Johannesburg - Provincial police commissioners who last week issued a joint statement in support of embattled police commissioner Riah Phiyega may have opened themselves to possible subpoenas when the inquiry into her fitness to hold office begins.
With their action, the generals appear to have decided to take collective responsibility for the Marikana shootings in which 34 striking miners were killed by the police in August 2012.
Most of the commissioners were part of a secret meeting held on the eve of the shootings where they devised an intervention plan.
The minutes of that meeting have never been disclosed as police headquarters insisted that “the meeting was not recorded as it was not a formal meeting”.
With the exception of retired North West police commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo, the rest of the provincial generals were not called to appear before the Farlam commission of inquiry into the killings.
The commission recom-mended that President Jacob Zuma institute an inquiry into Phiyega’s fitness to hold office. She has since requested Zuma to give her a second chance as she was still new in her job when the shootings happened.
Phiyega further told Zuma that the decision to intervene in Marikana was collective and it was unfair to single her out for blame.
The provincial commissioners have since been rebuked by the parliamentary portfolio committee on police which summoned them to an appearance on Wednesday.
“There's a specific code of conduct for SAPS members. We believe they must play their role. They must fight crime. That is their core business. End of story,” said the committee’s chairman, Francois Beukman.
Following last weekend’s controversial statement by the police Board of Commissioners – a structure representing the nine provincial commissioners – deputy national commissioner Nobulele Mbekela reiterated on a Gauteng radio station on Monday that the board collectively took responsibility for the Marikana killings and that they unconditionally supported Phiyega.
But not all board members supported the solidarity stance.
“How can one take responsibility for something one was not involved in? Some of those provincial commissioners were not in those positions when the Marikana massacre took place. So how can they accept responsibility?” asks a police general.
DA spokeswoman on police Dianne Kohler Barnard had earlier disparaged some of Phiyega’s provincial appointments as a “rogue gallery” of commissioners with black marks against their names.
Phiyega’s spokesman General Solomon Makgale said: “We have noted the media statement issued by the portfolio committee on police.
“We are scheduled to meet the committee on Wednesday to discuss domestic violence.
“We will most certainly address the committee with regard to the statement issued by the Board of Commissioners”.
The Sunday Independent