The detective is commended by the GBV victim for getting three life sentences and another 25 years for her abuser.
By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
As the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women & Children Campaign commences, the South African Police Service (SAPS) deemed it fit to pay gratitude to detectives in the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations (FCS) as well as the detectives within the Serial and Electronic FCS Crime Investigations (SECI) whose efforts often go unnoticed for contributing to a much better and safer South Africa.
Today, SAPS introduced Sergeant Abram Kgosana, who is 38 years old.
This specialised detective has a 15-year service, having joined the organisation in 2006.
Born and raised in Hamanskraal, he reports to the FCS unit at the Temba police station.
According to Colonel Athlenda Mathe, on a daily basis, detectives in these specialized units are charged with the responsibility of putting perpetrators of crimes against women, children and vulnerable groups behind bars.
“They work tirelessly in investigating, tracing and arresting sexual predators. They are also instrumental in investigating Gender-Based-Violence (GBV) related cases,”said Mathe.
It was in 2013 that Sergeant Kgosana took an interest in assisting victims of gender-based violence.
From 2013 to date he has successfully secured at least 16 life sentences and an additional 279 years in prison for seven serial rapists that were terrorizing women, children and vulnerable groups in the areas of Temba, Soshanguve and Winterveld.
One of the GBV survivors that was assisted by Kgosana, is a twenty-six-year-old Nthabiseng Khoza who was raped in 2016 while walking home. She was raped by the convicted serial rapist, Benjamin Bapela.
Khoza said she would be forever grateful to detectives like Kgosana for ensuring that justice prevailed.
Bapela terrorized women in the Temba area before his reign of terror ended after Sergeant Kgosana linked him to a number of rape cases. Bapela was sentenced to three life sentences and an additional 25 years’ imprisonment.
“Sergeant Kgosana gave me a will power to survive and wake up daily. I had already given up and wasn’t sure if my attacker would ever go to jail.
“Throughout the case, Sergeant Kgosana was very supportive and kept me updated on progress of the case. I would like to say thank you to Sergeant Kgosana, for all that he did for me and all the other women”, said rape survivor, Khoza.
With years of experience in resolving GBV-related cases, Kgosana offered the following advice to everyone living in South Africa:
“I would like to request all people in South Africa to be careful at all times and to assess the risk in every situation that you may find yourself in and act accordingly in time should you believe that you are exposed to any form of danger.
“In closing, I would like to assure the citizens of this country, that they are not alone in the fight against GBV. The SAPS and the government are striving towards creating a safe and secure environment to all women, children and vulnerable groups.
The FCS unit boasts 176 units nationwide and nine Serial and Electronic Crime FCS Investigation Units based at Provincial Offices across the country.
Pics: Supplied
