Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride said on Friday the objections to his appointment last year were unfair.
McBride was officially inaugurated at the Mehlareng stadium in Tembisa near Kempton Park during the second birthday celebrations of the Ekurhuleni metro police department.
He said, however, that he would not let the objections let him down.
”I have used it as motivation to work as hard as possible,” he said. ”I hope in five years’ time those who objected will apologise to me and tell me they were wrong.”
McBride, a former political activist and former death-row inmate, was appointed to the position by the Ekurhuleni metropolitian council despite objections by the Democratic Alliance. McBride was responsible for the Magoo’s Bar bombing in Durban in the 1980s, which killed three women.
McBride said on Friday his focus will be on training metro police officials. To that end, a training academy will be set up before the end of the year.
Another important project will be demilitarising the Ekurhuleni area.
McBride said many people in the area have military skills due to the country’s turbulent past.
”This can be dangerous. We need to change it.”
The inauguration festivities had to be changed considerably at the last minute due to heavy rain in the area on Thursday night, which turned the stadium into a swamp.
Several dignitaries including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Gauteng transport minister Khabisi Mosonkuthu attended the function. — Sapa