Lieutenant General MotswenyanePhoto: SAPS
As the country celebrates Women’s Month, the South African Police Service joins the rest of the country in paying tribute to the women in its ranks.
One of their esteemed members is the Free State Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane, who has served for 35 years and is currently serving her second term as Provincial Commissioner. She has held the position since 2016.
An experienced commander, she has served the SAPS in both the operational and support environments as Branch Commander, Station Commander and Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner.
Lieutenant General Motswenyane was appointed Provincial Commissioner for North West in 2016 and began a second term as Provincial Commissioner for the Free State in 2019.
In addition to the 24 provincial divisions and five districts, she is responsible for the supervision and management of police operations at 111 police stations in the Free State.
She was the first woman in the country to become Area Commissioner for the SAPS, and then Deputy Provincial Commissioner: Police, and later Deputy Provincial Commissioner: Operations.”
Lieutenant General Motswenyane holds a National Diploma in Policing, a Bachelor of Technology in Policing and a Postgraduate Diploma in Genetics.
Under her leadership the following successes were achieved:
In the 2023/2024 financial year, 52 suspects were arrested for kidnapping and extortion offences.
In April 2024, members of the Welkom K9 unit, in conjunction with the anti-narcotics unit, received information about a house being used to sell drugs. They discovered Crystal Meth and Mandrax worth R300,000 and arrested a 32-year-old suspect.
In Rouxville in July 2024, 400 cartons of illegal cigarettes with an estimated street value of R12 million were seized. A 42-year-old foreigner was arrested.
In the period from October 2023 to March 2024, 220 offenders were sentenced to 1,313 years in prison in the Free State. This included 25 life sentences and the sentence of Mario Gutsi, who was convicted of 1,010 charges including rape, sexual assault, production, possession and distribution of child pornography. Gutsi is serving a sentence of 6,548 years.
In May 2024, a cash-in-transit robbery involving a group of armed suspects took place just outside a shopping mall in Mangaung. During the incident, a security vehicle was intercepted by the suspects who were driving a BMW. The SAPS deployed more forces through its multidisciplinary approach to support the investigators in tracking down the suspects. They worked day and night and as a result of their hard work, seven suspects were located and arrested at various locations around Mangaung. The SAPS recovered the stolen cash, two firearms – an AK 47 rifle and a pistol, and thirty rounds of ammunition. The two cars were also recovered.
Lieutenant General Motswenyane often personally leads the weekly Shanela operations.
To date, 52,388 suspects have been arrested as part of Operation Shanela in the Free State, including 10,071 undocumented migrants and 261 firearms have been seized.
Lt Gen Motswenyane’s dedication to addressing the unique challenges within policing, particularly the role of women and the safety of our communities, is both inspiring and essential.
The SAPS celebrates Women’s Month; its leadership is an example of the progress the FS Province is making towards a more inclusive and equitable society.
Lieutenant General Motswenyane’s commitment to creating a supportive environment for female officers and ensuring fairness and protection for all women underscores the critical role of law enforcement in achieving these goals.
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