Hawks reward top officers with excellence awards
'I am happy. This makes me feel I am making an impact in the community,' said the father of four.
'People will know how bad the impact of copper theft and economic sabotage is and how we making strides in securing convictions. Trains in Newcastle grind to a halt because of these acts. Children are unable to go to school and workers struggle to go to work.'
Asked how these cases were transferred to the Hawks, Nyembe said if the value is more than R500,000 it falls into their hands.
'The total value of these convictions was estimated to be more than R2m, inclusive of recovery and rehabilitation of the infrastructure.'
The major case investigating team award went to a team who cracked the hacking of the department of justice computer systems, where an amount of R17.7m was stolen and transferred to different banking accounts. After 10 months, 11 arrests were made.
Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya told members to see these awards as an opportunity to achieve more.
'Your legacy will assist future generations,' he said.
Director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal advocate Elaine Harrison urged the winners to help other teams.
'I encourage you to help those colleagues who are struggling or those who have just started. Do not let the awards make you arrogant and disrespectful,' she said.
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