MOSSEL BAY NEWS - It was a bittersweet farewell and the end of an era when the Mossel Bay Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit said goodbye to two well-known and loved investigators on Tuesday 31 March: warrant officers Tata Marks and Leshata Mosupye.
Known to many Mossel Bay residents for their unwavering dedication to their work and the community, these two officers completed their final shift as FCS detectives in Mossel Bay after a combined 67 years of service in the police.
Fellow colleagues and detectives set up a guard of honour for them as they exited the building for the last time on Tuesday morning, and cheered them on as they walked past. The Mossel Bay FCS commander, Captain Franco Bestbier, patted them on the shoulder.
Marks started his career in the police service 36 years ago, in 1990, before joining the Mossel Bay FCS in 2002. Mosupye started his career in Pretoria in 1995, before moving the Mossel Bay FCS in 2007.
Warrant officers Leshata Mosupye and Tata Marks. Photo: Chelsea Pieterse
The pair are well known in the greater Mossel Bay and surrounding areas, having worked on cases from Great Brak River all the way up to Heidelberg.
After having left the FCS office, the veteran detectives and their colleagues enjoyed a farewell breakfast at a local guest house where Bestbier, fellow colleagues Warrant Officer Alistair Rezant, Sergeant Ntandazo Magoqwana, Sergeant Mantshadi Mofokeng and others shared anecdotes from their time working alongside the two detectives.
A common sentiment was that Mosupye and Marks will be missed by both their colleagues and the communities they served, but that they should enjoy their retirement.
The two received camping chairs from their colleagues as a goodbye gift.
Speaking to Mossel Bay Advertiser about his work as an FCS officer over the decades, Mosupye said it had been a learning experience.
The Mossel Bay FCS team, with warrant officers Leshata Mosupye and Tata Marks second and third. Photo: Chelsea Pieterse
Having worked in crime prevention and the charge office before his tenure as an FCS detective, he said being an FCS officer was challenging.
There were many cases he dealt with over the years, but one that stood out was a 20-year sentence he helped secure several years ago for a matter in which a young child had been molested in Asla Park.
Mosupye said it is especially challenging when a young and extremely traumatised child has to testify or make a statement, and when there is no DNA evidence. He said in cases such as this, matters are often not enrolled in court, so to receive a 20-year sentence in this matter was memorable.
Now that he is retired, Mosupye's main priority is his health and well-being.
Warrant Officer Alistair Rezant, Warrant Officer Tata Marks, Warrant Officer Leshata Mosupye and Captain Franco Bestbier. Photo: Chelsea Pieterse
Marks also said there had been many cases he had investigated over the years, but two stood out. In 2008, he worked on a case in which a four-year-old girl was brutally raped. A single pubic hair was left behind.
In 2016, the rapist was finally linked by DNA he had left behind in another rape he committed that year.
In 2023, 15 years after the rape of the four-year-old, the perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Another case that deeply affected him was that of a pregnant woman who was brutally raped, stabbed and left for dead in the Mossel Bay area in 2011. The woman lost her baby due to this attack.
A few months later, the man tried to commit another rape on a child in the same area. The community had spotted him and stopped him, and he was arrested. Marks realised it was the same area and same modus operandi, and after the first victim pointed the man out during an identification parade, he was arrested.
In 2012, the accused received multiple lengthy sentences on multiple charges, including life imprisonment.
Marks said now he is retired, he will focus his time on his family and give 100% to spiritual work.
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