Cops in the spotlight (3): Detectives and colleagues praised for excellent work in tracking down rapist
Police members from different units and stations within the Ugu cluster were handed commendation certificates for outstanding work. Read how this detective worked tirelessly to search for and arrest a rapist.
Detective Sergeant Michelle van Niekerk was commended for outstanding work which saw rapist Sonwabile Njakazi sentenced to life imprisonment by the Ramsgate High court on 3 February, 2017.
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* In December 2016, a 68-year-old woman was robbed and raped at her house in Manaba. It was established that Njakazi had strangled her with a handbag strap and dragged her around the house.
He then fled with several items.
Det Sgt van Niekerk immediately started following up all evidence and tried to assemble a profile of Njakazi.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Zandra Wiid said it was difficult as she did not immediately have any leads.
She could also not communicate with the victim and had to do so through the woman’s daughter in order to get a description of Njakazi – this took a very long time – Lt-Col Wiid.
Dt/Sgt van Niekerk called the local criminal record centre (LCRC) immediately to the scene as she sensed that their was a lot of fingerprints, DNA and other evidence on the scene. She took the victim to the hospital for an examination and the necessary documentation to be completed.
She only returned to the station at 4am the next morning – 10 hours later. She then went home and returned again to the police station at 6am.
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Sgt Van Niekerk and the tracing team spent many hours looking for Njakazi.
* Whilst busy with her investigation, three young girls were attacked in January 2017 at their home in the same area, and two of the girls were raped.
The same modus operandi was used. By this time, Njakazi was identified.
Sgt Van Niekerk was not the investigating officer in this case, but she contacted the detective at LCRC and inquired to compare the fingerprints taken at the scene for which she was responsible.
She also interviewed one of the victims, and was given an exact description of Njakazi.
Sgt Van Niekerk then, together with the tracing team began hunting for Njakazi.
They reported for duty at 8pm on January 18 at finally booking off at 1am on January 19 when he was tracked to Masinenge and arrested.
The team worked tirelessly to search for Njakazi and Sgt van Niekerk did a sterling job of securing witnesses, evidence and arranging that all the evidence was ready for court purposes. She never gave up. The team work long hours to arrest the fleeing Njakazi.
Captain Buys did a professional job regarding the pointing out by Njakazi at the scene which also contributed to the conviction and sentence.
This all proved to be worth all the hard work as Njakazi, finally decided to take a plea.
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