Police officers from Grahamstown, Port Alfred and Peddie were rewarded by the provincial police commissioner for their long and faithful service yesterday.
Police officers from Grahamstown, Port Alfred and Peddie were rewarded by the provincial police commissioner for their long and faithful service yesterday.
Grahamstown station commander Brigadier Morgan Govender said they were honouring police officers from the three different clusters.
Over 40 accolades were also presented to police officers on Wednesday evening during a gala dinner, also held at the new multi-purpose centre in Joza.
Provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Celiwe Binta said it was important to say 'thank you' to the officers who have done good, adding that they would continue to appreciate their work.
Binta congratulated the award recipients and also bid a fond farewell to a retiring long-serving senior police officer.
Although Grahamstown Cluster Commander Brigadier Vakala Moyake could not be at the event, Binta used the opportunity to bid farewell to him in absentia.
Moyake who has been a police officer since 1976 when he joined Transkei police as a traffic officer.
He has worked in a number of stations including Mthatha and Ngcobo.
At the time of his retirement Moyake was the Grahamstown Cluster Commander, a position in which he was tasked with managing 34 police stations. He occasionally served as the station commander of the Grahamstown police station.
Binta also thanked Moyake's family for allowing him to dedicate his life to his job for all these years.
With his wife Bongiwe, Moyake has five children.
Despite completing his law degree 14 years ago, Moyake was only admitted as an advocate of the high court last year.