Parliament committee disapproves of police board’s Phiyega endorsement

06 August 2015 - 12:22 By Aarti J Narsee

As National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega fights to hold on to her job‚ the committee heard calls for a more open appointment process of senior leadership. The calls were made as part of submissions on the white paper on police drafted by the Civilian Secretariat for Police.The draft paper calls for a National Policing Oversight Board to monitor appointments.Several politicians decried current appointments as too “secretive” and “political”.“The ideal to me is open‚ transparent interview process‚” said the Democratic Alliance's Dianne Kohler Barnard.Petrus Groenewald‚ from the Freedom Front Plus‚ echoed the call for a board‚ saying the national commissioner needed to come from ranks within the police.“We have a good example in Marikana. The commissioner was appointed two months before‚ if we had someone from police ranks it could have been prevented‚” he said.Gareth Newham‚ from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS)‚ said challenges in policing could be addressed by starting with leadership.“There is a situation of too many SAPS members who do not have qualifications for their positions and are facing various allegations and investigations. The process of appointment should wean out those at top management‚” said Newham.“If you could really put the best possible men and woman at the top it would enhance the authority."He said that when allegations against senior members emerged‚ investigations needed to be done quickly and thoroughly.Newham also said a public shortlisting process should be considered for top candidates vying for senior positions who should then be interviewed by the board.Earlier in the meeting‚ chairperson Franscois Beukeman expressed the committee's disapproval at a recent endorsement of Phiyega’s leadership by the SAPS board of commissioners‚ saying it was “unfortunate” and “inappropriate”. – RDM News Wire, The Times..

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