Three Gauteng ‘Peace Officers’ hailed for freeing woman trapped in overturned car

Three ‘Peace Officers’ from the Gauteng department of community safety are been hailed as heroes after they rescued a motorist in the early hours of Friday morning on the R515 in Cullinan, towards Rayton.

Three officers rushed to the scene after being alerted by a cyclist about an accident involving a vehicle on the R515, the department said in a statement.

When they arrived, they found the vehicle had overturned on the other side of the road and a woman was trapped inside the car, “crying helplessly” and needing assistance.

In a bid to free the woman, Lucky Mavungu, Phomolo Hlongwane and Itumeleng Tshiane had to use force to rescue her from the wreckage, the statement says. They then called emergency services and alerted the woman’s family about the accident.

“I am proud of officers Mavungu, Hlongwane and Tshiane, who displayed Ubuntu by rescuing the lady who was trapped in an overturned vehicle. These officers went beyond the call of duty and showed commitment to their calling of serving the people of Gauteng,” said MEC Faith Mazibuko.

The three officers form part of a group of hundreds of students who underwent Peace Officer training under the Gauteng Traffic Police training programme.

“This incident bears testimony to the fact that the Gauteng Government is deriving value for the investment made in the training of Peace Officers to complement the law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime,” added Mazibuko.

The training programme provides police visibility and serves as a link between communities and the South African Police Service.

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