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Col Nyelisani Mabata, sitting in her new office as station commander at the Makhado Police Station.

New station commander hopes to lead a quiet life

 

With almost 21 years’ service under her belt, the new station commander at the Makhado Police Station said she wanted to see Louis Trichardt become a quiet and peaceful town.

Col Nyelisani Mabata officially took office on 15 August, following her tenure as cluster commander for the Lephalale Police Station. Mabata not only has vast experience when it comes to crime prevention, she also knows the district like the back of her hand. She carved some time out of her busy schedule to meet with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror on Tuesday.

Mabata currently lives in Louis Trichardt, but she was born and bred in Ha-Mashamba Village near Elim. “I came from a disadvantaged background,” said Mabata. Despite this, she completed school and heard about job opportunities within the South African Police Service (SAPS). After completing her basic training at Hammanskraal, Mabata enlisted in 1995 and completed her field training at Thohoyandou.

In 1996, she was stationed as a constable at the Waterval SAPS, where she was a court orderly and with the CSC (Community Service Centre) unit. After Waterval, Mabata slowly but surely climbed the police ranks and headed several stations, while being actively involved in crime-prevention programmes all the time.

Mabata became an inspector in 2000 (today a warrant-officer), and was promoted to the rank of captain in 2005, when she was also promoted to CSC supervisor at the Tshaulu station near Thohoyandou.

Throughout the following years, Mabata's efforts yielded results with various crime-prevention programmes she managed, and in 2009 she moved to the Tshilwavhushiku Police Station where she was deployed as social crime-prevention commander and then later as support service commander in the capacity as lieutenant-commander.

In 2011, Mabata applied for a transfer to Bela-Bela, where she was successfully appointed as the SAPS Visible Police (VISPOL) commander and manager at cluster level. From 2012 until 2015, she continued to work in the Waterberg, Thabazimbi and Lephalale area, until she was deployed to the Makhado SAPS.

Mabata, in the few short weeks since she reported for duty at the local station, has already put a few plans in place. “I have compared the stats, and property crimes are a genuine concern for me. The number of reported cases in and around Louis Trichardt is too high, and it happens too often that a housebreaking turns into a contact crime and people are threatened in their own home,” said Mabata.

Mabata was heartened by the amount of community involvement she found at the station and expressed the hope that this would continue. “It is only together that crime will be rooted out,” said Mabata. “The station has a good relationship with the town- and farm-watch communities and I want to keep it that way, so that we can continue with joint operations.”

 

News - Date: 26 August 2016

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

Email: [email protected]

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