Zute Lightfoot : Photographer

IMAGE: Sollie.
DESCRIPTION: Cape Town Central Police Station. I am the Senior Super Intendant at this station. I the in the old rank I would have been a Colonel; I don't like the new title as I get called Soupy. In 1994 I was posted to Gauteng as Crime Prevention officer. I didn't like being away from my family and had a lot of problems within the force. During the election I was in command of the polling station at FNB stadium in Soweto. In ten years time I hope to be enjoying my pension as I am close to my 30 years service. A lot has changed for the police force over the last ten years. More crimes are committed but more are reported. Trust in the police force has grown since 1994 so more people come forward to report crime than before. The biggest problems in terms of violent crime come from the squatter camps in the Cape Flats. The population and size of these camps have grown since 1994 and so has the crime rate. Khayelisthia has the highest murder rate in the country with an average of 15 a week compared to 1 a week in the city centre. In 1996 I was in charge of Guguleto township station, which had many black officers. In the townships the police were made up of Special Constables many of whom were taken from the streets with no qualifications. After 1994 these special constables were all taken into the new municipal police force, yet many working on the crime desk were illiterate. It was hard running a police station with staff who couldn't read or write, I complained to the commissioner which caused problems in the community but I insisted these people were trained. Some have been successful and are now officers.


P h o t o g r a p h y : South Africa: 10 Years of Democracy. < >
IMAGE: Sollie. DESCRIPTION: Cape Town Central Police Station. I am the Senior Super Intendant at this station. I the in the old rank I would have been a Colonel; I don't like the new title as I get called Soupy. In 1994 I was posted to Gauteng as Crime Prevention officer. I didn't like being away from my family and had a lot of problems within the force. During the election I was in command of the polling station at FNB stadium in Soweto. In ten years time I hope to be enjoying my pension as I am close to my 30 years service. A lot has changed for the police force over the last ten years. More crimes are committed but more are reported. Trust in the police force has grown since 1994 so more people come forward to report crime than before. The biggest problems in terms of violent crime come from the squatter camps in the Cape Flats. The population and size of these camps have grown since 1994 and so has the crime rate. Khayelisthia has the highest murder rate in the country with an average of 15 a week compared to 1 a week in the city centre. In 1996 I was in charge of Guguleto township station, which had many black officers. In the townships the police were made up of Special Constables many of whom were taken from the streets with no qualifications. After 1994 these special constables were all taken into the new municipal police force, yet many working on the crime desk were illiterate. It was hard running a police station with staff who couldn't read or write, I complained to the commissioner which caused problems in the community but I insisted these people were trained. Some have been successful and are now officers.