South Africa
Free State Hawks Head encourages young women to follow in her footsteps─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 15:12 Tue, 04 Jul 2023
Young women are encouraged to prioritise education as a tool that will assist them to take up senior roles which are mostly dominated by male counterparts.
The Head of the Hawks in the Free State, Mokgadi Bokaba (46), is the youngest police general in the province. Her journey in the police started in 2011 but she has been in law enforcement since 2002. Bokaba says she has worked under various law enforcement agencies such as the Scorpions, South African Revenue Services, and National Prosecuting Authority and joined the Hawks team in 2011.
As the leader of the Hawks in the Free State, Bokaba explains that her daily activities entail overseeing responsibilities of critical five areas of operations within the Hawks to attain and achieve the goals that are set and also deal with crime.
#sapsHQ The National Head of the DPCI #Hawks has welcomed the appointment of Major General Mokgadi Bokaba as the Free State Provincial Head and Major General Mathipa Makgato as Western Cape Provincial Head. MEhttps://t.co/HFQEqJ6BmX pic.twitter.com/vbbzSxmBPZ
— SA Police Service ???? (@SAPoliceService) February 22, 2022
“When I joined the Hawks I found myself not only sitting in a male-dominated environment but also in a very transformed environment and even today, as the Hawks, we are very transformed and have a lot of female senior managers who have been there. But I think it's safe to say law enforcement is generally known as a male-dominated environment which demands a lot.
“Historically it was taken that women can’t do it, we are expected to become operationally fit. I would, however, like to recognise the men within the law enforcement who have been my mentors, my pillars and my support in ensuring that I manoeuvre myself and the women who have been supportive,” she says.
Bokaba encourages young women looking up to her and other women in senior positions to prioritise education.
“Of importance is the fact that they must not look at the role of a woman in law enforcement as paper pushers, we are not only supposed just to run the administration, but we can lead and in doing that they can understand the importance of studying because in the Hawks we are led by one of the elite who actually believe in education,” she says.
Bokaba says her spark in law enforcement started after being handed an opportunity to leave her job as a banker.
