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Why Phiyega had to go

RIAH Phiyega - until Wednesday this week South Africa’s national police commissioner - was much better at relating to her comrades in the ANC than to thousands of officers under her leadership. She paid for it with her badge.

More than three years after Phiyega was appointed South Africa’s national police commissioner, the expected transpired this week when she was suspended by President Jacob Zuma. She becomes the latest in the list of her forerunners who have suffered the same destiny.

Phiyega was placed on paid leave with immediate effect. She will have to wait for the results of a probe into her suitability to hold office. She has been criticised for her handling of the Marikana massacre in which police shot and killed 34 striking miners. This was just two months after she was appointed South Africa’s police chief.

For all her talents, Phiyega was not at all suitable to lead the country’s police, aligning and communicating her objectives and finding her way in the politics both inside and outside her office.

A scathing Farlam Commission report released in June this year revealed that a police plan on August 16 2012, the day of the Marikana massacre, was a “defective tactical option”.

During her time in office, I once spent a Saturday afternoon with police officers who, based on what they were saying about Phiyega, appeared held back by uncertainty and struggling with low morale. She did not relate to them as she would have to her comrades in the ANC.

That is when I realised that Phiyega had to go.

READ: Should Phiyega step down?

This opinion was elaborated on in a number of articles I have written on this platform, calling for her sacking.

READ: Phiyega no politician

Her legacy is a bad one, to say the least. It should be instructive to her successor, Lieutenant General Johannes Phahlane, who will be acting in her position in the meantime.

Based on her general performance in the past three years, Phiyega is not coming back to her position as police chief.

She was clearly not successful in fighting crime in South Africa. Even worse, it was during her reign as police commissioner that police officers were killed in large numbers. More than 58 police officers were killed this year alone, according to latest figures.

So, who should be the next person to fill Phiyega’s seat? This country deserves an inspiring, savvy leader – attributes Phiyega clearly lacked.

The new national commissioner requires a sound understanding of the goals, methods and values of the police and a talent for connecting with street-level police officers. But he or she must also have the full support of the government.

We hope Zuma will move carefully – considering both internal and external candidates and inviting input from communities – before selecting a new police chief. South Africa can and must do better than Phiyega.

*Mzwandile Jacks is an independent journalist. Opinions expressed are his own.

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