Randfontein Police Station got a new station commander and the Herald went to meet this mysterious brigadier.
The Herald arrived at Brigadier Mashole Jacob Manamela’s office for the formal meeting and interview. Meeting a station commander usually is a serious matter and, of course, one needs to play the part.
To the Herald‘s surprise, a very friendly and unexpectedly humourous Mashole welcomed the Herald into his office. The Herald was surprised at the young brigadier but later learned that he is, in fact, 46 years old.
Mashole has been in service for 24 years. His last position in the police was as station commander at Sibokeng. He is originally from Limpopo and has six sons, of which the eldest is 18 and the youngest nine.
He officially has been station commander of Randfontein since 1 December, only a few weeks before Matthew Olivier went missing and was found dead.
As tragic as it was, it was his first big introduction to Randfontein but he found something good out of the experience.
When the boy went missing, there was so much support from the community. People came in their private cars looking for him and we were looking in the bush. It wasn’t nice to look in those conditions. I felt like crying when I saw all the support.”
From what Mashole has experienced, he said he is very impressed with the town.
His plans as station commander is to work closely with the community and Community Policing Forum (CPF). He believes that community engagement can make a difference in fighting crime as he will have eyes and ears everywhere. He also plans on incorporating and mobilising the youth.
Mashole describes himself as funny and believes laughter is the best medicine. “I’m a happy guy. You get so much more done when you’re happy,” he said.
He calls on the community to reach out to him and let him know when they are unhappy about a police matter or if they have information that could help him rid the town of crime.
Being a station commander is not all about me. If I die this station will still be here. I want residents to tell me how they want to be policed. I want them to give suggestions. This is not to say that I have no plans, but I want to hear what the community wants so I can incorporate that into my plan.”
Brigadier Manamela can be contacted on 076 421 6519 and Captain Appel Ernst, Randfontein Police spokesperson can be reached on 082 8530 403.
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