Rietgat cop bags seven bronze medals in rifle combat competition

Sergeant Excellent Nyiko Manganyi won seven bronze medals in the SAPS Gauteng South and North West combined rifle combat championship.

The Rietgat police sergeant has been a police officer for over a decade.

Manganyi registered to take part in the competition to sharpen his shooting skills should he find himself required to use his firearm for his work.

He competed with members of the SANDF, SAPS, correctional services, metro police and private security.

He said he was motivated to join the competition because it was related to work.

“I joined this competition this year. I always wanted to be a part of it. I love it because it is work-related… we work with guns,” he said.

According to Manganyi a competition like this helps gauge how an officer would perform should he be required to use the gun and also improves their work.

He participated in different categories including a 100m shooting, 100m snap – where the target is really close, 300m and a group shooting.

“In my class, I took position six and the total score for the day placed me in third position,” he said.

He said he wants to continually improve his shooting.

“I want to be the best in the classes I attend in this completion. I’m currently in the beginner class and I got these medals from that class,” he said.

He said he would like to find himself on top of his class winning gold as he advances to another level.

In August, the cop competed in a rifle combat competition against cops from Botswana, Lesotho, the Netherlands, and South Africa and he couldn’t do his best.

However, his disappointment inspired him to continue practising and joining competitions to improve his skills.

“I wasn’t happy with how I performed in that competition. I only came back with one medal and now I came back with seven which is a huge difference,” he said.

Protecting the community comes easily to Manganyi since it was his childhood dream.

He said he always loved the police and has been an officer for 14 years.

“When I was in high school, I went to a career expo and I enquired about policing and that’s how I got into policing,” he said.

He said the career expo paved the way for him to become a cop.

He added that protecting the community was his calling and the reason he improves his shooting skills.

“Doing what you love is amazing. There’s no better feeling than that and helping people means a lot to me,” he said.

“I’m reaping the rewards of the training. When people thank me after helping them, that’s my reward.”

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