Phiyega must act to restore integrity of her office
Reports that General Ria Phiyega had ties to IT Company XON have come as a shock. General Phiyega must act immediately to restore the integrity of the office of the National Commissioner, and ensure there can be no question as regards to conduct (see ITWeb report).
It is a concern that the Portfolio Committee on Police seems to have been kept in the dark around Phiyega's work history. These questions must be answered.
The Portfolio Committee was handed an abridged CV which clearly has left out some important information. This has led to two red flags. Firstly, the Portfolio Committee was not informed of her connection to Kampela Holdings and XON which supplies IT equipment to the SAPS. Even though she has since asked for those shares to be sold, this remains a conflict of interest. Secondly, and most importantly, she left her two previous positions at Transnet and ABSA without fulfilling her employment contract. Did she leave of her own accord or was she paid out? Are we going to see her vacate her position as National Police Commissioner within a year? This would hardly contribute towards stability in the SAPS.
General Phiyega has stepped into an office left bereft of any credibility by the actions of her two predecessors. She is still in a "honeymoon" period, but she must know the entire country is watching closely to see if she will set herself apart from her predecessors and act to restore integrity to her office. To do this, she must remove herself from any conflicts of interest, and we must know her full history.
I will request that she be called before the Portfolio Committee on Police to explain how this abridged CV came to be presented to us; to explain her status regarding her IT company that supplies to the SAPS; to explain why it was that she stayed at a Portfolio meeting discussing exactly this issue of irregular IT payments from the SAPS without recusing herself; and to explain why it was that she left not once but twice before her employment contract was completed.
Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, DA Shadow Minister of Police, July 1 2012
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