Law enforcement officer grabs coveted City award

28 November 2016

A City of Cape Town law enforcement officer has scooped the Safety and Security Directorate’s coveted Officer of the Year award. Jacobus Gelant was one of 14 nominees in the category.

Gelant was nominated by his superiors after an action-packed year that started on Muizenberg beach in December last year. Officer Gelant was instrumental in defusing the situation when about 50 rival gang members became embroiled in a fight. Six suspects were arrested by the South African Police Service when back-up arrived. Gelant successfully prevented serious injuries from occurring, given that the beach was full of innocent bystanders.

In addition, he made at least 31 arrests until mid-October, including apprehending two would-be hijackers who tried to attack two women along the Borcherds Quarry bridge on 29 July 2016. After hearing screams, Gelant witnessed one of the women being held by a suspect. He came from behind, pushed the robber away from the woman, and successfully handcuffed him. Gelant’s colleague collared the other suspect. It was later discovered that the suspects were in possession of an imitation firearm.

‘I tip my hat to Officer Gelant and his colleagues for going above and beyond the call of duty to make Cape Town safer. Law enforcement agencies across the board face a lot of public criticism when they’re perceived not to act, but we seldom hear the good stories. That is why we’ve instituted this annual awards ceremony because we want to reward and recognise the exceptional service that the City’s enforcement staff deliver on a daily basis,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

The Team of the Year award went to Metro Police Sergeant Allan Davids and his team: Constables Desmond Van Wyk, Mtintsilana Mtimkhulu, Aldrin Pekeur and Lizette Miller. Based in Area South, the team has consistently produced excellent results, making more than 150 arrests since January 2016.

Below is a table of all other award winners in the various categories, as well as a link to the original list of nominations: https://tinyurl.com/zjyxxfz

Department	Bravery	Outstanding service	Supervisor of the Year	Team of the Year	Departmental Officer of the Year
Traffic Services	Furnal April	Mogammat Mustapha	Pieter Groenewald	HR Team	Valita Sontaba
Law Enforcement	Nizaam Miller	Craig Colwell Zolisa Libazi		Social Housing Unit	Jacobus Gelant
Metro Police	Bredley Adams	Francois Slabbert Michael de Beer	Charlotte Maree	Sgt Allan Davids and Team	Mtintsilana Mtimkhulu
Disaster Risk Management	Gregory George	Eugene Van Zyl	Wayde Cleophas	Logistics, Planning and Fleet Management	Mandy Thomas
Public Emergency Communication Centre	Bernard Schoeman	Bongeka Ntlemeza	Genevieve Rowan Tanya Sadie	Team B	Russel Fish
Fire and Rescue Service	Bradley Biggs	Craig Cyster Ricardo Fourie	David Hill	Divisional Commanders – Fire and Life Safety and Education	Arlene Wehr

Away from the awards ceremony, the enforcement services continued their operations, netting 114 suspects during weekend operations

Traffic Services’ Automated Number Plate Recognition Unit arrested 80 motorists for outstanding warrants at a number of roadblocks around the city, served 544 warrants, and released 236 motorists on a warning. During an operation on Nelson Mandela Boulevard on Thursday 24 November 2016, officers issued 462 fines for various offences and a few hours later the Ghost Squad arrested three motorists for reckless and negligent driving, two for participating in illegal street racing, and one more for inconsiderate driving during an operation in the Grassy Park area.

The Metro Police Department arrested 28 more suspects – 18 for drunk driving and 10 for possession of drugs.

On Friday 25 November 2016, officers participated in a joint operation with Law Enforcement, the South African Police Service, and the neighborhood watch in the Hangberg area. The officers held a vehicle check point at the intersection of Harbour and Atlantic Shipper Roads and arrested nine suspects – four of whom were found in possession of a .38 special revolver that had been used in an armed robbery earlier that day in Hangberg.

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