Const. Bongani Putswenyane of the police’s Public Order unit in Welkom.


“It is not your aptitude, but your attitude, that determines you altitude,” he believes.

Few people have had to overcome as many obstacles as Const. Bongani Putswenyane of the police’s Public Order unit in Welkom.

One might think it is slightly arrogant when someone like Putswenyane (26) says he is his own hero – until you hear what this young man had to overcome.

He was born in Limpopo and moved to Hennenman in the Free State with his mother, Maserame, after his parents’ divorce. They lived in a rented home with his aunt.

His mother passed away when he was eight years old.

His aunt then looked after him, but when he was 11 years old she moved to Klerksdorp and left him in Hennenman.

“She packed my Sassa card and left me without anything. Fortunately, there was a social worker who helped me apply for a new card.

“I had to learn to pay rent and buy food, stationery, and school uniform.”

A teacher at his school helped him and he matriculated with good marks, which enabled him to study at the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, in Bloemfontein.

“Then Covid came and I had to abandon my studies. Because I could not afford a laptop and data, it was impossible to attend classes online. When I did not pass the year, I decided to give up.”

He went to live in Kroonstad, but did not know anyone there. Someone helped him find a place to sleep at the town’s landfill.

“This is where my life as a homeless person started. I could only spend the night there if I picked up plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. I collected extra waste material and earned about R50 a day.”

In the meantime, he was approved to study at the local college, where he obtained an N2 qualification as an electrician. He then signed up for an N5 course.

“During the day I travelled all over Kroonstad collecting waste material, and in the evening I studied.”

On 8 March last year, he heard that he had been permitted to train as a police member.

He had already applied to join the police in 2019, but believed that this dream would never come true.

“Because my life was hard and every day was a fight for survival, I firmly believed that the police training would be easy for me,” he says.

“But it was difficult. The physical training was difficult, and emotionally it was also difficult.”

He did his training at the police academy in Philippi.

He admits he wanted to give up many times, but stuck with it and says he can hardly believe he is now a constable.

“I also find it hard to believe that I was once a bum and homeless. It feels unreal. Through my faith I see myself as my own hero,” he says.

“I still want to honour my mother, because she suffered so much. I want to have a beautiful tombstone erected for her to reflect her beauty.”

Putswenyane says he wants to live in such a way that his mother is always proud of him, and he wants to anchor his life in faith, as his mother taught him.

He says if you persevere, you will achieve what you dream of.

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