Johannesburg: As the country observes Women’s Month, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is celebrating the specialised units and teams who go above and beyond the call of duty to protect women, children, and other vulnerable groups. Today, the spotlight is on the Port Alfred Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit in the Eastern Cape.
According to South African Government News Agency, since August 2024, the investigators have collectively placed 39 sexual offenders behind bars, securing five life term sentences and an additional 382 years’ imprisonment. Constable Sandra Catherine is one of the investigators attached to the Port Alfred FCS unit, boasting a conviction rate of 78.57% for the 2024/2025 financial year. She is responsible for investigating serial rape cases, including sexual offences against children across the Eastern Cape.
Her thorough investigations and high work ethic secured two life terms and an additional 25 years’ imprisonment against the convicted serial rapist, Nkosikona Sandi, in the Makhanda High Court on 30 May 2025. Sandi, infamously known as the Nemato Serial Rapist, was convicted on multiple counts of rape and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Catherine’s investigation linked Sandi with DNA evidence to a broader pattern of violent criminal conduct, including several rapes and aggravated robberies spanning from 2016 to 2019 in Nemato Township, Port Alfred.
Constable Catherine’s high moral standing and immeasurable desire to serve and protect vulnerable groups, especially women and children, serve as an inspiration to her colleagues, victims of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), and the greater community of Ndlambe. ‘I have a passion to seek justice for victims of GBVF and to protect vulnerable members of society, ensuring that those who commit crimes against them are brought to justice,’ Constable Catherine stated. ‘I will always be the voice to the voiceless and pillar for those who need it. I hope that this sentence will bring comfort and a certain degree of closure to the survivors, families, as well as the communities,’ she added.
Furthermore, Unit Commander Captain Candice du Preez emphasized that the Port Alfred FCS unit continues to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to fight for justice for victims of GBVF and to incarcerate individuals who commit heinous crimes against vulnerable groups, especially women and children. ‘To secure lengthy sentences against perpetrators of GBVF, it takes hard work, dedication, teamwork, and working long hours piecing evidence together to present watertight cases before the court of law. I am so proud to be a commander of this unit,’ said du Preez.