. Brigadier Jayce Naidoo and officers at Manenberg Police station make their final salute to Captain Rodney Abrahams.
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Cape Town - After nearly four decades of service, the longest serving detective at Manenberg SAPS said his final farewells with a grand salute on Friday.
Cops lined up at the Cape Flats station as they bid farewell to Detective Group Commander, Captain Rodney Abrahams, as he celebrated his 60th birthday and officially hung up his lapels.
The saddened officers also hosted a vehicle parade through the streets of Manenberg, so residents could say goodbye to the detective who has been at the station since 1986.
Abrahams, who is originally from Kleinvlei, reflected on the highs and lows of working in one of Cape Town’s most gang ridden communities.
"I matriculated from Kleinvlei High School in 1984 and went to work at the railway stations where I had to push a trolley. I had a dream to be much more and applied for jobs as a ticket clerk and to join what was then known as the Railway Police."
Abrahams said after not receiving any feedback, his natural investigation skills led him to uncover that his foreman at the time was behind a plot to not get him promoted and so he quit his job on the spot
He adds with a chuckle: "I took off that brown overall and the boots in his office and left."
He applied at the SAPS and after completing his training, he was sent to Manenberg.
"They took us with a truck and at Manenberg said 'get out'.
"I didn't even know where I was but I learnt quickly how to get along with the community."
Abrahams was part of a team of uniformed cops who investigated petty crimes, but with the introduction of new systems he was placed at the detective branch.
It was here that he would face his greatest challenges investigating gruesome murders.
"The worst case was that of the Faro family.
"They were popular hawkers and one of them was robbed in Hilda Court in the 1990s.
"They caught the guy and shot him. They attacked him over and over. The entire family was arrested and this was one of my biggest trials, where I testified for three days in the box before Judge Siraj Desai.
"It was tough but I knew my case. At the time High Court Judge Nathan Erasmus was a defence attorney and he grilled me."
Abrahams said after 38 years in the police force he hopes to get some rest.
The retiring cop says: My words to the police officers of Manenberg is to give the people of Manenberg an era. This is a traumatised community where people live everyday with bullets in their bodies. Sometimes they just need an understanding ear."
Cape Argus
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