Letter: A heartfelt thank you from Umhlali SAPS

Umhlali SAPS spokesperson Captain Vinny Pillay writes:

On behalf of all the staff at SAPS/Umlali I want to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all those who worked so hard to ensure that this Mandela Day was such a massive success. Without you all it would not have been possible and days later we are still in awe of what was achieved each day we come to work and we are loving working in our “new” police station. Your efforts have boosted the morale at the station.

I would like to recognize the dedication of our SAPS Trauma Volunteers, Helping Hands and DOCRRA who came up with the idea of using Mandela Day to help the police station and who worked behind the scenes for the last three months assessing what needed to be done and finding local companies who were able to assist.

I would like to thank the companies who donated the use of their equipment, provided materials and also provided their precious time.

We would also like to thank the dozens of volunteers who came out in force. Without your support on Mandela Day we would not have been so successful. You all got down and tackled the task ahead with such enthusiasm and vigor that I think everyone enjoyed the day which came together in such an amazing way.

Watching you all work together in fun and harmony would have made Mandela proud. This is the South Africa that President Mandela wanted for us and it is up to us to ensure his dream lives on, not only on Mandela Day but every day.

Thanks to the efforts of our local businesses and the community we now have a police station that we can all be proud of and I encourage you all to visit it and to read the plaque that we will soon be erected to thank all the companies involved.

Once again a very big thank you to all who made this Mandela Day a success.