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Makhado SAPS station commander Brig Francois Ramovha bade the Soutpansberg farewell the past week after being appointed as the provincial commander of the anti-corruption investigation unit (PDCI) in the Western Cape on 1 January this year.

Station commander bids town a sad farewell

Date: 16 January 2016 By: Andries van Zyl

Makhado SAPS station commander Brig Francois Ramovha bade the Soutpansberg farewell the past week.

Apart from being promoted to the rank of brigadier as from 1 January this year, he was also transferred to Bellville, Cape Town, in the Western Cape where he took up office as the provincial commander of the anti-corruption investigation unit (PDCI) over the past week.

Brigadier Ramovha’s career at the Makhado SAPS started on 21 July 1997 when he was appointed as sergeant at the local detective branch. On 1 April 1999, he was promoted to the rank of warrant officer, still at the detective branch, and on 1 October 2005 he was once again promoted, this time to the rank of captain at the detective branch.

November 2006 saw Brig Ramovha being appointed as acting commander of the local detective branch. From here, he quickly sccaled the ranks, being promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on 1 December 2007. At the same time, he was appointed commander of the detective branch.

More doors opened for Brig Ramovha in 2009 when, on 18 July of that year, he was appointed acting station commander of the Makhado SAPS. Nearly six months later, on 1 January 2010, he was again promoted, this time to commander of the local police station – a position he held until his transfer to the Western Cape earlier this year.

The Zoutpansberger caught up with Brig Ramovha on Friday, just before his departure to the Cape. He was very excited about his appointment in the Cape. “My family is also very happy for me,” Ramovha said. His family will join him in the Cape within the next two months.

Brig Ramovha said that although he was excited about his new career in the Cape, it was with a bit of sadness that he said goodbye to the Soutpansberg. Born and bred in Thohoyandou at Mulenzhe Village near the Nandoni Dam, Brig Ramovha is also a junior traditional leader under Chief T J Ramovha in the Dididi ward. He is also an acting traditional leader for a second village, Khakhanwa, in the same area and under the same chief. “I will miss this town. For the past 18 years I spent a lot of time in this town, although I did not live here,” he said. He added that the thing he would miss most was the diversity of the town and its people. “The diverse cultural interaction was great!” Ramovha said.

Although he was appointed as the provincial commander of the anti-corruption investigation unit (PDCI) in the Western Cape on 1 January this year, Brig Ramovha officially started working there on 11 January. “It is a great loss to us and a gain to the Capetonians. We wish him all the best in his new greener pastures,” said local police spokesperson Const Irene Radzilane.

 
 
 

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

 
 

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