'Phiyega to blame for cop woes'
Cape Town - A ministerial reference group dealing with a host of concerns facing the police service, has laid the blame for most of the challenges in the department solely at the door of suspended national commissioner Riah Phiyega.
Phiyega 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, Minister Nathi 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.
“The national commissioner could have been truthful to court and could have taken appropriate action.”
The reference group also looked at Phiyega’s conduct during the case against Western Cape’s Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer, when she was intercepted by crime intelligence on the phone tipping him off about an investigation against him.
Asked why Phiyega was not in jail due to the seriousness of some of the charges, Nhleko said the allegations needed to be tested through [police procedure].
"Determinations will then be made about whether you need to go somewhere else.”
Allegations against Phiyega included a string of demotions of employees, where she was found to not have followed proper procedure.
“We need to find a way of dealing with these matters, whether it is to reassign [those affected] or negotiate exit packages,” Nhleko said.
Nhleko proposed the setting up of three teams to look into the different matters. One team to focus on the placement and redress of generals who were not posted, another to look at formulating charges and having a disciplinary inquiry.
The last one would look at possible crimes of wasteful expenditure.
Nhleko said the disciplinary measures against Phiyega should not be confused with the work of the Board of Inquiry currently looking into her fitness to hold office as they were separate matters.
This article first appeared on News24 – see here.
