Phiyega cannot absolve herself of a lethal SAPS she endorsed
2 August 2015
The DA will this week make submissions to President Jacob Zuma motivating that the incumbent National Police Commissioner (NPC), Riah Phiyega, be summoned to an inquiry into her conduct in the death of 44 mine workers at Marikana with a view to her being dishonourably discharged as South Africa’s top cop.
The DA believes that by ratifying and applauding the Police action on the day, Phiyega has unequivocally endorsed the lethal actions of the police at Marikana.
This comes after she narrowly met the deadline to make representations to President Zuma about her fitness for office as required by the Farlam Commission’s scathing report into her conduct in the August 2012 massacre.
In her representations, NPC Phiyega has effectively blamed her predecessor, Bheki Cele, for the militarisation of the South African Police Service (SAPS) which contributed to the death of the 44 mine workers at Marikana.
Whether or not this is true is irrelevant considering that she congratulated the SAPS for their actions on that day and publicly endorsed their conduct which we contend makes her complicit in the SAPS’s actions. She cannot now distance herself ex post facto to save her own skin.
Instead of admitting responsibility and stepping down, Phiyega’s response to the massacre has been one of disdain for the investigative process and disregard for the loss of life.
When Phiyega addressed the SAPS officers involved in the massacre shortly afterwards on 17 August 2012, she disgracefully congratulated those responsible, stating that “whatever happened represents the best of responsible policing. You did what you did, because you were being responsible, you were making sure that you continued to live your oath of ensuring that South Africans are safe.”
Additionally, the Commission went to great lengths to emphasise that as a result of evasive and unhelpful testimony, specifically from the NPC, and an inability to obtain the requisite evidence, it was unable to properly fulfil its constitutional mandate in terms of section 84(f) of the Constitution.
The fact is Phiyega and others took decisions on that fateful day which they knew would result in bloodshed, failed to stop the operation when the shooting had begun, left miners to die without medical help, congratulated the police for their tactics, and went to great lengths to mislead the Farlam Commission.
The DA will therefore impress upon the President that her conduct in the Marikana saga and her deplorable track record as the National Police Commissioner should see her fired. We will again stress the need to appoint a professional police officer who will be better suited to demilitarising and resourcing the SAPS rather than a recycled politician or loyal cadre.
After three strikes one hopes the President sees the essential nature of this choice so that a massacre like this never repeats itself. If the President is at all serious about reviving an SAPS that is in rapid decline he will diligently apply his mind to these submissions.
For too long South African’s have lived with a police service they cannot trust. A police service that all too often turns on the very citizens they are duty-bound to serve and protect. The President needs to arrest the worsening state of affairs and give the people a competent police service and leadership thereof. One they can trust and value.
Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, DA Shadow Minister of Police, August 2 2015
