A Cape Flats cop who secured the conviction of the man who killed UWC student Jesse Hess has been awarded top honours at the annual Western Cape Saps Excellence Awards.
The sterling investigation by Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Pretorius saw the mastermind David van Boven being sentenced to 81 years in the mang for the murder of Jesse and her oupa Chris Lategan landed him the detective of the year award.
The larney event at the Century City Conference Centre on Saturday night saw cops from across the Western Cape trade in their guns and badges for a night of ball gowns and suits.
Hundreds of officers across various departments descended on the venue as they were given the red carpet treatment and awarded for their efforts in fighting crime.
Among the speakers were Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant -General Tembisile Patekile and Gift of the Givers chairman Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.
In his address, Sooliman lauded the Flying Squad for busting 10 skelms in four hours after the head office of the popular relief organisation was burgled last week.
He thanked cops for their dedication and highlighted the conviction of two skollies who mercilessly gunned down volunteer Ameerodien Noordien.
Allen highlighted the deaths of police officers over the past year and had the audience in stitches as he commented about gang culture saying youngsters have opted to die for countries to which they didn’t even have passports for.
“The gangsters and criminals are taking away for our communities. We know on the one hand gangsterism doesn’t make sense. To die for something when you have never been to that country. You don’t have a passport. At Glendale High [school] there was Sexy Boys on the school and the Sexy Boys shouted: ‘Hosh, is Sexy Boy’. I am looking and looking and I didn’t see one [Sexy Boy]. But on the other hand I see how it makes sense when we don’t have role models in our communities.”
He urged youngsters to stay away from gangs but said all governmental departments had a responsibility to tackle crime.
Pretorius was awarded the top detective spot for the investigation into Van Boven and his co accused Tasliem Ambrose.
He told the Daily Voice that the award was for Jesse and her oupa and investigating Van Boven was challenging.
“I feel tired but I am satisfied. It was quite intense. This is for Jesse and her grandpa.”
Jesse’s dad, Lance, says the award is well deserved and commended Pretorius for his dedication.
“When Jesse was murdered the first officer did not really do much. The case was handed to Pretorius and he really worked hard. The trial was not easy and even saw his professionalism come into question as David accused him of torture but even the judge could see through the lies. He was there every day and stood tall that he had collected enough evidence to secure a conviction. He really deserves this award and he was always serious about getting justice for Jesse.”
Among the other recipients was Colonel Wynand Muller from Manenberg Saps who was awarded as the best Vispol Commander while Wynberg CPF chairperson, Anzar Salie was honoured for his contribution to reducing crime by 96% in the precinct.
The team behind the massive drug bust of foreign nationals who were caught smuggling cocaine worth over R500 million into Saldanha were also lauded as the team who carried out the biggest drug bust ever in the province.