Captain Zakhele Zwane likes to think of himself as an officer who does more than just his job.
“It’s the only thing I’ve known for the past 20 years. I didn’t know anything about police work before I joined the force. As far as fighting crime was concerned, I knew I could make a difference,” he says.
Zwane is the investigating officer responsible for the arrest of alleged serial rapist Mongezi Samuel Jinxela. Jinxela is suspected of having raped 70 women between 1994 and his arrest in 2004. During his trial, which began on February 7, 129 witnesses were called. Judgement was expected on November 30.
Zwane joined the police force in 1987. “I spent 10 years working in the charge office. In those years I saw cases of violent crime, especially against women, getting worse. Not knowing what was happening with the cases, but seeing these people’s tears, frustrated me. So I applied to do investigations.”
In 2001 four rape dockets landed on Zwane’s desk. On studying them he noticed a pattern.
“The accused used the same name in all four cases when he confronted his victims. He promised all the victims similar jobs before they were raped and the crime scenes could be closely linked in these cases.” He said the perpetrator “vanished” in 2002.
“Then in 2004 more reports emerged. I was adamant I was going to keep the case.”
Says Zwane: “I was very passionate. I met these victims, I saw them crying, I saw their tears and it touched my heart. I told myself that I was going to catch this guy.”
Zwane frequently worked on the case during his precious days off, and not only ensured that victims went for counselling, but often drove them there himself.The policeman picked up the pieces of the investigation and solved the case in less than a month, despite having limited resources.
“The passion and dedication with which he does his work is an inspiration to us all,” says Superintendent André Neethling, provincial coordinator of the South African Police Service’s violence, child protection and sexual offences unit in Gauteng.
“From the moment he was assigned to the case, he used his initiative and made a breakthrough in a ridiculously quick time,” says Neethling.
“He worked extremely hard, attending to the hundreds of witnesses involved in the case.”
Neethling added that even though Zwane was a non-commissioned officer at the time, he already showed strong leadership attributes. Zwane was promoted to captain in 2005.
“We are very impressed with Captain Zwane and can only speak of him with honour and a great deal of respect,” says Neethling.