Top cop bows out after 40 years

After a lifetime of fighting crime, Motherwell policing cluster commander Major-General Dawie Rabie is hanging up his uniform.

The veteran policeman is due to retire on Tuesday, after four decades of service in the police.

Rabie, who started his policing career as a student officer in Knysna in 1980, has over the decades imparted his extensive experience to a slew of police officers under his guidance.

The 57-year-old general, who is originally from Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, said he had wanted to be a detective since he was a child.

“In standard six (grade 8) they start asking you what you want to be when you grow up and I said a detective and then after matric I applied,” Rabie said.

After completing his basic training at Bishop Lavis Training College in Cape Town, he was stationed at Middelburg in the Eastern Cape as a detective and between 1980 and 1990 held the ranks of detective constable, detective sergeant, detective warrant officer and detective lieutenant.

There he gained extensive experience in the investigation of all crimes and testified in cases before district, regional and supreme courts.

From 1991 to 1993, Rabie held the ranks of lieutenant and captain at the then Louis Le Grange Square in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, where he managed large numbers of police officials and a hefty caseload.

He also trained municipal police officers as detectives and helped initiate a modern serial rapist case strategy with the help of a police psychologist.

In 1993, Rabie was instrumental in the establishment of the detective branch in Kwazakhele and by 1996 was promoted to senior superintendent and detective colonel with oversight of the community service centre and the identification of serial murder cases.

Five years later, he was transferred to Johannesburg where helped in the development of the Crime Administration System (CAS) and dealt with the first reported Nigerian “419" scams in SA involving kidnappings and extortion.

Rabie returned to the Eastern Cape in 2005 as assistant commander and major-general in the provincial head office’s detective services.

During this two-year stint there, he managed cross-boarder crimes,  changed the approach to gangs as organised threats and formalised and initiated a 24-hour detective crime centre at specific police stations across the province.

From 2007 to 2009, Rabie was station commander at Cambridge in East London before being transferred to Port Elizabeth to take up the role of cluster commander for Mount Road where he established and managed the anti-gang detective task team.

He also planned and managed policing for all major sporting events in Port Elizabeth, including the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Rabie was transferred to the Motherwell Cluster as cluster commander in 2017, established the serious and violent crimes task team and was instrumental in the development of commanders and officers.

Asked about his plans for retirement, Rabie said: “Immediate plan’s just to switch off, take a lockdown break for a few months.”

Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga said Rabie was one of the most respected commanders and veterans in the SAPS and had come across as upright and disciplined from the day they met.

“Letting go of a man who has served the South African Police Service with distinction can never be taken for granted and cannot be easy sailing,” she said.

“Seeing him leave my team of capable and polished managers is nothing but a bittersweet experience.

“His loyalty [to] the organisation is clearly defined and manifested in the quality of work he produces, his constructive views and strategic engagements during conferences and management forums.

“He has no fears to [express his opinions] and is well known for his generosity and preparedness to mentor and coach his colleagues.

“We will miss him dearly,” Ntshinga said.