Johannesburg - Suspended national police commissioner Riah Phiyega has come out guns blazing to defend herself following the release of two damning reports against her.
The reports - one by MPs and the other by a ministerial reference group established by Police Minister Nathi Nhleko - accuse her of fraud and perjury and recommend that she face a board of inquiry into her conduct.
On Thursday Phiyega said she would fight this in court, as the allegations were “grossly unlawful and unethical”.
The findings of the reports were made public in Parliament on Wednesday. Phiyega lamented the fact that she had only become aware of the “defaming” reports through the media.
“Common in these reports is the fact that the authors never engaged with me despite attempts on my behalf to avail myself for comment,” she said.
“It is evident that these reports served only as a malicious, vindictive attempt to create a distraction for me ahead of the board of inquiry that has been instituted by the president.”
Nhleko released the report by a reference group, established in September last year to probe complaints by managers against Phiyega, while briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee on police.
He said Phiyega was found to have committed misconduct with regard to human resources practices involving police officials.
The reference group found that Phiyega had treated former police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi with “prejudice and malice” after he left office.
The group also recommended that Phiyega face disciplinary steps for informing suspended Western Cape police commissioner Arno Lamoer of criminal charges being investigated against him. Nhleko said the reference group had found Phiyega guilty of other incidents of misconduct relating to officers, including that involving suspended crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli. This was after she failed to take disciplinary action against him and wasted the organisation's money by allowing Mdluli to be paid in full despite being at home for more than two years.
Phiyega questioned those who were part of the reference group and the process they followed.
“While I do not know who sits on this reference group, the process they took was unlawful. The platform and process they used is similar to that of a kangaroo court, since they have been void of prescribed methods laid out in our legislative framework,” Phiyega said.
She added that the findings that she be prosecuted for fraud, found guilty of perjury and misconduct should be discarded as she considers Nhleko as having no authority or jurisdiction in this regard.
A separate report adopted by the MPs recommended that Phiyega face another board of inquiry into her conduct as she was found to have taken part in discussions on the Farlam Commission recommendations. This was despite there being a “conflict of interest” as she was directly affected by the commission’s report.
The inquiry, appointed by President Jacob Zuma, found fault with the police’s handling of the Lonmin strike which led to the deaths of 34 people at Marikana on August 16, 2012. The MPs' report also found that Phiyega chastised provincial commissioners for their silence following the release of the Farlam report and that she had pressured them to issue a statement supporting her. Phiyega regarded both reports as a “malicious, vindictive attempt” to jeopardise her ahead of a board of inquiry that had been instituted by Zuma.
“To this end, I will also not allow anyone to distract me as I continue to co-operate and follow due process with the inquiry which I believe is an example of how an enquiry should work.”
@Karishma_Dipa
The Star
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