THE outgoing Gauteng police commissioner says he won't go into politics after his retirement.
Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela bid farewell to police officers and members of the community and thanked everyone involved for working with him over the past 39 years.
Mawela will retire on Wednesday, 31 January and will go home to become a civilian. He informed the media of his retirement during a media briefing at the Gauteng provincial head office in Joburg on Monday, 29 January.
Mawela, from Hammanskraal in Tshwane, said he is retiring and will spend his precious time at home with his family.
"I never dreamed of being a police officer as a child. I joined the police force by chance. Growing up, there were a lot of challenges. We were abused and chased around by the police," he said.
Mawela said he never thought he'd become a cop, adding that his family played a big role in him joining the police.
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"I never intended to leave the police department even during apartheid. As a police officer, your job is to protect. And police officers are guided by the law, and it does not matter what era you work in," he said.
He said his highlight as a senior officer was the establishment of the Border Management Authority as he was responsible for border security at national level as head of the ports of entry.
"My other highlight was as chairman of NetJOINTS and thirdly, I represented the police in bilateral meetings with neighbouring countries convened by the late former police commissioner Jackie Selebi in the joint standing commission on defence and security," Mawela said.
He said that after his appointment as Lieutenant-General at headquarters and the re-establishment of the operational response service division, this was one of his highlights and also the appointment as provincial police commissioner.
"The challenges like Covid-19 have made our job more difficult and we've lost many people, including good police officers. Another challenge is crime, which can be contained. We need to adapt our strategy to deal with it," said Mawela.
He said police work comes with challenges and that's the nature of the job.
Mawela also bid an emotional farewell to all those who have worked with the communities in Gauteng and beyond.
