Manenberg’s new police chief says he’s committed to stamping out gangsterism, but it can’t happen without the community’s help.
Brigadier Sanele Zama took over officially as station commander on Friday July 31.
He joined the police in Durban as a student constable in 1986 after his plans to study engineering fell through.
He was deployed to the Western Cape and served as constable at Strand police station, where, in 1997, he was promoted to visible police (VisPol) head and stood in for the station commander when he was on leave.
In 2004, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel at Eersterivier police station, then transferred to Table View where he was that station’s VisPol head and also stood in for the station commander.
In October 2008, he transferred to Lwandle police station as station commander, and four months later, he was back at Strand as VisPol head.
In March 2014, he was appointed station commander of Macassar police station.
He was appointed VisPol head at Manenberg in March 2015 and acting station commander in April last year.
“I love this type of work, serving people is what I’ve always wanted to do,” he said.
“This was my calling, and I hope to make a success of the new position. I take challenges day by day without letting it get me down. I know that gangsterism in Manenberg is a sore topic and I am working on it.”
“The community must please work with us so that we can overcome gangsterism by reporting what they know. Community involvement and communication must improve, and I am promising that things will improve.”
