Sack Phiyega, says investigating judge

23 December 2016 - 02:00 By THANDUXOLO JIKA
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Suspended National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega has been labelled a 'reckless' manager who was out of her depth.
Suspended National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega has been labelled a 'reckless' manager who was out of her depth.
Image: Moeletsi Mabe

The Marikana massacre in which 34 miners died could have been averted had suspended national police commissioner Riah Phiyega paid attention to "pedantic details".

Instead, she was a "reckless" manager who was out of her depth, as she displayed a poor understanding of best policing practices.

These are among the damning findings made against Phiyega by a board of inquiry headed by Judge Neels Claassen.

The board's report, which was submitted to President Jacob Zuma on December 15, was leaked to the Sunday Times this week.

Zuma established the inquiry following recommendations made by the Farlam commission into the 2012 massacre at the Lonmin platinum mine in North West.

The Claassen inquiry has recommended that Phiyega be permanently removed from her position as police commissioner.

But Phiyega's lawyers have indicated that they will go to court to challenge the Claassen inquiry findings.

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The South African Policing Union, a police trade union, said it had been vindicated by the findings of the latest inquiry. It called for Phiyega's immediate axing.

"The NC's [national commissioner's] failure to pay attention to the 'pedantic details' about the plan at the extraordinary NMF [police national management forum] meeting resulted in the tragic events of August 16 2012," the Claassen report said.

"Any reasonable national commissioner would have paid attention to the details of the plan. Had she done so, the tragic events could have been averted," Claassen said in his report.

The judge also said that Phiyega's inexperience in policing made her an "unfit" person to hold such an office.

He slammed Phiyega's comments at a police parade on August 20 2012 when she praised the police and told officers that they had practised "best policing" at Marikana on August 16.

"This statement by the NC displays her lack of understanding of what 'best possible policing' is," according the Claassen report.

"No reasonable national commissioner would call an incident leaving 34 people dead the 'best possible policing'.

"Her lack of experience and understanding of sound SAPS operations are evident from this remark which makes her unfit for the job," said Claassen.

However, the judge determined that Phiyega did not mislead the Farlam commission of inquiry regarding the decision by the national management forum to implement the "tactical option".

Phiyega's lawyer, Sandile July, said there were grounds for Phiyega to appeal the inquiry's findings.

He said that Claassen's finding that she had not misled Farlam also strengthened her case for Farlam's recommendations to be reviewed.

In his report, Claassen criticised Phiyega for shifting responsibility to the then North West provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Zukiswa Mbombo and for allowing the police to use R5 automatic rifles.

"We find the continued use of the R5 rifles by the SAPS . . . grossly negligent. Her evidence was that she was aware of the risks and yet she allowed her subordinates to continue using R5 rifles.

"We find this decision not only reckless and grossly negligent, but that it is also not in keeping with the duties of her office.

"We find she failed in her constitutional duty to keep the citizens of this country safe, in particular the protesting miners as well as the SAPS members on duty at Marikana," said Claassen.

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July criticised the judge for finding Phiyega guilty of amending a media statement.

Former police spokesman Lindela Mashigo told the inquiry that Phiyega had instructed him, at a briefing on August 17 2012, that the events at Marikana should not be communicated to the media as two separate events but rather as a single incident in which the miners were shot and killed.

Mpho Kwinika, the president of the South African Policing Union, said Claassen's findings came as no surprise.

"It is clear that General Phiyega lacks understanding of the department as she acted in the way she did. Her actions have cost South Africans a lot. Her weakness led to the Marikana killings," said Kwinika.

He said firing Phiyega would clear the way for a panel of experts to identify the person best qualified to be police commissioner.

"The president needs to appoint someone from within the ranks and not some politician.

"We need a commander that has a clear understanding of the department," Kwinika said.

Zuma's spokesman, Bongani Ngqulunga, did not respond to requests for comment by the time of going to print.

The Claassen inquiry plans to submit its report to parliament as well.

jikat@sundaytimes.co.za

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