SAPS top achievers recognised at Tracker’s Annual Awards

SAPS top achievers recognised at Tracker’s Annual Awards

Honouring the dedication of law enforcement officers in fighting vehicle crime in SA, the Tracker SAPS Awards took place on Thursday 24th October at The Capital, Menlyn Maine in Pretoria.

Taking place annually, the awards honour law enforcement officers and units whose efforts, in the use of the Tracker system, have made a significant impact on the recovery of stolen and hijacked vehicles in South Africa. Individual and unit winners representing the nine different provinces were recognised for their contribution towards the fight against vehicle crime, and received memorabilia as a token of the 21st celebration of this prestigious event.

Every year the judges apply a set of strict criteria to select the nominees and overall winners for each category. These criteria include an outstanding contribution in the area of vehicle crime investigation, number of recoveries and arrests, outstanding efforts in coordinating recovery actions and outstanding contribution to the training of members. The finalists are chosen from a group of over 90 individual nominees and 40 units nationally.

Brigadier Makhosazana Kheswa and the KwaZulu-Natal SAPS Provincial Vehicle Task Team accepted the national unit award. In addition to the tracking of soughtafter motor vehicles, the members of this team have been instrumental with Mobile Tracking Unit (MTU) operations and observation on recovered motor vehicles.

This team is often called upon to assist the Tracker Ops team with high profile recoveries and arrests because of their unique skills and understanding of vehicle related crime. They assist with deployment of MTUs and are involved in observation and take down operations.

Although based in Durban, this team has been called upon to assist with operational issues throughout the province, including the northern KwaZulu-Natal areas bordering Mozambique and Swaziland. The team has been responsible for the recovery of 228 Tracker installed vehicles. They have also affected 43 arrests, recovered eight firearms and recovered a further 21 non-Tracker fitted vehicles in the course of their recoveries.

Sergeant Lucas Jacobs from the Kimberley Flying Squad received the coveted national individual award. Sergeant Jacobs has made numerous arrests and recovered stolen and hijacked vehicles using Tracker’s vehicle tracking technology. During the past year, he assisted with the recovery of more than 10 vehicles, some of which were not Tracker fitted vehicles, and the arrest of eight suspects. Sergeant Jacobs is a dedicated police officer and is always available to assist with recoveries.

The winners received a certificate, a small gift as a token of appreciation, the invitation to attend the 68th Annual IAATI Training Seminar 2020 in Chicago, and a cheque payable to the charity organisation of their choice to the value of R10,000.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Tracker’s Executive Operational Services, Ron Knott-Craig, acknowledged that the purpose of the event was to celebrate the hard work, consistent performance and positive attitude of the top SAPS performers across the country.

“Tracker is so proud of everyone in the room today. You’ve raised the bar high and are the embodiment of dedicated service men and women. As always, we value your commitment and acknowledge that together we are making a difference to all who live in South Africa,” said Knott-Craig. Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, SAPS Provincial Commissioner Gauteng, who closed the proceedings, congratulated the winners and recognised the value of the partnership between Tracker and SAPS. “From Tracker, we have a system which helps us to provide smart policing. Thank you to the foot soldiers for recovering vehicles which can mean so much for a citizen, especially those that have used their last cents to purchase one. I encourage you to keep up the good work, we are going to make the hijackers unemployed with this.