{"id":243970,"date":"2022-11-25T09:48:43","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T07:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/tribute-to-presidential-protection-officer-shongwe\/"},"modified":"2022-11-25T09:48:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T07:48:43","slug":"tribute-to-presidential-protection-officer-shongwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/tribute-to-presidential-protection-officer-shongwe\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribute to Presidential Protection Officer Shongwe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Acting President, Angie Motshekga, has described the late Warrant Officer Thomas Shongwe as a friend to many and a dedicated officer of the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThus, it is neither an honour nor a privilege for me to speak at this memorial service. For me, the death of Warrant Officer Shongwe is still surreal. Yet he has indeed shuffled off this mortal coil,\u201d the Acting President said in her sombre tribute.<\/p>\n

Motshekga delivered a keynote address on Thursday at the memorial service of Shongwe, a Presidential Protection Services (PPS) member, who was killed in an accident on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Shongwe, along with others, was on duty with Deputy President David Mabuza when the accident occurred in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.<\/p>\n

Shongwe, 56, who was born and bred in Mpumalanga, died on the scene.<\/p>\n

Two members of the PPS who were in one of the vehicles sustained mild to serious injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital for critical medical attention.<\/p>\n

The Warrant Officer, who sustained mild injuries, has since been discharged while the Captain is still in critical condition in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we bid a reluctant and sad farewell to one of his generation\u2019s finest law enforcement officers, Warrant Officer Shongwe,\u201d she said, thanking the Shongwe family for lending them their \u201cfinest\u201d son to serve the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grief-stricken and shaken to the core by the untimely passing of Warrant Officer Shongwe four years before his hard-earned retirement was due,\u201d she read.  <\/p>\n

Officer Shongwe had 31 years of uninterrupted service, joining the police force in 1991 as a student Constable.<\/p>\n

Motshekga said he was an incorruptible and loyal servant of the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur grief and tears must not be mistaken for fear of death or the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

She told mourners that the Warrant Officer lived a life of purpose, a life dedicated to service to his homeland.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a nation and a people, we are reeling from excruciating pain. A dedicated officer nearing retirement died in the line of duty serving his country; in particular, the Presidency as part of the PPS is no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, the Minister said it was estimated that 14 000 people are lost on South Africa roads yearly. <\/p>\n

\u201cDue to road deaths, we are burying some of our finest patriots, police officers, tried and tested cadres, leaders of various sectors, and our dearest family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the legacy they can carry forward in the memory of Shongwe is to know and understand that road safety is everybody\u2019s responsibility, including protection officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is cold comfort that he died instantly and thus suffered less, and now he is at rest and in a better place. He is at peace and already \u2018seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I hear from Shongwe\u2019s colleagues, he was a great man, an officer with an unblemished record, truly a man of integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the duration of his service, he was attached to the PPS division, where he served as an in-transit VIP protector. <\/p>\n

From 1994 to 2018, he rendered protection services to the office of the Premier in Mpumalanga before being transferred to the PPS, where he served as a close protector for Deputy President. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor the State machinery, the police is an inevitable organ that would ensure the maintenance of law and order and the first link in the criminal justice system. Warrant Officer Shongwe served the blue line with honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

She saluted Shongwe for his absolute dedication to the honourable duty of policing. <\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, he died in the line of duty, doing what he loved the most, serving others, not himself. 
Like a true soldier, he died with his boots on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The officer excelled in his work, becoming more than an officer to the Deputy President but part of his family. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe spent more hours at work than with his own family. He lived and breathed policing and close protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shongwe is survived by his wife and three children. \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acting President, Angie Motshekga, has described the late Warrant Officer Thomas Shongwe as a friend to many and a dedicated officer of the law. \u201cThus, it is neither an honour nor a privilege for me to speak at this memorial service. For me, the death of Warrant Officer Shongwe is still surreal. Yet he has indeed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-243970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-sanews","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/tribute-to-presidential-protection-officer-shongwe.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}