Opposition Congress of the People says suspended police commissioner Riah Phiyega should not have to shoulder all the blame for what happened when South African police gunned down 34 striking miners in 2012.
This is after a board of inquiry set up by President Jacob Zuma concluded that she is unfit to hold office and should be sacked, according to the City Press newspaper on Sunday
The Farlam commission of inquiry into what’s become known as the Marikana massacre found the suspended commissioner guilty of misconduct.
The shooting by police of 34 miners demanding a salary increase evokes memories of the heavy handed, often lethal, enforcement action during apartheid.
COPE’s Dennis Bloem says, Riah Phiyega cannot take the blame on her own. Police minister Nathi Mthethwa and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was as shareholder in the mine, must also face censure for what happened in Marikana.
The opposition Democratic Alliance is asking the portfolio committee on police to table findings of the inquiry before parliament.
Phiyega’s lawyers says they will not be commenting on reports that their client has been given the boot until the board makes the findings available to them.
Phiyega chose not to testify before the board of inquiry under Judge Neels Claassen that earlier this year concluded its public hearings into whether she is fit to hold office.
Classen found Phiyega did not tell the Farlam commission that there were in fact two crime scenes at Marikana: the first where the miners advancing on the police were gunned down and the second where police pursued and shot fleeing mine workers, many of whom were killed while hiding behind rocks.