Zuma must 'pull his head out the sand' and fire Phiyega - DA

Parliament - President Jacob Zuma must “pull his head out the sand” and dishonourably discharge National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega, the Democratic Alliance says.

Ahead of submitting a 16-page document to Zuma with reasons why she should be fired, the party said the president needed to diligently engage with the Marikana report and take action to protect citizens from criminals and criminal cops alike.

DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard told reporters on Tuesday that Phiyega could not distance herself from the 2012 Marikana massacre to save her own skin.

She claimed Phiyega’s response had been one of “disdain” for the investigative process and disregard for the loss of life, instead of admitting responsibility and stepping down.

“Importantly, as the sitting national police commissioner, she bares ultimate operational and administrative responsibility for the SAPS and cannot simply abandon her responsibilities when it is politically expedient for her to do so.”

The Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the shootings of 34 striking miners by police at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, recommended that a probe should be instituted into Phiyega’s fitness to hold office.

Days ago, Phiyega explained to Zuma why she should keep her job.

According to City Press, Phiyega was expected to blame her predecessor Bheki Cele's militarisation of the police and argue that she had only been on the job for two months at the time of the Marikana shooting.

Kohler Barnard said that besides Marikana, Phiyega also had “nothing short of an abysmal record” as the commissioner by failing to arrest the decline of the police service.

Her alleged failings, it cited, included the lack of basic services at around 150 police stations, increases in serious crime, and that police brutality and corruption seemed to be the norm.

”Should the president fail to act in this regard, the DA will consider all its options to compel him to do so, which includes, but is not limited to, seeking a legal opinion to determine the rationality of his inaction to discharge her,” the party said.

The party’s submissions would be handed to Zuma’s office in Parliament later on Tuesday.