Tracker honours police with awards

NELSPRUIT – In honour of the good work the police force does, Tracker hosted their annual SAPS Awards on September 25. It was the 15th ceremony held since the company started giving out the awards in 1999.

According to Mr Ron Knott-Craig, director of operations at Tracker, the company acknowledges that stolen vehicles play a big role in crime. “Vehicle theft is a specific crime, but stolen vehicles are also used to commit other crimes,” he explained of Tracker’s initiative. He was also impressed with the recovery rate of stolen vehicles in Mpumalanga.

According to Knott-Craig, the province boasts a 94% recovery rate using the company’s technology. He added that for each 1,8 cars recovered, a suspect was also arrested.

The unit award handed out at Bushveld Lodge last week went to the Secunda Flying squad. The unit’s commander, Lt Col Olga Khantsi, accepted the awards on their behalf.

The individual award was received by WO Jacq Nel from the Lebombo Tracing Unit. He will be attending Tracker’s national awards in Johannesburg on October 11.

Aside from the sponsors and winners, the event was also attended by unit commanders from all over the province. Maj Gen Meshack Nogwanya, the provincial head of legal services, said in his address to the audience before the ceremony that the units’ rapid response times and timely interventions in dangerous situations were laudable. “They truly live by the adage, ‘Going beyond the call of duty’,” he said.