Heroes in the security industry

Mancoba Dumisani Mnisi

Silver Award winner Mancoba Dumisani Mnisi is a reaction officer with Fidelity ADT. In July 2019, he was sent to cover a new area in the East Rand, where he was approached by criminals who wanted him to act as an informant for them ahead of a series of planned robberies. He informed his manager immediately, and then assisted the SAPS with a sting operation that led to the arrest of three of the men involved.

Born in Mpumalanga in Nelspruit, Mancoba grew up with dreams of becoming a lawyer or running his own company one day. It was his passion for music, however, that saw him enrol for a course on music and sound engineering after he matriculated in 2005. His first job was at “Changed by the Word Church International” as a recording engineer. He also taught music part-time at the Metropolitan International College in White River, Mpumalanga.

In 2018 he joined Fidelity ADT as a career move. Describing himself as full of life and energy, he says he loves being able to interact with people while learning new things every day. This, along with resolving conflict and minimising criminal activities in his area drives him to succeed and indeed excel. He is engaged and the proud father of a three-month old son.

Boloka Rudolf Diale, Razine Dayne Naidoo and Salmaan Moosa Seedat

(From left) Boloka Rudolf Diale, Razine Dayne Naidoo and Salmaan Moosa Seedat, all from Vision Tactical, received awards for going beyond the call of duty.

Boloka and Salmaan, both operations managers, were recognised for their dedication and long service to the fight against crime.

Razine, an area operations manager, risked his life by accosting three suspected hijackers.

Nicollas Mabunele

Nicollas Mabunele is a tactical armed supervisor with Omega Risk Solutions. Based at Centurion Mall in Pretoria, he interceded in an attempted armed robbery that almost cost him his life. Despite being shot in the neck, shoulder and wrist by the criminals, he went above and beyond, fatally shooting one suspect and overpowering the second one. His bravery stopped the robbery in its tracks and prevented anyone else from being injured.

Thobejane Patrick Sebesho

Gold Award winner Thobejane Patrick Sebesho is an armed reaction officer with Fidelity ADT. He was on patrol at the Kollonade Shopping Centre in July as a result of a spike in criminal activities in the area when he noticed a suspicious vehicle with three occupants.

After stopping the vehicle, one of the suspects pointed a firearm at Thobejane, who then fired a warning shot in their direction. They ran off, throwing their firearms under a taxi in the nearby taxi rank. Two of the suspects were later arrested along with stolen money and the firearm retrieved.

Born in a rural area called Good Hope in Ga Marishane in Limpopo Province, he dreamt of becoming either a policeman or a soldier – “famous jobs back then”, he says. He finished school in 1997 but, not happy with his marks, rewrote and achieved a full matric pass in 2018. His first job was in the retail industry, where he saved money to register at a tertiary institute to further my studies.

In 2010, he started work at Fidelity ADT as a Junior Reaction Officer. “It is a dream come true,” he says. “Even as a child I wanted to serve people and keep them safe in my community. That is why I joined the security industry.”

A typical day involves keeping people safe and apprehending criminals, which he says is a privilege. “As we are all aware, crime is increasing in our country and it is a privilege for me to make sure that I can safeguard our clients and community and prevent serious crime from occurring.”

Knowing that he places his life at risk every time he’s faced with armed suspects doesn’t deter him from following his dream and he says humbly: “I would like to thank my company for trusting me and for supporting me.”

Married to “his lovely wife Mantwa Ester Sebesho”, they have two daughters aged 21 and 10 years old and are expecting their third baby soon. The family lives in Mamelodi and he works at FADT in Pretoria East where he’s studying to further his career.

When he’s off-duty, Thobejane enjoys reading and watching sports.

Mompati Gregory Parkins

Silver Award recipient Mompati Gregory Parkins is a shift leader at Stallion Security. While on duty at Idwala Lime in the Northern Cape, he received an alarm activation at the mine houses via sms. He responded on foot – a distance of 1 km – to see two suspects on bicycles feeling the scene.

Still on foot, he chased them for more than 3 km and apprehended both suspects. The SAPS arrived and took them to the police station. When Mompati saw them walking out a little while later, he chased and arrested them again – while the police looked on.