Bedfordview SAPS and CPF remember “Mr Soil”
Sgt Mduduzi Nhlabathi was the former spokesperson of Bedfordview SAPS and was well known to residents.
The Bedfordview CPF celebrated the memory of police officer Sergeant Mduduzi Nhlabathi by planting a yellowwood tree at the Bedfordview Police Station.
Nhlabathi, who died at the beginning of May, was a former spokesperson for the station and a regular sight on the streets of the Bedfordview policing precinct.
During the tree-planting ceremony Colonel Sinothi Emmanuel Ndaba, the station’s head of crime prevention, thanked the CPF and the community for donating the tree.
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“The tree will serve as a reminder for all of us as it will be here long after we have all gone.”
“Sgt Nhlabathi served the community with pride. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave. He will be remembered by everyone at the station,” Ndaba said.
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The Bedfordview CPF’s Tyrone Clark said he met Sgt Nhlabathi when he still worked in the communications department.
“He was known to those close to him as Mr Soil and we should plant a tree in his memory,” he said.
“It is always hard to lose such a valuable member of the Bedfordview SAPS.”
He thanked the police officers for their selfless service to the community.
Former Bedfordview journalist for the NEWS.
Nqobile Brian Mchunu said he was heartbroken to hear of Nhlabathi’s death
“It seems like yesterday when we met 14 years ago.”
“Nhlabathi always said he was just a farm boy and at the time we met he was tasked to work as a spokesperson of a police station for one of the most affluent areas in our country.
“He was a man with presence, both physical and intellectual.
“In a few seconds, he became my friend. Minutes later he became my all-around brother.
“Nhlabathi was a pillar in times of weakness, a guide when tempted to go astray, a confidant and a comforter in times of need,” Mchunu told the NEWS.
He added that the officer was a gentle giant and a leader who was not afraid to be led.
“Over the last 14 years Nhlabathi has taught me how to be a family man, a loving and supportive husband and a big brother.”
Lee-Anne Morgan from the BCPF said Nhlabathi’s death was a loss to the community.
“We feel so deeply for the team that worked with such a dedicated police officer”.
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