{"id":219768,"date":"2019-10-04T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/219768\/empd-spokesperson-hangs-up-his-hat\/"},"modified":"2019-10-04T15:34:29","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T13:34:29","slug":"empd-spokesperson-hangs-up-his-hat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2019\/10\/04\/empd-spokesperson-hangs-up-his-hat\/","title":{"rendered":"EMPD spokesperson hangs up his hat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After 27 years of mentoring, grooming, hard work and imparting information, Chief Supt Wilfred Kgasago has taken a bow as spokesperson of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD).<\/p>\n<p>He worked in the force for over two decades and was appointed as spokesperson in 2003.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>He has honoured the appointment with dignity and integrity.<\/p>\n<p>Kgasago traded in his metro police hat for a retirement hat on September 30.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>A special farewell was organised for him at Dries Niemandt Park on September 19.<\/p>\n<div class='tie-fluid-width-video-wrapper tie-ignore-fitvid' style='margin-bottom: 30px;'>\n\t\t\t<iframe style='width: 100%; min-height: 300px; aspect-ratio: 16\/9;' src='https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/xZGLYVAyLck' loading='lazy'><\/iframe>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>Kgasago\u2019s colleagues said they would miss his ability and eagerness to teach, guide and advise.<\/p>\n<p>This could be attributed to his 16 years of teaching prior to joining law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started working as a teacher at Bodibeng High School in Kroonstad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI then moved back to Soweto to Bhukulani Senior Secondary School,\u201d said Kgasago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started at the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department in 1992 and worked as an instructor at the academy from 1995 to 1998.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In December 1998 he joined the Boksburg Traffic Department and was promoted to senior superintendent in September 1999.<\/p>\n<p>He was seconded to what was then called Edenvale Public Safety in 2002 as acting manager and in 2003 he was appointed spokesperson.<\/p>\n<p>He worked under the leadership of various heads of the metro police, including Mongezi India, Robert McBride, Hlula Msimang, Bafana Mahlabe and the current Jabulani Mapiyeye.<\/p>\n<p>Although he is originally from Soweto, Kgasago is a Meredale resident and described himself as a family man with two children and a grandchild.<\/p>\n<p>He said although he wanted to be an accountant, he was happy that his life leaned towards the metro police force.<\/p>\n<div class='tie-fluid-width-video-wrapper tie-ignore-fitvid' style='margin-bottom: 30px;'>\n\t\t\t<iframe style='width: 100%; min-height: 300px; aspect-ratio: 16\/9;' src='https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/bn6uKz1t6DQ' loading='lazy'><\/iframe>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>\u201cBeing in the force, especially in the media department, was quite an interesting experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be kept busy at all times and this experience did exactly that as there was never a dull moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI enjoyed it and will miss the people, the law enforcement and Ekurhuleni, because I spent most of my time here and regard it as my second home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kobeli Mokheseng, also a spokesperson at the metro police, was present at the farewell and Kgasago described him as his right-hand man and a pillar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started working in the force in 1995 and have never met anyone like Kgasago because he has a vision, respect and is humble.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will miss his supervision and discipline.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMay he reach his dreams wherever he goes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor us, it is a celebration and we believe he will always be with us,\u201d said Mokheseng.<\/p>\n<p>Ndumiso Gcwabe, chief superintendent of the training academy, said Kgasago\u2019s teaching experience contributed immensely to the establishment of the academy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">ALSO READ:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/219704\/empd-assigns-two-new-directors-to-auxiliary-services-division\/\" target=\"_blank\">EMPD assigns two new directors to auxiliary services division<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/219575\/new-empd-recruits-start-their-duties-in-ekurhuleni\/\" target=\"_blank\">New EMPD recruits start their duties in Ekurhuleni<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was my mentor and coach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea around media in the metro police was started by Kgasago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope his legacy will live on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMay the good Lord bless you, Kgasago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfficers must respect the laws of the country and improve themselves on the legislation they apply on the road and in whatever situations they are in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you to everybody who I worked with and met over the years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI learnt a lot from you all,\u201d said Kgasago.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Hav<\/strong><strong>e a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor)<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-admin\/germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za\">germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>or Leigh Hodgson (News Editor)<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"mailto:leighh@caxton.co.za\">leighh@caxton.co.za.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Also follow us 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class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='0f3310bb5781e76be74c837c95608a3f'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cBeing in the force, especially in the media department, was quite an interesting experience.\u201d &#8211; Wilfred Kgasago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":219769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Puleng Sekabate","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[988,29086,969,2734,2749,15797,16956],"class_list":["post-219768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-empd","tag-empd-spokesperson","tag-germiston-city-news","tag-melissa-hart","tag-puleng-sekabate","tag-retirement","tag-wilfred-kgasago"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["empd","EMPD spokesperson","germiston city news","melissa hart","Puleng Sekabate","retirement","Wilfred Kgasago"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}