Inquiry into Police in Khayelitsha legal say Courts
Quote:
"January 14 2013 at 11:53am
By Chantall Presence
By Chantall Presence
Cape Town - Western Cape premier Helen
Zille's decision to establish a commission of inquiry to probe police
inefficiency in Khayelitha was indeed “rational” and “legal”, two judges of the
Western Cape High Court ruled on Monday.
Judges Jeanette Traverso and James
Yekiso concurred that Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's application for an
urgent interdict against the commission be dismissed.
Traverso indicated that fellow judge
Vincent Saldanha had a dissenting view.
“As at the time of the establishment of
the Commission, the cases referred to by the complainant organisations in their
several complaints involving the alleged inefficiency on the part of the SA
Police Service (SAPS) in Khayelitsha stood uncontroverted.
“Based on these observations, in my
view, the need for action to be taken, in the form of the established
Commission of Enquiry, was compelling,” the majority judgment said.
The judges also rejected claims that
there were ulterior motives behind the establishment of the commission.
Mthethwa last year argued Western Cape
premier Helen Zille's decision to appoint the commission would have an impact
on the independence of SAPS.
Mthethwa's legal team also said the
commission was established to make media headlines.
The court was packed with activists
from the NGO the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), on Monday, who broke out in
song when the judgment was delivered.
The activists had led the call for the
commission to be established following a string of vigilante killings in
Khayelitsha.
Community members complained police
inaction had led to residents taking the law into their own hands.
The commission was meant to hold public
hearings from November 12 to December 14. - Sapa"
