POLOKWANE – Being a woman in the police force is something that means the world to Const Maphuri Segobola Manamela, Spokesperson for the Westenburg Police, and with just over seven years in the service, she is dedicated to and passionate about her job.
“Being a woman with a badge and in uniform does not change the way most men see you. They see you as a woman first and not at all as a law enforcement agent,” she explains.
She says being a police officer is an interesting occupation and that she will never get bored with it.
Despite the fact that many men do not respect her authority or her position, she is well trained to handle such situations.
Besides the challenge of being a woman in an authority position, one of the other challenges she faces is encountering fellow police officers who are not as dedicated to their work as she is.
“Although there are many of us who do everything in our power to serve the people, both inside and outside the station, there are some who do not do as much as they can to help others. Unfortunately this leads to the ones who take their positions seriously having to pick up the slack. Oftentimes this also leads to the community having a misconception about the police, thinking that we are all the same and do not care about their needs and their safety.”
Before she joined the police, she planned a future in electrical engineering and she was enrolled at the Lephalale FET to study towards that goal. However, she soon realised that she wanted to help make a difference in people’s lives so she joined the police to help make that possible.
“My advice to someone who is considering joining the police is that they need to have a passion for the work. You need to be dedicated to what you are doing,” she emphasises.
She explains that when you join the police you take an oath and she believes this oath needs to be the first and last thing on the mind of a police official every day.
A typical day in her life includes rising early, gathering information about things that happened in her policing area, attending to and communicating with the media, and being part of awareness campaigns.
One of the most recent awareness campaigns she is involved in is the campaign to stop domestic violence, something she feels strongly about.
“I want to help raise awareness about domestic violence, educating the community about what domestic violence entails and informing them on who they can report domestic violence cases to and get assistance from. Domestic violence creates a vicious cycle and we need to eradicate this evil from communities and keep the next generation from falling victim to domestic violence and in turn possibly subjecting their own children to domestic violence.”
Being a law enforcement agent, her occupation is not without peril.
“I once had to respond to a robbery in progress and while on the scene, the suspect escaped in a getaway vehicle which we pursued and later made the arrest. My line of work is sometimes scary, but I still enjoy it.”
In general, she says that people respecting the police is a give-and-take situation. “I believe that we as the police still receive the respect of the people we serve and we will continue to be respected as long as we work together with the community to solve and prevent crimes,” she explains.
To her, being a police officer means you have a large responsibility to yourself and those you serve. “Being a police officer means respecting yourself, the community, your colleagues and the country that you serve. It means accepting the sacrifices that you will have to make in the line of duty and lastly, knowing that you are representing the nation in everything you do,” she concludes.
