Key appointments for the Hawks

In another milestone, the Hawks have announced the appointment of a number of people to head the unit in the provinces.

This is significant because until now, the unit had not formalized its structures in the provinces. The new appointees will be at the level of Assistant Commissioners and will be placed as deputies to Provincial Commissioners. The appointees are well versed with issues of Organised Crime and Commercial Crime and have been with the units for a significant period.

The appointments were announced on Friday 26 February and are effective from March 1 this year. Though they will work closely with the Provincial Commissioners, the appointees will also have a dual reporting structure to the Deputy National Commissioner Anwa Dramat who heads the Hawks.

Congratulating the appointees, the National Commissioner Bheki Cele said this was a milestone for the police force.

"The Hawks have an important role to play in fighting crime in this country. I am happy to note that they are making great strides not only in putting criminals on the back foot but also the fact that they are moving very quickly in making sure that the unit has enough capacity.

"South Africans may not be aware that the establishment of this unit means that on one hand they have to deliver while at the same time putting in place structures that will make it easy for them to be effective.

"Legislation is very clear on what the unit needs to do and I congratulate it for the work they have done so far. This means that provincial structures will now be more visible with the appointments," he said.

The appointment comes in the wake of the appointment of the Divisional Commissioner for the unit who took office at the beginning of February. Commissioner SG Lebeya is an old hand and has spent most of his police life with either Organised Crime or Commercial Crime units which make up the core of what is Priority Crime Investigation.

Appointments have been announced in eight provinces with the other provinces expected to make follow suit soon.

Those who have been appointed are:

Simon Mapyane- Mpumalanga
Johannes Mabula - North West
Liziwe Ntshinga - Northern Cape
John Ntebo Tsumane - Free State
Johan Booysens           - KwaZulu-Natal
Minah Molatjana - Limpopo
Yolisa Matakata - Western Cape
Yvonne Badi - Eastern Cape

An announcement regarding Gauteng will be made in due course.

Statement issued by Musa Zondi, South African Police Service, March 2 2010

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