Row brews over police commission of inquiry

26/07/2012 Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa in an interview at St George Hotel. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

26/07/2012 Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa in an interview at St George Hotel. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

Published Nov 1, 2012

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Cape Town - A political row has erupted over the commission of inquiry Premier Helen Zille has established to investigate Khayelitsha police, with Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa asking why the probe excludes the DA-run city’s Metro Police, and heading to court to halt the inquiry.

Zille’s spokesman, Zak Mbhele, said on Wednesday she would not comment on the matter until she received court papers from Mthethwa’s lawyers.

Headed by retired Constitutional Court Judge Kate O’Regan and former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Vusi Pikoli, the commission tasked with investigating allegations of police inefficiencies in Khayelitsha held its first sitting on Monday.

Mthethwa’s office said on Wednesday he had decided to go to court after several failed attempts to convince Zille not to establish the commission.

There were various avenues through which the Khayelitsha issue could have been raised, Mthethwa said.

“The rationale behind setting up such a commission; which at a strategic level only focuses on the South African Police Service and not the Western Cape Metro police, is suspicious if not questionable.

Despite the engagements we held with the premier over the past weeks, it is evident she is determined to continue with the commission by hook or crook, which leaves us with no option but to challenge the matter, through the legal framework,” he said.

His spokesman, Zweli Mnisi, said they suspected something sinister about the omission of the Metro Police from the probe. The civil society organisations which had urged Zille to establish the commission had asked that the Metro Police also be investigated, but on Wednesday the commission secretary Amanda Dissel confirmed this was not the case. “No, the Metro Police is not included,” she said.

She said the inquiry would continue until such time as Zille decided to call it off.

Said Mnisi: “Why specifically the police? What is so special about the Metro Police? When people say cops, it can mean both police and Metro Police.”

Asked about the avenues

through which the issue could have been raised before Zille established the commission, Mnisi said these included Mthethwa’s meetings with community safety MECs and provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer’s meetings with MEC Dan Plato, who had not raised the issue.

Plato said: “It is a cheap shot on their side. The fact is there was a meeting between the minister and the premier. This is what is important. [Zille] has the right to raise any issue with him. She wrote to him, but he never responded.”

Mbhele said: “The minister is wrong in his protestations that he initiated protracted interaction with the premier on this matter.”

On the question of how many meetings Mthethwa had with Zille, Mbhele said: “Only one.”

Ndifuna Ukwazi co-director Zackie Achmat said police were using delaying tactics. He accused Zille of “cheap politicking” through the exclusion of the Metro Police from the probe.

“The premier and the minister are playing cheap politicking with the people of Khayelitsha,” Achmat said.

“This is not about a witch-hunt but helping the SAPS and Metro Police.”

The Social Justice Coalition said: “(Mthethwa) deliberately ignores the struggle of people in Khayelitsha who forced Premier Zille through protests over a two-year period to reach this point.”

The coalition called on Zille and mayor Patricia de Lille to ensure that the city’s safety and security directorate co-operated withthe commission.

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