stations, which are social crime prevention, linking me to the community and schools. I am also a crime prevention officer, dealing with community policing forum members, which assist the police in fighting crime. I am a rural safety co-ordinator, working closely with the people living on farms and rural areas, and it links me with livestock and crop farmers,” said Ngomane.

One might argue that all these responsibilities might be a little too much for one man, but not for him. Ngomane is also the communications officer for the Mbuzini Police Station, streamlining all the media information that should be submitted to head office for media attention.

“I am also doing traditional policing, which was established in 2019, and was piloted right in my station. I was one of the people who started implementing it and I love doing it so much. We have established contact points in our traditional authority offices where I have managed to get people who would help bring some services closer to the people. Two of these points are used to certify documents and write affidavits for the community. In that way, they will not travel far for this; we have taken the services closer to them,” he added.

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Two brown bags were visible on Ngomane’s desk. Inside were police stamps that were ready to be taken to the two service stations after he had received a report that the ones they had had been broken.

“I also visit schools to conduct educational campaigns that teach learners how to conduct themselves as they grow up and enter society. They need to know not to fall prey to any crime activities. Principals call me whenever there are challenges at the schools.”

Having been in the police force for 15 years, Ngomane is no stranger to awards. He won the same award last year and proceeded to win the overall provincial Vispol and Operations Employee of the Year for levels 5 to 7. He also added that he hopes to win this award again, aiming to scoop a national award this time around.

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Ngomane has made a call for more police officers to join him in taking pride in their profession.

“It would be an injustice not to acknowledge and thank my team for all their hard work, especially Lucy Magagula, with whom I work at the office. I would also like to call on more of my colleagues to work hard and fasten our bootstraps so we can make sure that the community is safe. Being a police officer is not a job, it’s a dedication. Passion is the only thing that sustains us. We all need to learn from one another,” he added.