A South African Police Service (SAPS) Rapid Rail Police Unit officer for the Cape Town corridor, who successfully tracked and returned a stolen cellphone from Rondebosch to the city, was rewarded for going above and beyond his duties.
Sergeant Dudley Moses received a R500 grocery shopping voucher from Cape Town Central police station's community police forum (CPF) during their monthly meeting on Thursday, March 5.
He was nominated by the unit's Captain Corne Rabie, who said that Sergeant Moses serves the community with pride and dedication.
"It was like finding a needle in a haystack, this cellphone going missing in a transport hub," he said.
The cellphone went missing on Sunday, February 15, in Rondebosch. "Sergeant Moses tracked the phone all the way to Cape Town, found the suspect, and was able to return the phone to its owner," he said.
Cape Town Central CPF chairman Marc Truss said that the shopping voucher is given to anyone "going out of their way to help another person, even the ouma, sitting on the veranda in her rocking chair, and she reports suspicious behaviour".
"The community is the eyes and ears of the police, and they need to report crime," he said.
Mr Truss said the voucher was an incentive to recognise citizens and those in uniform going "over and above their duties".
Captain Rabie said prior to Covid they oversaw 753 trains within 24-hours.
Now it is less than half with 300 trains carrying 1 500 passengers, which brings nearly half a million commuters to the city each day.
Captain Rabie said: "It is a numbers game and we have to be prepared for mass crowd control and accommodate for any eventuality."
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