Johannesburg - Suspended national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega’s fate will be decided within the next five weeks when the Claasen Board of Inquiry investigates her fitness for office.
The country's top cop was suspended last year by President Jacob Zuma following allegations of misconduct contained in the Farlam Commission of Inquiry report.
The commission investigated the deaths of 44 people who were killed during labour unrest at Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana in August 2012.
The Claasen Board of Inquiry begins its hearings on Tuesday and is expected to conclude on June 10. It sits at the offices of the Law Reform Commission in Centurion and is chaired by Judge Cornelis Claasen.
Its spokesman, William Baloyi, said the list of witnesses was yet to be finalised.
“The list is dependent on the evidence leaders and the defence team's case,” Baloyi said.
He said the board was expected to complete its work in September.
Phiyega’s actions on August 16, 2012, when 34 miners were killed during a violent protest at Lonmin, in the biggest loss of life in a single police operation in post-apartheid South Africa, was heavily criticised by the Farlam Commission.
The inquiry found fault with the police's tactical plan to deal with the striking miners, and that police misled the commission about their plans on the day of the killings.
The Star
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