A panel would be established to help guide the Police Ministry on how to implement recommendations in the Farlam Commission of Inquiry’s report, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko said in Parliament. Nhleko said the report gave the department a chance to transform the South African Police Service (SAPS) - an opportunity it had not had since the advent of democracy.“One of the issues that require immediate action is an independent panel and a structure or transformation task team that will provide technical support which will be led by the deputy minister.“The panel will combine local (and) international expertise. It will be led by a retired judge‚” Nhleko said.In the next two years the SAPS would have to focus on implementing the report’s recommendations‚ particularly with regard to the police’s organisational structure; operating principles; equipment and infrastructure; training and learning; as well as its legislative and regulatory framework.However‚ MPs pressed Nhleko on embattled National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega’s fate and whether she had been suspended or not.But Nhleko side-stepped the barrage of questions on Phiyega‚ saying only the ministry was engaging with potential panellists who would help the SAPS implement the recommendations from the Farlam report.The report‚ released in June by President Jacob Zuma‚ was the culmination of a three-year inquiry into the circumstances that led to the Marikana tragedy of August 2012‚ during which 34 striking miners lost their lives.Although the executive escaped unscathed in the report’s findings‚ it was harsh on the police and laid the blame squarely at the feet of the SAPS.One of the report’s core recommendations was that the president establishes a commission of inquiry into Phiyega’s fitness to hold office.Phiyega was barely two months into the job when the Marikana tragedy struck.In August Zuma announced he had informed Phiyega of his intention to establish an inquiry into her fitness to hold office.She faces possible suspension pending the outcome of the inquiry‚ but can write to the president in mitigation of the sanction...