Phiyega Inquiry should include all those responsible

22 August 2015

The DA welcomes the decision by President Jacob Zuma to institute a Commission of Inquiry into Riah Phiyega’s fitness to hold the office of National Police Commissioner (NPC).

We equally welcome the President’s Notice to Suspend her pending the outcome of this Inquiry. Given the importance of the position, and its role in ensuring that all South Africans are safe and secure, she should be removed from office while the Inquiry proceeds with its deliberations. 

The DA sent the President a submissions on 4 August, 2015 detailing the factors that have rendered the incumbent NPC unfit for her current position as the operational and administrative head of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Her failings over the past three years have contributed, in no small measure, to the events the led to the Marikana Massacre that saw the death of 44 mineworkers. She has also overseen the sharp decline of the SAPS and affected the service’s ability to protect South Africans.

While we welcome this Inquiry which is important for exacting justice for the families and loved ones of those that died at Marikana, Ms Phiyega should not be the sacrificial scapegoat but that the terms of reference also include those that bore the ultimate political responsibility for what happened at Marikana. 

This includes the then Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, the former Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, and even the incumbent Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, for putting big business and financial self-interest ahead of the lives of ordinary South Africans exercising their constitutional right to protest for a better life for them and their families.

The DA now looks forward to the full terms of the Inquiry being made public. These should be extended so that the Commission not only investigates her fitness to hold office - as required by the Farlam Commission’s report - but also investigates her poor record as the NPC - where she has failed to fight crime.

Ms Phiyega’s track record at the helm of police service has been disastrous to say the least:

No progress has been made in addressing police brutality;

She has failed to rectify the resourcing crisis in the SAPS;

Violent crimes have soared under her watch with a murder rate that sees 47 South Africans dead every single day;

No decisive action has been taken against SAPS members found to have criminal records;

She, herself, has been the subject of an investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) for allegedly defeating the ends of justice. The outcome of which recommended an Inquiry of its own.

South Africa desperately needs a well-managed SAPS, that they can trust to keep our streets safe. We all bear the brunt of a disintegrating police service, which lacks effective leadership. This is a welcomed opportunity to get it right.

Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, DA Shadow Minister of Police, August 22 2015