National
Phiyega 'must
have known about Zuma'
06
SEP 2013 00:00 KWANELE SOSIBO
The South African Police Union insists internal scrutiny prior to the
promotion of Mondli Zuma would have brought his criminal cases to light.
It is
"highly unlikely" that police commissioner Riah Phiyega was unaware
of Major General Mondli Zuma's pending criminal matter when deciding to appoint
him as provincial commissioner last Saturday, said the president of the police
union this week.
South
African Police Union president Mpho Kwinika said the system of checks and
balances in the South African Police Service (SAPS) would have shown that Zuma
had a pending disciplinary matter, which should have disqualified him for the
promotion.
Phiyega
announced Zuma as Gauteng police commissioner on August 31, only to reverse the
decision a few hours later after it emerged that he had pending cases of
driving under the influence and defeating the ends of justice.
The cases
relate to a 2008 incident in Pietermaritzburg in which Zuma allegedly fled a
roadblock after a breathalyser test, and locked himself in a house for two
hours.
Kwinika told the Mail & Guardian that
promotion could not be made unless an officer's personal file had been checked
for disciplinary findings. A negative finding was known as a "stroke
five". He said senior provincial management met every day to analyse
the crime information.
"When
Zuma was arrested and charged, there should have been a management meeting to
report to [then] Gauteng provincial commissioner [Mzwandile] Petros, who would,
at some point during deliberations for a successor, have informed Phiyega.
Either Petros kept it under wraps or Phiyega ignored it."
Provisionally appointed
Two senior police sources, however, told the M&G that Zuma had, indeed, previously disclosed the pending matter, but the file may not have reached Phiyega.
Two senior police sources, however, told the M&G that Zuma had, indeed, previously disclosed the pending matter, but the file may not have reached Phiyega.
When
approached for comment, Zuma said: "If I was allowed to speak, I would
tell you the truth, but in terms of procedures, where there are police
spokespersons, I will have to refer you to [Phiyega's spokesperson] Solly
Makgale."
This week,
through her spokesperson, Phiyega said that Zuma had only been
"provisionally appointed" as more background checks were still being
carried out at the time the announcement was made.
According to
the police's national instructions on promotions, successful candidates
are provisionally appointed, then subjected to a security clearance.
The
appointment letter can be issued only once the "suitability certificates
from the relevant provincial and divisional [officials] together with
certificates of acceptance are received and confirmed at head office".
In June this
year, 12 police lieutenants at the OR Tambo International Airport-based border
police filed a successful Labour Court interdict to prevent being transferred
from their posts. The 12 had clashed with Zuma while he was serving as station
commander at OR Tambo, a position he held from 2005 to 2010.
They
submitted as part of their court papers a memorandum alleging Zuma's complicity
in a number of issues, particularly a robbery in 2008 from a police store at
the airport, in which R3-million in cash, drugs and firearms went missing.
Diverse policing experience
The 12 claim in a memorandum from 2010 that black staff members were marginalised, that a number of their colleagues had been told to spy on them and information relating to the robbery had been concealed.
The 12 claim in a memorandum from 2010 that black staff members were marginalised, that a number of their colleagues had been told to spy on them and information relating to the robbery had been concealed.
Zuma then
tried to have the 12 transferred, to "afford them an opportunity to
accumulate diverse policing experience".
Despite
being sent detailed questions, Makgale said he had adequately addressed the
matter of Zuma's withdrawn promotion.
"There is nothing new to add. How you move from an ongoing Labour
Court issue relating to SAPS transfer policy, riddled with untested and usual
union rhetoric, to concluding that the major general is known to be a person of
questionable character baffles the mind," he said in response to the M&G's questions.
Phiyega was
appointed a month before the Marikana massacre on August 16 2012, in which 34
people died when police fired on striking Lonmin mine workers.
Days after
the massacre, she congratulated the police on a job well done.
During her
testimony at the Marikana commission of inquiry, she amended a sworn statement to
say that she had told Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa that she would
attend to the Marikana massacre. Her earlier statement had said that she was
told by Mthethwa to attend to the massacre.
She then
went on to say that she could not say for sure whether it had been police who
had shot and killed the mineworkers on the day, before issuing an apology to
the families.
Phiyega has also come under fire for not remedying
the current bloated structure of the police and for not speeding up its
demilitarisation process, as per the recommendations of the National Planning
Commission.
