GEORGE NEWS - Uwile umthi omkhulu! uDikela, uNoni, uNtswaibana, uQwathi. I am saddened by the passing of Colonel Reuben France, Thembalethu Police Station Commander, who took his last breath on Wednesday 21 June at the George Mediclinic.

I loved this man as is I knew him for ages but it’s only a year I came to know of him but boy oh boy it felt like a lifetime.

He a very humble and down to death soul, he was one of the biggest readers of Idinga, particular the column pages. He understood the role of media in community development, in particular, the importance of the police to collaborate with the media to fight crime, for that will respect him.

He always complemented where he needed to and also gave constructive criticism where he felt its needed.

He was always in touch with the community. He was one of those Station Commanders who refused to hide behind the desk while criminals are terrorising the streets. He was there on the streets patrolling with his troops, personally doing investigations not delegating at times. He was one of a kind, a comedian and a strict man at the same time. Only a few men can live up his greatness, I will forever miss him. Goodbye dear friend.

Allow me to share this poem by By John Donne ‘Death Be Not Proud’ to remember France:

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

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