Goodbye Lt Col Roberts
Lt Col Roberts publically announced the move to the NEWS first and confirmed this at a meeting held on November 24.
The announcement that the Edenvale SAPS head of crime prevention, Lieutenant Colonel Robbie Roberts, will move to Tembisa left residents at the Edenvale Community Police Forum (CPF) meeting shocked.
Lt Col Roberts publically announced the move to the NEWS first and confirmed this at a meeting held on November 24.
He said he will commence work in Tembisa in December or January 2016.
Lt Col Roberts thanked the community and said, “We had our hiccoughs and we faced difficulties during my six years and six months of duty in Edenvale. It is however, important for us to move forward,” he said.
The Edenvale SAPS station commanader, Colonel Eddie Trollip, said Lt Col Roberts is indeed a top cop.
“He is always working and he is very committed. I think we need to look at what happened in Edenvale during the year. Lt Col Roberts was the best Vispol (visible policing) commander in Gauteng for two years in a row. This year he was not even nominated and it was not because of his work, because his work and successes were excellent. If you are targeted then you are targeted,” said Col Trollip.
“As a community we need to give him the opportunity to start anew, a clean slate.
“We know Lt Col Roberts will make a mark wherever he is. To replace him is not going to be easy because he has in fact, done the work of three people – as a Vispol commander, client service commander and operations,” said Col Trollip.
“Everyone in Edenvale knows Lt Col Roberts and the effort that he has made to fighting crime in the community. I have cameras around my house and I can see Robbie patrolling in the early morning hours. Who are we going to call at 3am when we need help? There is no other policeman at the station who has shown commitment like Robbie has,” said resident, Mrs Alex Carlyle.
Mr Prince Mathebula, the ECPF vice chairperson, also expressed disappointment at the news of Lt Col Roberts’ leaving.
“It is really bad news for us to hear that Lt Col Roberts is leaving. I have not seen another officer as dedicated as he is. His dedication is to go beyond the call of duty because wherever I am, if I needed assistance I knew he would be there,” he said.
“I will always remember the people who made it into my heart,” said Lt Col Roberts.
