Members of the Hawks and their colleagues in the South African Police Service gathered in Germiston to celebrate the life and service of Gauteng Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Tshianeo Mashudu Ramovha.
Image: Hawks
Members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Directorate, also known as the Hawks, gathered in Germiston on Wednesday to celebrate the life of Gauteng spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Tshianeo Mashudu Ramovha.
The 47-year-old provincial spokesperson passed away on Monday, in a freak accident which resulted in him drowning in his swimming pool at home.
IOL attended the Hawks memorial held at the Methodist Church in Germiston on Wednesday, where different speakers including family members, colleagues in law enforcement and Ramovha’s friends paid tribute to the seasoned police officer with 20-years experience in the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Gauteng provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa told mourners at the sombre gathering that Ramovha will be remembered for his energy and zeal in which he communicated the successes of the elite crime-fighting unit.
Members of the Hawks and their colleagues in the South African Police Service gathered in Germiston to celebrate the life and service of Gauteng Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Tshianeo Mashudu Ramovha.
Image: SAPS
“We gather here to celebrate the life of Lieutenant Colonel Ramovha, an officer and a gentleman, whose voice defined our triumphs. His pen shaped our legacy as his spirit lifted us all.
“His 20 years of uninterrupted service, nine of which were at the heartbeat of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, best known as the Hawks, remind us that dedication is not measured in years alone, but in the life, text, and the stories told,” he said.
“To speak of Lieutenant Colonel Ramovha is to speak of a real communicator without equal. For nearly a decade in the Hawks, he transformed complex investigations into narratives of hope and justice.
“His words were not mere press releases but they were bridges connecting the Hawks and the mother body SAPS to the people we serve. He wrote with the precision of an investigator, and the passion of a protector, ensuring every success was a shared victory and every challenge was a call to unity. His legacy showed us that he lived by the power of words,” he said.
Gauteng provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, speaking at the memorial service of the late Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Tshianewo Mashudu Ramovha.
Image: Jonisayi Maromo/IOL
He said Ramovha’s work output was not only press releases, but he amplified the successes and challenges of the Hawks and clarified the complex investigations to the South African public.
Ramovha joined the SAPS in April 2002 and started in the human resources department as a fledgling police officer in Gauteng.
When he joined the Hawks, Ramovha initially worked in the Western Cape before he was transferred to Gauteng.
Hawks national spokesperson, Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, also paid tribute to Ramovha as a passionate police communicator who dedicated years in telling the efforts of the Hawks to the nation.
Hawks national spokesperson, Brigadier Thandi Mbambo remembered the late Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Tshianewo Mashudu Ramovha as a very dedicated police officer.
Image: Jonisayi Maromo/IOL
The Hawks in Gauteng said Ramovha started off his long career at Parkview SAPS, before his journey blossomed and took him to different provinces of South Africa.
“He manoeuvred through the ranks of student constable to lieutenant colonel, plying his trade in the communication service. For nearly a decade in the Hawks, he was stationed in the Western Cape and later at the national head office of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Pretoria,” Gauteng Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale, told IOL.
“He was later appointed as lieutenant colonel at Gauteng provincial headquarters of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.”
Family members, law enforcement and members of the media gathered at the Methodist Church in Germiston for a memorial service of Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Ramovha.
Image: Jonisayi Maromo/IOL
Ramovha will be buried in Elim, Limpopo, where he comes from a royal family.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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