Police chief not much help, says Bizos
April 2 2013 at 06:45pm
By Naledi Mailula
By Naledi Mailula
INLSA
George Bizos during
the public hearing of the Marikana Commission of Enquiry to investigate the
Marikana tragedy at which 44 people were killed and scores injured. File
picture: Dumisani Sibeko
Rustenburg - National police
commissioner Riah Phiyega was not helpful to the Farlam Commission of Inquiry,
lawyer George Bizos said on Tuesday.
Bizos, for the Legal Resources Centre
and Bench Marks Foundation, said he would submit to the commission that Phiyega
had failed to provide the relevant answers.
“Not only have you come here without
answers, but you've come here to avoid personal accountability,” Bizos told the
commission, sitting in Rustenburg.
He accused Phiyega of protecting the
police who shot dead 34 protesting miners in a wage strike on August 16 last
year.
“That is character assassination,” she
replied.
She said she had truthfully answered
all questions to the best of her ability.
“Although I may have not given you the
answers you were looking for, I've answered the questions to the best of my
ability. I came here as an honest contributor to this commission.”
She said when President Jacob Zuma
announced a commission would be formed, she said she and the police would help
in any way they could.
“I have been consistent with the
statements that I made.”
Phiyega once again expressed her
sympathies to the families of the dead mineworkers.
“From the depth of my heart, my
sympathies go out to all those families and those affected by this tragedy,”
she said.
Bizos concluded his cross-examination
of Phiyega.
During Wednesday's proceedings, Phiyega
defended North West police chief General Zukiswa Mbombo and said she did not
need permission for statements she made prior to the Marikana shooting.
Bizos recounted that Mbombo said:
“Today, we are ending this matter.”
Hours later, police shot dead the 34
miners at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana, North West.
Phiyega said: “She (Mbombo) is the
highest, most senior person (of provincial police) and had the right,
responsibility, and mandate to make the statement.”
Bizos later submitted to the commission
that the police's conduct had provoked the strikers. He said crowd-control
experts could verify his claims.
“Acts of force, like what happened
here, putting razor wire (between police and protesters) was or can be considered
highly provocative,” Bizos said.
Phiyega denied this and said the police
were meant to calm the situation, not escalate it.
“Visible policing should be a
deterrent,” she said. Phiyega said she had thanked the police for their work in
Marikana because they had followed protocol. She denied celebrating the deaths
in a statement she issued on August 17.
“I want to thank you for what you
did... enduring the challenges. All that we did was do our job... We had a plan
and that plan was disrupted,” she said.
Phiyega was also asked about
allegations made by Warrant Officer Hendrick Wouter Myburgh that another police
constable had shot dead an injured miner shortly after the main shooting on
August 16.
Asked whether she had any doubts about
Myburgh's statement, Phiyega said: “What worried me is that this is a warrant
officer talking about a constable.
“As a warrant officer, he is a senior
and I would have expected him to be more responsible (to note his name and
face).”
Commission chairman, retired judge Ian
Farlam, said they would begin at 1pm on Wednesday as he had a meeting with
justice officials to discuss whether the venue for the hearings should be
changed. - Sapa
