Zwelakhe Mtsaka writes:
Amidst the national chorus from the public that members of the police force of our country are performing far below what is expected of them I make bold to praise at this juncture the Sophiatown SAPS – Kudos too to the three guardian angels who escorted and delivered my daughter back to her safety.
On 8 September, at 10.23 pm I phoned the station to say I’m very frightened on behalf of my daughter who’s just called me crying hysterically, saying that she is in Soweto where she was attending a family meeting regarding the passing of her cousin – So she was trying to find her way through to my place. Before she could finish her story, a man phoned me on her cell phone saying, “I’m escorting your daughter to your place. Meet us at the Engen garage opposite Helen Joseph Hospital.
During a panicky to-and-fro phoning between this office and Brixton as neither owned up as to which of the two covers that area. Again calling 10111 as I did would have sent Sophiatown’s Sergeant Thamaganyane MV and Constable Legetho DP of the Relief Department to show up at my house within 15 minutes.
Great relief for me to see her car by the Westdene Dam followed by two other cars, prompting the officers to cock their firearms in anticipation.
My praise of these policemen is felt on the most visceral level – importantly on the weekend which saw multiple funerals of victims of gender-based violence in some parts of the country. Being beautiful, in her mid-30s, clever, driving the latest Mercedes Benz on the road, she easily could have fallen prey to these evil-doers who hurt women under cover of darkness.
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