Top Cop Won’t Retire.

After 41 years with JMPD, Wayne Minnaar looks to teaching by-laws.

By Lizo Sinwayi.

Wayne Minnaar having a chat with MMC for environment and Infrastructure, Micheal Sun " City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse. Image: Joburg.org.za.

Fifteen years ago, Wayne Minnaar announced that road blocks would be held around the FNB Stadium after the Soweto

Derby to target those driving under the influence of alcohol.

That announcement became the central focus of a press conference held to announce how prepared the JMPD was to deal

with about 90 000, soccer fans who would descend on the FNB Stadium.

Minnaar, who had been the face of the JMPD, came under fire from two journalists who took him to task for unfairly

targeting soccer fans because they were black and from the townships.

In his calm demeanor, Minnaar insisted on why it was necessary to conduct such operations and to announce them prior to

them taking place.

Last week, after leaving the JMPD as its spokesperson nearly 41 years since he joined the metro police, Minnaar reflected

on that incident.

"Because of the then growing trend of people coming from the stadiums under the influence [of alcohol], it had started to become a problem and we needed to do something to curb it," Minnaar said.

Wayne Minnaar surrounded by MMC for Public Safety David Tembe and City Of Joburg Executive Mayor Dr Mpo Palatse .

Minnaar credits his many years of patrolling the streets of Joburg as part of his work as a traffic officer and the six months

he spent on a helicopter during peak hours every weekday in 1999 doing traffic for Metro FM's morning and afternoon

drive shows as some of the reasons he knows the city so well.

"I would go up in air, if there was a problem... say on the Soweto highway, I could see from the helicopter where

alternative routes are," Minnaar said.

Before that, Minnaar was responsible for JMPD's scholar patrol programme, leading the training of scholar patrollers in about 300 schools which took him to many parts of the city including Alexandra and Soweto.

However, for some reason, Minnaar's impressive navigation skill can't help him find his way in the kitchen. "I'm not the guy for the kitchen, I can only fry an egg," Minnaar said.

Minnaar's other gift is his impeccable voice recognition capability. If he is familiar with your voice, you could use any

phone to call Minnaar, even after a year of not speaking to him, and before you could introduce yourself, he would have

already recognized your voice.

"I think being able to recognise voices is a skill. I am very fortunate and blessed to have a memory for voice and for dates

and locations as well... there were a number of other journalists I could easily recognise their voices too," Minnaar said in

a recent interview with Sowetan.

Minnaar is well known from his neat well-ironed straight creases on his uniform and shiny shoes which he admitted that

he will miss wearing.

He said that when he returned his uniform to his former employers last week on Tuesday, the man working at the store

told him it's his first time receiving a uniform from a retiring member in such a neat state.

"I brought it back on the hangers and the sleeves from the dry cleaners" he said.

If Minnaar did not become a traffic officer, he would still have chosen a career which allowed him to serve people.

He said his other options included being a teacher, paramedic or a firefighter. "Joining the South African Police [Service] was last on the list purely because of apartheid," Minnaar said.

Minnaar's good work hasn't gone unnoticed as he has a number of awards including being recognized as the City's brand

champion in 2010 after the Fifa World Cup.

Although Minnaar wants to take a rest for a few weeks, he has already carved out his next move which involves

starting a part-time programme that teaches communities about by-laws, including basic ones such as littering and

urinating in public.

"Many citizens don't know that littering is an offence which comes with a fine, those are some of the things I want to talk

to people about," Minnaar concluded.

Additional Info By: Sowetan