Hermanus welcomed a brand-new female armed-response officer this month. And she managed to secure an arrest on day 2 of her time in town, which also happened to be the second day of Women’s Month.
“I cannot imagine a better and perhaps more appropriate way to start this important month on the South African calendar,” said Marius Boshoff, Hermanus branch manager for Fidelity ADT.
The incident started at a parking area close to the cliff paths, where a foot-patrol officer with Hermanus Public Protection (HPP) noticed a parked car with a smashed window on Tuesday 2 August around 14:55. While standing at the car he met some tourists from Austria who explained this was their car and they had just parked there about 10 minutes earlier. They confirmed several items inside the car was now missing.
“The HPP officer contacted the CCTV monitoring centre team and asked that they check local cameras for any footage of suspicious-looking behaviour close to the car,” Boshoff related. “The monitoring centre team soon found footage of an unidentified person loitering around the car, and a description of this person was shared with officers in the area.”
A short while later a person matching the description was spotted close to Northcliff. A specialised-response unit from HPP close to the area responded to investigate. One of the officers allocated to the vehicle was Zintle Qumbelo. This was her second day on duty, the second day of Women’s Month.
“The officers located the person and stopped him to search him,” Boshoff continued. “This led to the discovery of several items that had been earlier reported as stolen along with a large sum of cash. The suspect was detained and taken to Hermanus Police Station.”
He said the tourists were informed their items had been recovered. A case of theft from a motor vehicle was opened against the suspect.
“Well done to Officer Qumbelo, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with her as part of the team keeping Hermanus safe.”. Hermanus Public Protection (HPP) is a non-profit company (NPC), established to provide public safety and top-up cleansing services in the geographically designated area of Hermanus. It is funded by ratepayers through the Overstrand Municipality Special Rating Area By-law and Policy. Visit https://hpp.org.za/ for more information.