NOMINEE: Sergeant Donald Sekomane is a detective who goes beyond the call of duty
DOUGLASDALE– Know your nominated Cop for #TopCop Award.
Sergeant Donald Sekomane has been stationed at the Douglasdale Police Station as a detective for the past two years. Before that, he was based in Honeydew, where he acted as a sector manager and crime prevention officer.
“I am dedicated to my job, I always make sure that my cases are given enough time. I ask questions, offer assistance to the other departments and have a great relationship with the community,” Sekomane said. These are just some of the traits this top cop has, which is why is has been nominated for the Auto & General Top Cop Award, in the top detective category.
“I am currently working on quite a complicated domestic violence case.” He explained that the case involves contempt of court and it has been tricky working with people who are not from South Africa.
“The case involves a couple who are going through a divorce. The wife, who originally comes from India, laid a domestic violence complaint with the station, alleging her husband dragged her with a car.
“When the case was due to be heard in court, the husband allegedly kidnapped the children and fled to his home country, Mozambique.” Sekomane said he had been dealing with Interpol to try and get the children back to their mother and to get the suspect back to South Africa to stand trial.
“The case has been very stressful. We put out a warrant of arrest for the husband and when he finally returned to South Africa for business, we were able to apprehend him. Our second challenge was to get the wife to come back to South Africa to testify.
“I have appeared in court many times to make sure the case does not get withdrawn due to her not being present. The husband has been released on a hefty bail and he cannot leave the country while the case is ongoing.”
Sekomane said because the wife is in India, communication has been very difficult. ” I don’t have access to email and can’t call to keep her updated and so we have been communicating via WhatsApp.” Sekomane said he has been using his personal data to communicate with her, as there is no WiFi at the police station.
Last week Sekomane finally received a break in the case when he got news that the wife is welcome back in the country to testify. Sekomane now needs to receive advice from the court on how to get the three children back from Mozambique, so they can return home with their mother.
“The interests of the children have to be a priority.” He said dealing with the different countries and laws has been a strain but he has grown very close to the case and the people involved.
Sekomane said the R500 he receives from Auto & General will go towards his studies. “I am studying compliance, post-grad at UJ and hope to one day deal with cases involving economic crimes such as money laundering and racketeering.”
Sekomane wished to thank Auto & General for the Top Cop Awards. “This token of appreciation gives us hope to face another day. Thank you for recognising our work. The Auto & General brand means so much to our station. We hope that you grow and go from strength to strength in South Africa.”
Check out the other nominees for this month at the Douglasdale Police Station:
Nominee for this month’s Top Cop, Best Support, at Douglasdale Police Station
Nominee for Top Cop this May: Best Relief Team
Top Cop nominee, Captain Martyn Jacobs, for Visual Policing this May
Top Cop Award nomination for best vispol at Douglasdale Police Station this May
