Phiyega rejects damning reports
Johannesburg - Suspended police commissioner Riah Phiyega has rejected the findings of two damning reports against her.
The reports were released by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police and Police Minister Nathi Nhleko through a "faceless ministerial reference group", Phiyega said in a statement on Thursday evening. She said the processes followed were grossly unlawful and unethical and she planned to take legal action.
"Common in both of these reports is the fact that the authors never, at any point during their investigations, engaged with me despite attempts on my behalf to avail myself for comment and explanation.
"It is evident that both 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.
"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 inquiry should work," she said.
Phiyega said she only became aware of the reports through the media.
"Furthermore the contents of these reports are a summary and recycling of matters that have already been addressed by the relevant authorities whilst others could have been dealt with in accordance with the departmental policies and procedures.
"What I can say without a doubt is that, whilst I do not know who sits on this reference group, the process they took was unlawful."
Phiyega said the platform and process used was similar to that of a kangaroo court.
"If these parties really had the intent to seek justice on these allegations, they would have invited me to share my version of events and account for my actions before drawing these detrimental findings."
On Wednesday a ministerial reference group dealing with a host of concerns facing the police service, laid the blame for most of the challenges in the department solely at Phiyega's door.
She has been accused of perjury, fraud, misconduct and wasteful expenditure by the reference group, which was formed in September last year to look at some of the issues facing the police.
From demotions and wasteful expenditure to individual grievances, Nhleko on Wednesday told Parliament that the reference group had found that Phiyega had committed criminal and procedural offences in her role as national commissioner.
The commission found that Phiyega had committed a criminal act of perjury and misconduct for lodging false affidavits in court regarding Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli’s case.
This article first appeared on News24 – see here.
