Good things go to those who have a good heart. That is what was shown by the Nyanga police station management when they awarded the Nyanga Community Policing Forum (CPF) secretary Dumisani Qwebe with a certificate of recommendation on Friday 6 December.
The event was held at the Rockefeller Hotel in Cape Town.
Qwebe described the individual award as motivation to him. He said he is happy to see that there are people who appreciate what they are doing as community volunteers.
He said the award came as a surprise as he was not expecting anything from anyone.
“I’m glad to see that there are people who notice some of the good things that we are doing for the community. Working with the public is not child’s play because we are putting our lives at risk trying to protect the community. I’m happy to be awarded while I’m still alive. As a civil servant it is imperative to always put the needs of the community first,” he said.
Qwebe said as CPF members, their job is to build a relationship between the community and the officers to ensure that there is a good working relationship.
He stated that fighting crime is not only the responsibility of police, but rather is everyone’s business.
“Nyanga is always in the media for the wrong reasons. But our job is to change the narrative and create a conducive environment for everyone. It is not an easy job to do that, but we believe that working together with other stakeholders we can achieve that,” he said, adding that he wants to see Nyanga prosper and attract more investors coming in to develop the area.
Qwebe stated that even though he received the award as an individual, he believes that without his colleagues from the CPF, he wouldn’t be where he is. He urged the community to work with the officers together with other community stakeholders to fight crime in the precinct.
Acting Nyanga Station Commander, Col Wynand Muller said they felt there is a need to honour some of the civil servants to show appreciation.
“We honoured both CPF secretary Dumisani Qwebe and Community In Blue coordinator Chumani Gqamane for their stunning job that they are doing in the community. They also assist us in various things like mobilizing people, organising Imbizos and venues. They are always willing to assist,” he said, adding that they are a link between the officers and the community.
