MBOMBELA – KwaMahlanga and Tonga’s police came out tops at the annual Tracker SAPS Awards at Bushveld Lodge last Friday. The aim of the awards was to honour all law-enforcement officers and units which made a significant impact in locating and recovering stolen and hijacked vehicles through the use of Tracker technology.
After opening the award ceremony with scripture and a prayer, the welcoming address was given by Col PD Maluleke on behalf of provincial police commissioner, Maj Gen Bethuel Mondli Zuma, who was unable to attend. The ceremony was then underway with numerous officers and units receiving recognition for their outstanding efforts.
This year, the individual award went to Const Jacob Sondlane of Tonga Police Station. Prior to winning the award he and other police officers of Tonga Police Station, along with members of Tracker, worked together to recover a total of 25 vehicles. This contributed to his nomination and subsequent winning of the award.
The cluster award went to Gen CT Sithole of the KwaMahlanga cluster. Sithole was unfortunately unable to attend. His award was collected on his behalf by Const Tebatso Thokwane.”We are very happy about winning the award,” Thokwane said.”It will serve as a motivation to us to continue the good fight against hijackers. On behalf of the KwaMahlanga police cluster, I wish to thank Tracker management for helping us in our efforts and recognising us for this award.”
On October 6 the Mpumalanga winners and other provinces’ winners will attend the National Tracker Awards in Gauteng. At the time of going to press, the venue for the national award ceremony had not yet been announced. The winners of the national awards will have the opportunity to attend a workshop held annually by the International Association of Auto-Theft Investigators. In 2018 this workshop will be held in America.