MEET DR LEAH MOFOMME
Dr Leah Mofomme, Head of Department at the STADIO School of Policing, is one of the most skilled and experienced police officers and social workers in South Africa and boasts a total of 36 years’ experience in Law Enforcement. Read further to get an insight into the fascinating career of this valued member of the STADIO family.
Dr Mofomme served in the South African Police Service (SAPS) for 30 years where she retired at the level of Deputy National Commissioner, with the rank of Lieutenant General.
She then served a further 6 years at the Department of Transport Agencies (Cross-Border Road Traffic Agency (C-BRTA) and National Traffic Police) as the Road Transport Inspectorate Commissioner and executive manager responsible for training and corporate services.
Dr Leah is one of the experts responsible for the rollout of the handbook on responsive police services for women and girls subject to violence. She has participated in vast number of specialist webinars as a speaker and participant. In July 2021, she participated in the Paris generation equality session on gender-responsive policing, addressing violence against women and girls. She also presented the rollout of the handbook to the high level meeting of the Tanzania Police management in November 2021.
Dr Leah is currently running wellness centres in the townships, where she is providing social work, primary health care and dance workshops. She provides individual and group therapy for women and girls facing gender based violence and other psycho-social challenges. Her police background and social work qualifications enable her to use a holistic approach at her wellness centres.
Dr Leah is the 2nd Vice-President of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP), a position she held since 2018. Prior to 2018, she was the 3rd Vice President of the IAWP.
As the first woman from Africa or any developing country to hold this high position, Dr Leah ensures that the IAWP policies and practices are conscious of the plight of women in developing countries, ensuring that training conferences are affordable and responsive to their needs.
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change; University of Johannesburg: 2004. Her thesis was on improving customer service in Community Service Centres of the South African Police Service to the advantage of victims of crimes.
Master of Public Administration; University of Pretoria: 1999. This dissertation was on improving internal and external Communication in the South African Police Service to benefit victims of crime.
Bachelor of Arts in Social Science; University of South Africa: 1991. Qualified as a Social Worker. She is a registered social worker in private practice.
PUBLICATIONS
Policing in Africa: Towards an African Epistemology. 2022. Juta. Chapter 15: Physical resource management in policing from an African perspective.
Just Africa Journal No 1/2019: Understanding Road Safety and its impact on Regional Socio-economic development.
SA Journal of Human Resource Management (2004): An investigation into the quality of service delivered by the South African Police Service by Leah Mofomme and Neil Barnes
She contributed a chapter, called “Against all Odds” towards an international book called “Yes you Can do justice in the World” published in 2015.
She authored a book in an African language (Xitsonga), titled: “Rirhandzumuni”, which is in the process of being published by Sasavona Book Publishers. The book is about a young woman who survived domestic violence over many years and questions what kind of love brings about so much pain and suffering.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
In February 2020, Dr Leah attended the 5th Global Leaders’ Forum on Safe Cities and Safe Public Places which was organised by the UN Women in Rabat, Morocco. She participated in the Armchair dialogue on the role of the police in creating safe cities and safe public spaces. She also participated as a rapporteur for the session on Leadership and Institutional Change: a focus on police and justice partners.
In March 2020, Dr Leah attended an IAWP Conference in Kosovo, where she facilitated a panel on gender-based violence with a focus on Sexual Harassment in the workplace: barrier for advancement of women in leadership position. Panel members included the Minister of Justice, Police General and Senior Members of the Police in Kosovo.
In October 2019, she attended a training conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago.
In September 2014 she attended the International Association of Women Police Conference in Canada, where she facilitated a round table discussion for future women in Law Enforcement.
In August 2014, Dr Leah attended the Seychelles woman police training conference where she was a key speaker and launched a network structure.
In September 2013, Dr Leah arranged IAWP Conference in Durban, South Africa. This was the most successful and biggest conference in the history of the IAWP.
REGIONAL CONFERENCES
Dr Leah has actively participated in the Women in Transport and the Road Transport Summits in 2015 where she facilitated commissions. She delivered a paper at the Southern African Transport Conference at the CSIR, titled “Law Enforcement: a value adding service or unnecessary irritation?” in 2015.
In May 2016, she facilitated the Fleet Management Conference and delivered a paper titled: “Managing the Safety and Security of your Fleet at all times”.
In June 2019, she presented a paper at the 12th annual women in law enforcement conference titled “Working with neighbouring countries law enforcement agencies to address cross-border crime”.
In November 2019, she presented a paper at the Road Safety Summit titled: Officer Wellness: Taking Care of Law Enforcers through counselling and training.
In October 2021, Dr Leah attended the STADIO Academic conference in Cape Town.
In November 2022, she arranged an International Association of Women Police (IAWP) conference, which was held at the Centurion Campus of STADIO. The conference, called the Africa Chapter, was attended by delegates from various African countries.
In 2023, she mentored a team in Tanzania to arrange and Africa Chapter IAWP conference, which was held in Dar Es Salaam in July. She also presented a paper on service oriented policing.