Zuma Suspends South Africa Police Chief Over Marikana Massacre
By Andrew England in Johannesburg
Financial Times
South African president Jacob Zuma has suspended the country’s national police chief over the fatal shooting of 34 striking miners in 2012.
The suspension of Riah Phiyega makes her the highest ranking casualty of an inquiry into the tragedy when police opened fire on strikers at the platinum mining town of Marikana. It was the worst incident of violence related to the security forces since the end of apartheid.
Ms Phiyega was national police commissioner at the time of the shooting. No police officers or government officials have been charged with misconduct.
But an inquiry, known as the Marikana commission, was highly critical of the police’s actions on the day of the bloodshed, concluding that the force’s plan to encircle and disarm striking miners “was defective in a number of respects”. In its report released in June, it called for further investigations to ascertain the criminal liability of the officers involved in the shooting.
The status of those investigations, which were meant to take place under the auspices of the National Prosecuting Authority, is not clear.
The inquiry also called for a probe into whether Ms Phiyega, who was appointed police chief commissioner just months before the shooting in August 2012, was fit for office.
That was in relation to the commission’s finding that the police’s leadership appeared to deliberately mislead the inquiry. The commission’s report said the force’s leadership had taken a decision not to provide the inquiry with the “true version” of why and how the flawed plan was implemented.
The violence erupted after several thousands of miners working for Lonmin, the London-listed platinum miner, downed tools and demanded better pay and conditions.
Ms Phiyega’s has endured a torrid tenure as the head of the force, during which the country’s high crime rate has increased further and the police’s reputation has been tarnished by scandals and accusations of abuses.
But there will also be concerns that she will be a scapegoat for the Marikana tragedy.
“It’s an absolute moment of symbolic victory, she should have gone in 2012,” said Bonita Meyersfeld, director of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, which represented the South African Human Rights Commission at the inquiry. “For her to come down is one of many who must ... now we wait for the rest. But if she’s the scapegoat, that’s a fundamental failure.”
Mr Zuma said the police chief — who was a political appointee with no previous police experience — would be suspended on full pay until a board of inquiry assesses her fitness for office.
The saga has further dented the reputation of the security services. Ms Phiyega’s two predecessors both had to leave office before their terms ended because of corruption or maladministration.
Financial Times
South African president Jacob Zuma has suspended the country’s national police chief over the fatal shooting of 34 striking miners in 2012.
The suspension of Riah Phiyega makes her the highest ranking casualty of an inquiry into the tragedy when police opened fire on strikers at the platinum mining town of Marikana. It was the worst incident of violence related to the security forces since the end of apartheid.
Ms Phiyega was national police commissioner at the time of the shooting. No police officers or government officials have been charged with misconduct.
But an inquiry, known as the Marikana commission, was highly critical of the police’s actions on the day of the bloodshed, concluding that the force’s plan to encircle and disarm striking miners “was defective in a number of respects”. In its report released in June, it called for further investigations to ascertain the criminal liability of the officers involved in the shooting.
The status of those investigations, which were meant to take place under the auspices of the National Prosecuting Authority, is not clear.
The inquiry also called for a probe into whether Ms Phiyega, who was appointed police chief commissioner just months before the shooting in August 2012, was fit for office.
That was in relation to the commission’s finding that the police’s leadership appeared to deliberately mislead the inquiry. The commission’s report said the force’s leadership had taken a decision not to provide the inquiry with the “true version” of why and how the flawed plan was implemented.
The violence erupted after several thousands of miners working for Lonmin, the London-listed platinum miner, downed tools and demanded better pay and conditions.
Ms Phiyega’s has endured a torrid tenure as the head of the force, during which the country’s high crime rate has increased further and the police’s reputation has been tarnished by scandals and accusations of abuses.
But there will also be concerns that she will be a scapegoat for the Marikana tragedy.
“It’s an absolute moment of symbolic victory, she should have gone in 2012,” said Bonita Meyersfeld, director of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, which represented the South African Human Rights Commission at the inquiry. “For her to come down is one of many who must ... now we wait for the rest. But if she’s the scapegoat, that’s a fundamental failure.”
Mr Zuma said the police chief — who was a political appointee with no previous police experience — would be suspended on full pay until a board of inquiry assesses her fitness for office.
The saga has further dented the reputation of the security services. Ms Phiyega’s two predecessors both had to leave office before their terms ended because of corruption or maladministration.
No comments:
Post a Comment