The ongoing fiasco that is this country’s police commissioner position has become one of those headlines many of us just skip over. It’s like when you read about corruption by provincial government or Steve Hofmeyr being racist – same shit, different day.

The position has become a poisoned chalice, the last 15 years seeing three national police commissioners suspended and three acting commissioners appointed in interim roles. Riah Phiyega managed to last all of three years until, as was always to be expected, she was suspended yesterday by Jacob Zuma.

Her biggest folly (or perhaps better described as most public) was her handling of the Marikana tragedy, eventually resulting in that suspension with full pay pending the outcome of an inquiry.

Renowned political commentator Mandy Wiener has written a great piece on the Daily Maverick on Phiyega, with some excerpts below:

When Phiyega was appointed police commissioner in June 2012, those who had worked with her in the corporate environment were full of praise for her leadership abilities and expertise in industry. But policing experts and hardy old cops all felt she was not the right person for the job. She was a ‘haasievrou’, police slang for a civilian, a weak, startled deer lost in the headlights…

At one point, just when there was a glimmer of hope that she could recover some semblance of credibility, she made an appointment that left her with egg on her face. She named Mondli Zuma as Gauteng’s police commissioner and within two hours was forced to do an about-turn after it was revealed that he had criminal charges pending against him. It was laughable and Phiyega was horribly embarrassed…

Aside from the leadership politics and shenanigans, Phiyega also appeared to fail where it mattered most to the man in the street. She was doing a bad job of bringing down crime and stopping the bad guys…

[AND HERE COMES THE DYNAMITE] When the Presidency announced on Wednesday that Phiyega had been suspended, I could not help but feel a pang of pity for her…the bulk of the blame must be attributed to Zuma, who has an atrocious history of ill-informed appointments. He never should have offered her the job. It makes one wonder whether his desire to have a pliable, loyal cadre in such an important position trumped considerations such as experience and competence…

If Zuma is to take anything away from yet another failure at the SAPS, he must think long and hard about who he appoints as Phiyega’s permanent replacement. The country deserves a career cop with credentials finally. The job of national police commissioner should be about skills and delivery, not politics. Will Zuma finally accept these simplest of truths?

I think that key phrase above is ‘a pliable, loyal cadre in such an important position’. How many such appointments have been made in the recent past? One only has to look at the poor performances of many government institutions and a picture of back-rubbing and palm-greasing becomes all too apparent.

[source:dailymaverick]