'Kick out political police'

03 July 2015 - 02:24 By Sipho Masombuka

A leading researcher believes that the police should be depoliticised to ensure that tragedies such as the Marikana massacre never happen again. Gareth Newham, head of the governance, crime and justice unit at the Institute for Security Studies, has called for an investigation into allegations of political interference policing in the days before the Marikana massacre. He said it should be established what orders then police minister Nathi Mthethwa gave.The comments came a week after the Farlam Commission report was released by President Jacob Zuma.Newham said it was possible the reason then North West police commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo, her management team and national police commissioner Riah Phiyega took the decision to break up the strike was because they were instructed by the minister of police."We do know that there was political pressure. It is likely that it played a role but there is no hard finding on that. Maybe there needs to be a thorough investigation into that. I would have hoped that one of the recommendations of the Marikana report was that an investigation be launched into exactly what the minister of police said, word for word."He questioned the timing of the e-mail Lonmin's then non-executive director and deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa sent, calling for action which coincided with a huge police build-up.Newham said the e-mails did not instruct Lonmin to negotiate with the miners to avoid bloodshed but that they be treated as criminals.He did not rule out another Marikana-type massacre.Newham said senior police appointments should be depoliticised. Only people with expert knowledge should be appointed."We know how to ensure that (Marikana never happens again) ... we need to follow the recommendations of the National Development Plan to professionalise the police."He said about 7000 personnel left the police in 2014/15 compared to about 2500 in 2012, an indication, he said, that all was not well at the top.The Economic Freedom Fighters party has announced it intends to lay criminal charges against Ramaphosa, the former police minister and senior police management for their alleged roles in Marikana. Ramaphosa was absolved of blame by the report, but EFF leader Julius Malema believes only through a police investigation will the truth of what happened be uncovered...

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