KINROSS – Growing up in Harankopane Village in the Free State, Ms Matselape Nhlapo never thought she would one day travel to Dafur in Sudan under the African Union Mission for Peacekeeping.
This was after she completed a teaching diploma and found herself struggling to find employment for two years.
“After going for various interviews, I finally landed myself a job at Graceland Casino as a dealer and worked there for three years,” said Ms Nhlapo.
She still thanks a neighbour for telling her that the South African Police Service is looking for police trainees and she immediately applied for the position.
“When I arrived to write the psychometric test, we were approximately 2 000 people and they were looking for only 200 candidates. Because of my previous experience in job hunting, I did not think I would be selected,” said Ms Nhlapo.
She however was employed as a police officer after she completed her police trainee training.
Though she had a teaching diploma, she immediately fell in love with police work.
She began working for the South African Police Service in 2004 at Kinross Police Station where she is currently based.
She got the opportunity to serve in Dafur, Sudan, in 2009 and 2010.
Ms Nhlapo learned about how people live in poverty stricken areas compared to the way we live in South Africa.
“Dafur is very hot and we were trained to be always alert at all times.
“We always knew how to react should anything happen,” said Ms Nhlapo, who took the initiative to teach women to make vetkoek in Dafur.
The love for children inspired her to contribute to many women and children’s projects.
“Women were not working and we created projects that helped them do something for themselves to get food on the table,” said Ms Nhlapo.
She also used her teaching skills to teach children how to read and count in English, because they could not go to school due to the war.
Women were also taught hygienic skills.
As the community policing officer at Kinross Police Station, she works hand-in-hand with the community in terms of social crime prevention.
During her years in the police service, she arranged several projects for the community which include handing out sanitary towels atschools, organising sport against crime awareness campaigns, Mandela Day food parcels, blanket runs for farm people and modelling activities at schools.
This married mother of three said her secret for staying young, is to live a healthy lifestyle.
She runs marathons and participate in aerobics in her spare time.
Ms Nhlapo is studying for a diploma in policing through the University of South Africa and is in her final year.
When asked about the one thing that people do not know about her, she said: “I am not a shy person. I have confidence in myself and that is why I am involved with modelling and dancing.
“When I grew up, I was part of dance groups where we used to imitated Boom Shaka and other well-known dancers,” said Ms Nhlapo who still has a passion for dancing.
Ms Nhlapo learned that people should never underestimate one another because of their backgrounds.
“There is always a reason why some people are successful and others are poor,” said Ms Nhlapo, a devoted Christian and a member of the United Reformed Church.
