Suzan Lehong is breaking barriers in a traditionally male-dominated environment

The South African Police Service (Saps) is honouring its female employees, who continue to break barriers in a traditionally male-dominated environment, in celebration of Women’s Month.

Warrant Officer Suzan Lehong has 19 years’ service, having joined the force in 2002. Originally from Ga-Phasha in Limpopo, she serves as one of only 23 female National Intervention Unit (NIU) operators in the Saps.

As an operator, Lehong attends to medium and high risk operations which include cash-in-transit heists, rhino poaching incidents, armed robberies as well as tracking and tracing dangerous suspects.

NIU operators are tasked with stabilising volatile situations by combating serious and violent crimes, the policing of high-risk incident of crime.

Lehong has been attached to the NIU for 17 years and has worked on several high-profile cases, including that of organised crime boss Radovan Krejcir and the Boeremag treason trial.

Recalling the highlights, Lehong said it took bravery, a high level of discipline, determination and endurance to work in the field.

“I was part of the team that was deployed to arrest Radovan Krejcir. I was one of only three women out of more than 20 members that were deployed to track, trace and take down the suspect,” Lehong said.

“When we arrived, we positioned ourselves and once ready, we took down the suspect. During the trial proceedings, I led the team who were escorting the dangerous, awaiting-trial prisoner from Leeuwkop Prison to
the High Court in Johannesburg.”

In the Boermag case, Lehong was part of the team escorting the group from Kgosi Mampuru C-max Prison to the High Court in Pretoria during proceedings.

“I have worked on several other cases which include tracking and tracing down rhino poaching syndicates and attending to a host of other serious and violent incidents.”

She was also among the chosen few female operators deployed to the 2007 Cricket World Cup held in the West Indies to benchmark ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

With the acquired skills and knowledge, the cohort came back to the country and shared best practices with other colleagues in order to curb serious and violent
crimes.

Over and above her day-to-day responsibilities as a team leader, she is a qualified trainer specialising in weapons and tactical training.

As a team leader in her unit, Lehong said it was important to understand the capability of each member in the team as this was key for a successful operation.

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“Being part of the NIU is about being bold and not being afraid to take up any task or situation one is confronted with.

“It’s about taking risks and believing in your capabilities. I would like to encourage more women to join this specialised unit so that together as women, we continue to stamp our authority on this male-dominated
environment.”

To qualify as an NIU operator, a member needs to undergo spe cialised tactical training. Once qualified, members continuously attend in-service training workshops to ensure that they sharpen their skills.

– news@citizen.co.za