Suspended national Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega will come under the spotlight today as an inquiry into her fitness to hold office begins.
The Claasen board of inquiry appointed by President Jacob Zuma in October last year to look into Phiyega’s leadership role will sit in Centurion‚ Tshwane.
Zuma established the inquiry following recommendations by Judge Ian Farlam in the Marikana report.
The Farlam Commission implicated Phiyega and other senior police officers in the bloody murders of 34 miners on August 16 2012.
The Lonmin mine strike led to the deaths of more than 40 people‚ including the 34 miners and police officers.
In appointing the Claasen board of inquiry‚ Zuma said it should look into:
The national commissioner acting together with other leadership of the SA police service or alone‚ misled the commission by concealing that it had made the decision to implement a “tactical option”‚ taken at the National Management Forum meeting on or about August 15 2012;
The decision taken to implement the “tactical option” ought reasonably to have foreseen the tragic and catastrophic consequences which ensued;
lThe remarks by the national commissioner at the SAPS parade on August 17 2012 would have been understood to be an unqualified endorsement of the police action and thereby having the consequence of undermining‚ frustrating or otherwise impeding commission’s work;
The report prepared by the national commissioner for President Zuma on August 17 2012 and the media statement subsequently issued on August 17 2012‚ was deliberately amended to conceal the fact that there were two shooting incidents (Scene 1 and Scene 2)‚ resulting in misleading the public that all the deaths had occurred at Scene 1 which arose out of members of SAPS having to defend themselves from an advancing mass; and
The commission found that the SAPS commanders operational plan was impractical and had actually misled the commission about the deaths.
Board chair Judge Cornelis Claasen will work together with advocates Bernard Khuzwayo and Anusha Rawjee. Hearings are expected to conclude in mid-June. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital/Sowetan
Spotlight on Phiyega’s leadership
The Claasen board of inquiry appointed by President Jacob Zuma in October last year to look into Phiyega’s leadership role will sit in Centurion‚ Tshwane.
Zuma established the inquiry following recommendations by Judge Ian Farlam in the Marikana report.
The Farlam Commission implicated Phiyega and other senior police officers in the bloody murders of 34 miners on August 16 2012.
The Lonmin mine strike led to the deaths of more than 40 people‚ including the 34 miners and police officers.
In appointing the Claasen board of inquiry‚ Zuma said it should look into:
The national commissioner acting together with other leadership of the SA police service or alone‚ misled the commission by concealing that it had made the decision to implement a “tactical option”‚ taken at the National Management Forum meeting on or about August 15 2012;
The decision taken to implement the “tactical option” ought reasonably to have foreseen the tragic and catastrophic consequences which ensued;
lThe remarks by the national commissioner at the SAPS parade on August 17 2012 would have been understood to be an unqualified endorsement of the police action and thereby having the consequence of undermining‚ frustrating or otherwise impeding commission’s work;
The report prepared by the national commissioner for President Zuma on August 17 2012 and the media statement subsequently issued on August 17 2012‚ was deliberately amended to conceal the fact that there were two shooting incidents (Scene 1 and Scene 2)‚ resulting in misleading the public that all the deaths had occurred at Scene 1 which arose out of members of SAPS having to defend themselves from an advancing mass; and
The commission found that the SAPS commanders operational plan was impractical and had actually misled the commission about the deaths.
Board chair Judge Cornelis Claasen will work together with advocates Bernard Khuzwayo and Anusha Rawjee. Hearings are expected to conclude in mid-June. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital/Sowetan
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