‘Hammer Man’ behind bars thanks to this female Constable
Constable Mokhepho Vivian Gafane from Nobody outside Polokwane has placed four other criminals behind bars for life.
POLOKWANE – Serving the South African Police Service is a calling and while in high school, 37-year-old, Constable Mokhepho Vivian Gafane aspired to become a police officer after observing a number of crime incidents in her home village of Nobody, near Mankweng, outside Polokwane.
It was after that, that she joined the South African Police Service in Mankweng in 2010.
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After completing her one year basic training in Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape, she was deployed to Mankweng Police Station and served as a student trainee for a year.
Once Gafane finished her full time basic training, she was detailed to serve at the Marble Hall Police Station outside Groblesdal as a detective, where she served from March 2012 to September 2012 before joining the Groblesdal Cluster Task Team.
It was then when Gafane made her mark by cracking a serial rapist case within a week of joining and her achievement was acknowledged by SAPS Provincial Management, who then deployed her to the Provincial Investigation Unit in Polokwane.
According to police spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe, since Gafane’s deployment in 2012, she has solved 20 serious and violent crimes which acquired five life terms.
Through her sterling investigative skills, one of Gafane’s milestone achievements was the sentencing of Zimbabwean national, David ‘Hammer Man’ Mamvura. Mamvura, a serial rapist, was sentenced to a consolidated 259 years imprisonment and four life terms.
Read more: ‘Hammer Man’ gets life, 259 years
Mamvura was charged with 14 counts of rape, 10 of housebreaking with the aim to rape and 10 counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances. All these cases took place in the Polokwane policing area between 2012 and 2014.
Gafane says working in a male dominated environment was difficult at first, especially when dealing with dangerous criminals. “I had to adjust quickly because I hate criminality. I have this firm belief that as a human being, I am capable of doing anything that our male counterparts are doing,” she said.
Gafane’s dream is to become a successful Section or Unit Commander of Detectives where she will be able to share police detective skills with her colleagues for the sake of an efficient and effective service delivery to communities across the province.
With it being Women’s Month, Constable Gafane has encouraged all women to reclaim their rightful places in society and never shy away from taking responsible risks. She concluded by urging all women within SAPS to play a leading role in eradicating incidents of domestic violence and other related problems.
