By Mashamba Media
news@alexreporter.co.za
As the South African Police Service (SAPS) continues to highlight the work of its men and women in blue who work tirelessly to put GBVF perpetrators behind bars, today we introduce the nation to a young female police officer form Limpopo who is vowing to put more perpetrators behinds.
Sergeant Glender Mathebula is an investigator attached to the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations (FCS) Unit in Tzaneen, Limpopo.
Having started as a crime prevention officer, Sergeant Mathebula felt that she wanted to do more for victims of GBVF. She successfully made a transition from being a uniformed officer to a detective within the FCS unit.
From 2011 to date, the young officer has secured four life imprisonment sentences and an additional 305 years for rapists in and around Limpopo.
Her stellar investigation on a case of a woman who was raped by an unknown suspect won her the Best Detective of the Year at the SAPS Limpopo Excellence Awards.
After putting pieces of a puzzle together to uncover the masked predator, who happened to be Piet Motolla from Ga-Rapitsi village, Detective Sergeant Mathebula presented herself as a potential girlfriend to the suspect.
And two months down the line, after collating enough evidence against him, she single-handedly arrested him and put him behind bars where he was handed down a life term imprisonment sentence.
She also led the imprisonment of Matome Ockney Seale from Lephephane village. Seale would lure unsuspecting victims through Facebook on pretence that he would offer them jobs at a nearby hotel in Tzaneen.
His reign of terror was put to a halt by Mathebula who cornered and arrested him, together with his female accomplice whose role was to convince women that the job offers were genuine. Seale was sentenced to 59 years in prison.
The young officer has vowed to put more perpetrators behind bars.
“I find satisfaction and fulfilment when justice is served to victims of rape and other gender-based-violence. The smile on the faces of those who were violated and the happiness of their families give me a good night sleep.
“I appreciate all the awards that I have received thus far but I do not work for the accolades, I go out to serve and protect, I strive to ensure that integrity of the police as far as investigation is concerned remains intact, at all times,” said a soft-spoken Mathebula.
