Tembe officially inaugurated as Joburg’s Metro police chief

JOBURG – The mayor, MMC, and provincial police commissioner all witnessed David Tembe's official inauguration as Joburg's new Metro chief.

March 20, 2018

Chantelle Fourie 2 minutes read

Public safety veteran David Tembe has officially been inaugurated as Johannesburg Metro Police Department’s new chief.

#InaugurateTembe @AsktheChiefJMPD says this role takes extensive commitment, says he will give his best to do what @CityofJoburgZA requires of him @randburg_sun

— Cllr Chantelle Fourie-Shawe (@cfshawe) March 6, 2018

On 6 March, Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Deliwe de Lange performed the inauguration with both the Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba, and the MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun, in attendance.

Tembe was sworn in and took an oath to protect and serve. During his introductory address, Tembe said he was very excited to be chosen for this position and he understood that it would not be an easy job.

“As JMPD, our success will not be measured by the number of arrests that we make or the number of citations that we issue to offenders. Only the reduction of crime, fear, and disorder will reveal how successful we are,” he said.

“The days of reactive thinking are over, we need to be vigilant and committed to dealing with crime in our city.”

Speaking directly to his directors, he said he expected them to focus on the needs of those they were responsible for. He added that his directors needed to know how their staff was performing and reward them for when they do good.

David Tembe is sworn in as the new Metro police chief.

The Metro police ceremonial brass band leads the parade.

Tembe, who was already in the hot seat from 2 January, has a public safety career stretching three decades.

He started working as a paramedic at the Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) in 1981. He became superintendent in 1989 and was appointed acting director of the EMS Academy in 1999. Tembe was appointed as EMS director of operations in 2001 and was in charge of the City of Johannesburg’s 26 city fire stations. A year later he was appointed the acting chief of EMS. Under his watch, the Urban Search and Rescue team was established and represented South Africa during disasters in both Algeria and Iran.

Tembe then joined the Metro police and was later appointed as the national chief of traffic.

During his speech, Tembe continued to remind officers to be loyal towards the city, its residents and fellow officers.

“I believe that all of you became officers because you care about the community. I expect integrity, courage, competence, commitment, compassion and respect from you. You must be custodians of the honour of policing.”

After the chief’s first parade inspection with the mayor and de Lange, Tembe was officially welcomed as Johannesburg Metro police’s new chief.

In a final word, Tembe said he hoped that someday the community would trust officers. He added that he also expected the community to work with them to fight crime.