Phiyega 'mustn't be used as scapegoat'
Activist and Anglican Bishop Joe Seoka says if government is serious about closing the chapter on the 2012 Marikana tragedy, all who were involved must be brought to book.
Seoka has been speaking to Newswatch after National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega's suspension was announced by the Presidency yesterday.
The Bishop says Phiyega must not be used as a scapegoat.
He believes deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, the then Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa, former Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu are not innocent and must be held accountable.
"Hopefully she will be brave enough to say I did what I did because I was instructed. One of the things that we're really keen to know is who gave orders for the police to shoot. We don't believe that she has that authority. If she did that then she must bear the consequences," he said.
Ramaphosa, Mthethwa and Shabangu were all effectively cleared of wrongdoing by the Farlam Commisiion of Inquiry.
Meanwhile, COPE says while they support the decision to suspend Phiyega, the Presidency could have handled her suspension better.
The party's Dennis Bloem says Phiyega was told of her suspension while she was briefing Members of Parliament on the South African Police Services annual report, in the presence of reporters.
"How can the National Commissioner sit and brief a portfolio committee in Parliament and then get an sms on her phone, telling her about her suspension.
"It is totally not fair. It is totally not right to treat a person like this. Even if the National Police Commissioner has done all these things," he said.
(File photo)